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Remembering Mrs Thatcher

jonathanfryer — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:09:52 +0000

For those of us who lived politically through the Thatcher years, it's hard to realise that younger souls see the Iron Lady as history. This afternoon, the news editor of Gaydar Radio, Joanne Oatts, came round to interview me for a programme she is making about Britain's only female Prime Minister. My début as a political candidate was in the first direct elections to the European Parliament in June 1979, just a month after Mrs Thatcher and the Conservatives had swept to power, and she dominated the scene for the next decade. She was deeply unpopular by early 1982, when the political pendulum seemed to swinging in the direction of the new Liberal/SDP Alliance. But the Falklands War was her making, at least in the short term, and a body-blow to the Alliance's prospects.

With hindsight, I recognise that Mrs T did some necessary things in the early part of her period in office, though like most people of the centre-left, I disliked her at the time. And for LGBT people -- the main focus of this afternoon's interview -- Clause 28 and the stance taken by some Conservative traditionalists, for whom 'Red' Ken Livingstone's GLC and its special interest groups were anathema, were very negative. Nonetheless, behind the scenes, British social attitudes were changing in a more tolerant direction, even among many Conservatives.

I remember organising a Writers Day in Bromley Civic Centre -- I was a local councillor at the time -- in 1989, at the very end of Mrs Thatcher's rule. Alan Hollinghurst came to talk about the idiosyncratic 1920s gay novelist Ronald Firbank (who was raised in Chislehurst) and Hanif Kureishi (who grew up in Bromley) read an extract from his novel in progress 'The Buddha of Suburbia'. There was a stunned silence amongst the many Conservative councillors in the audience when the latter finished, as if in disbelief that such things could emerge from this most respectable of Tory-controlled London boroughs. But then the wife of the Mayor broke the ice by declaring loudly, 'Well! That was different!'

The Unions Play Up Again And Further Distance Themselves From Reality

kevinboatang — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:37:25 +0000

People outside of London may not be aware of this, but the capital's bus drivers are having a right laugh with TfL.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7521923.stm

Now, I don't mind bus drivers apart from those on a certain route near me who are complete nutcases. Accelerating into a bus stop isn't the idea guys, okay?

But this lot are, frankly, taking the piss. In short they want £30,000 a year to do 38 hours a week. That's less hours for more money!

It's not the hours and the pay per se, it's the amount of money. Maybe nobody has told them that they are bus drivers and not accountants.

Because rewarding a bus driver with 30 grand of the Queen's finest paper is a stark message to the nation and the students who will soon join the workforce: don't bother.

Let's be harsh, bus drivers are generally the people who were in the lowest sets at school and haven't got very many qualifications. Nothing wrong with that, it's just life. Some people are barristers, some are athletes, some are bus drivers. Others are politicians, boom boom! Oh dear...

But to basically either be a bit unintelligent or a lazy bastard and then getting a job driving a big red thing about, then years later being given £30,000 to do it is a kick in the teeth for all of us who worked hard and studied.

What's the point? Tube drivers earn a truly obscene wage. Green to go, Red to stop, say a load of crap over the speakers about doors at Mile End, sit on your arse all day reading the sport with your thermos, sue the boss for sacking you after being caught sitting in a room full of thousands of empty and half full beer cans and being pissed out of your mind. And here is a cheque for far more than nearly everyone who gets on receives.

Why? Because Ken Livingstone was weak and confused. Hard right Stalinist fucker on one hand, loveable cheeky chappy of the masses on the other. Now the Unions led by that utter cunt Bob Crow (may very well do an article soon here, because I hate the man nearly as much as Lee Jasper) have got their oar in, they can twist the knife, to mix the metaphor, and leave TfL up shit creek. Without an oar, or paddle, depending on your point of view. Anyway, it has a knife tied to the end of it now so it's ruined.

The Unions, particularly transport, are now so far to the left in the 21st century, reality is a distant memory. Tube, train and bus drivers on more money than people with degrees who run offices and are immune from any action.

Really it is all a ploy. They want to be told 'no' so that Crow and his Awkward Squad can have a strike. They like a good strike, makes them feel like real men telling the average worker what to do and getting them to lose a days pay after 51% fo the 20% who bothered to vote agreed with themselves.

Problem is, Boris Johnson is now saying he would like to, but he doesn't have the power when really he should be telling them to fuck off and give him back his paddle sans knife.

Om Labour går mer åt höger lär de dö!

Daniel Carlstedt — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:05:11 +0000

I en debattartikel i det brittiska magasinet Prospect skriver Philip Collins, tidigare talskrivare åt Tony Blair tillsammans med den amerikanske liberale skribenten Richard Reeves att Labours enda framtid är att gå till höger och liberalisera mer. Som de flesta säkert vet är Labour det engelska "socialdemokratiska" partiet och de har länge vandrat allt längre höger ut. Det hela började efter Margret Thatcher. När Labour äntligen kom till makten igen efter att högerpartiet Tory fått styra anpassade man sin politik och skapade vad man än idag kallar för "New Labour". Sedan Tony Blairs stöd för Irakkriget har partiet rasat och sedan Gordon Brown tog över som partiledare har partiet fått mindre och mindre stöd.

Nu menar alltså Phillip Collins att det enda som kan rädda Labour skulle vara att partiet går ännu längre åt höger och driver en mer liberal politik.

The only hope for the party is to excavate its liberal treasure. The choice is stark: liberalise or die.

Alltså på svenska: Det enda hoppet för partiet är att gräva fram sina liberala skatter. Valet är klart: liberalisera eller dö.

Jag tror snarare att Labour skulle gräva sin egen grav om man skulle bege sig ännu längre höger ut.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="223" caption="Ken Livingstone. Foto:Labour"][/caption]

Jag tror att man skulle ta hem röster på att istället hitta tillbaka till sina rötter i socialdemokratin. Jag har träffat många bra Labourmedlemmar under mina besök i England som ligger nära oss svenska socialdemokrater och jag tror helt och fullt på en jordskredsseger i nästa val om partiet lyssnade på dessa medlemmars åsikter om en stark välfärdsstat, utökade rättigheter för arbetare samt en bättre fördelning av resurserna mellan fattig och rik.

En av mina favoritpolitiker i Labour är Ken Livingstone, eller "Red Ken" som han kallas. Under hans tid som borgmästare i London förbättrades mycket för Londonborna. Med fler politiker som Ken Livingstone skulle Labour åter kunna växa och stärka sin ställning inom den brittiska politiken.

Håkan A Bengtsson kommenterar Labours fall och artikeln i Prospect på Dagens Arena.

Ming with Zing

jonathanfryer — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:20:39 +0000

Former party leader Menzies Campbell was in fine fettle at the Sutton Liberal Democrats' annual garden party at Jayanta Chaterjee's home this afternoon. Ming spilled few beans about the Henley away-day Nick Clegg convened yesterday, but instead urged us all to give loving support for the wives, partners and families of MPs -- a point doubtless appreciated by his two local colleagues, Tom Brake and Paul Burstow, who were standing at his side. It is true that politics is a demanding business that puts terrible strains on relationships. Few voters have any idea how much domestic tranquility politicians often sacrifice for their benefit.

Former mayoral candidate Brian Paddick, also in the full flush of health, told a story whose point I didn't quite grasp, about Puff the Magic Dragon. Something to do with Ken Livingstone, I think. Anyway, as Brian pulled my ticket out from the raffle, netting me a fine bottle of Rioja, who am I to complain?

Link: http://sutton-libdems.org.uk

Brown sceglie bastone e carota per disarmare le baby gang

homoeuropeus — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:47:44 +0000

Pubblicato su Europa di oggi.

Con venti adolescenti morti a Londra dall’inizio dell’anno a causa di aggressioni tra bande, il problema della violenza giovanile e dei cosiddetti knife crimes, i crimini del coltello, è ritornato al centro della discussione politica. Lo era già stato nel 2006, quando l’allora ministro degli interni Charles Clarke propose un’amnistia e invitò tutti i giovani del paese a consegnare le proprie armi alla polizia, con il risultato che in una sola settimana circa 20mila tra coltelli, asce, spade e altre armi da taglio furono requisite.

Nonostante, secondo le statistiche ufficiali della polizia, la campagna anticrimine messa in campo allora sembra avere dato i suoi frutti, con un calo del 40 per cento dei delitti più violenti, la percezione diffusa tra la gente è invece che la situazione sia andata peggiorando. E questo, nel maggio scorso, ha giocato un ruolo fondamentale nella sconfitta elettorale di Ken Livingstone a Londra.

È proprio questa percezione, alimentata dalle copertine dei tabloid e dalle cronache dei giornali locali, che ha imposto al governo l’elaborazione di un piano straordinario, che si fonda sui due pilatri della prevenzione e della punizione.

Sulla seconda, che prevede maggiori controlli della polizia e l’inasprimento delle pene per chi commette reati, ma anche per chi viene semplicemente sorpreso nelle strade con un arma da taglio, sembra esserci totale accordo tra le forze politiche e anche il supporto della stampa. Sulle misure di prevenzione, però, il dibattito si è infuocato. Le proposte del governo, presentate da un Gordon Brown stranamente deciso e dalla sua ministra degli interni Jacqui Smith, prevedono di intensificare l’attenzione su una determinata base di famiglie, che sono quelle a maggior rischio: genitori e figli saranno inseriti in un programma governativo per scongiurare i comportamenti criminali dei figli e aumentare la consapevolezza sulla pericolosità di certi atteggiamenti antisociali. Secondo uno studio del ministero degli interni, infatti, la maggior parte dei giovani coinvolti in attività criminali provengono da famiglie precedentemente coinvolte in episodi analoghi. Monitorando e aiutando 20mila famiglie il governo spera di riuscire a diminuire ulteriormente i reati. Altre misure previste, che hanno fatto infuriare l’opposizione e la stampa, rientrano in un pacchetto shock therapy che prevede che agli autori di crimini violenti vengano sbattute in faccia le conseguenze delle loro azioni. Il piano inizialmente prevedeva, secondo quanto detto dalla Smith, che i giovani visitassero obbligatoriamente le loro vittime in ospedale. Ma dopo gli attacchi di David Cameron, che ha definito questa una «trovata irrispettosa delle vittime», il governo è stato costretto a ritrattare e a stabilire che i giovani partecipino a workshop di riabilitazione che possono prevedere anche visite agli ospedali per rendersi conto di persona della gravità delle ingiurie che i coltelli possono provocare. Brown ha anche chiesto alle autorità locali maggiormente interessate dal crimine delle bande giovanili di sperimentare forme di coprifuoco e di pattugliamento delle strade.

Al di là dell’equivoco sulla visita alle vittime, il piano del governo pare però abbastanza convincente, perchè interviene non solo con durezza nel reprimere gli atti criminosi, ma si pone il problema di intervenire socialmente per prevenire che comportamenti derivanti da una situazione sociale degenerata possano diventare eccessivamente rischiosi per la collettività. Ma alcuni critici sottolineano che ancora una volta il governo non fa buon uso di tutte le risorse che ha a disposizione e chiedono che anche le scuole e i centri di formazione, e non solo le comunità locali e le famiglie, siano coinvolti e responsabilizzati per aiutare i giovani a trovare vie di uscita dalla miseria e dalla criminalità.

UK Islamic Expo

Smooth — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:52:51 +0000

Via One Jerusalem blog:

Douglas Murray is a brilliant British writer and advocate for truth and justice. Being very effective at what he does he has been branded an enemy of British Muslims who want to impose Sharia Law on British society.

Murray has established a record of being willing to debate his opponents in public forums. You may remember that he partnered with Daniel Pipes in a debate with then London Mayor and Sharia apologist Ken Livingstone and a Muslim partner. So when he received an invitation to attend London's Islamic Expo which is sponsored by Muslim Brotherhood types he accepted (even though the deck was sacked against him.)

Now Murray has decided to withdraw because some of the Muslims involved in the Expo are trying to shut down a blog Harry's Place that has reported the truth about the radical Muslim community in the United Kingdom. They are using the British courts to silence their critics. You can help defend Harry's place here.

In an open letter, Murray says he is withdrawing from participation because of his commitment to freedom of speech. He has made the right the decision. His participation would have been used by the Muslims as proof that they are not biased because they hosted a critic like Murray.

Keep your eye on Murray, he is a star whose impact will only get greater as more and more people learn about him and his body of work.

Let Loose in Luton

jonathanfryer — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:43:22 +0000

I travel so much abroad with my journalism and lecturing that I am reluctant to stray beyond the M25 when I am in England -- or outside the validity of my zone 1-6 Oyster card, to be precise. Party conferences are an exception. However, a short-notice request to talk to the Luton 41 Club this evening about my work led me to that Bedfordshire town, for the first time in my life. Emerging from the station into High Town, I was astonished to hear everyone around me talking Polish. Until I wandered into the Portuguese café that is. And then passed a Pakistani shop, opposite the Indonesian restaurant. It isn't just London that is multi-cultural these days. However, before I was whisked off to the Bowling Green Pavilion for dinner and my spiel, I had a drink in the sun at a very traditional English pub, where there wasn't even any blasted piped music. So I was able to make great strides into Andrew Hosken's gripping recent biography of Ken Livingstone (Arcadia, £15.99) and from that learnt that in June 1977, Ken pipped a certain Vincent Cable by two votes to become the Labour candidate for Hampstead. I chortled over the outraged response from one of Hampstead's liberal intellectual Labour Party members at this development; he quoted Ovid: 'Video meliora, proboque; deteriora sequor' (I see better things, I follow the worst). Oh, Life is such a glorious kaleidoscope!

Nu er det Londons tur

Anna Lyttiger — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:22:59 +0000

til at høre alt det gode om islam. Der afholdes stort islam-tam-tam d. 11-14 juli 2008.

Jeg har ikke kunnet finde frem til, hvor pengene til dette gigant-arrangement kommer fra - billigt er det i hvert fald ikke - alene websitet ligner noget i 1.000.000 kr.-klassen. "No expense was spared", som grundlæggeren af Jurassic Park siger i Spielberg's film, og vi ved jo nok hvordan den historie ender.

Husker jeg rigtigt fra den gang udstillingen var i København, havde EU's Anna Lindh Foundation vist pungen fremme, ligesom der kom en del sponsering fra Saudi Arabien og et beløb fra Udenrigsministeriet. Hvis en læser skulle finde frem til fakta, hører jeg meget gerne nærmere. Jeg er i hvert fald sikker på, at seancen ikke financieres af billet-indtægterne.

Man skulle ellers tro at londonerne har islams velsignelser i frisk erindring. Hvis de brave londonere har fornuften i behold, bliver de væk fra dette arrangement.

Talerlisten omfatter upartiskheder som Tariq Ramadan, Yvonne Ridley, Ken Livingstone, "Yusuf Islam" og John Esposito foruden et væld af sheiker, eunukhandlere, venstreekstremister, mullah'er og konvertitter. Hele multi-kulti-lobbyen parat til at apologere, relativisere og propagandere. Et par prøver på debattens emner - det skal nok blive oplysende:

Sponsored by Aljazeera: Media: Propagating Information or Prejudice?
Sponsored by Ibn Jabal. Surah Yusuf: A guide to resisting temptation (Ja, det kunne behøves)
Do Muslim Women Need Liberating? (i panelet bl.a. det omvandrende stockholmsyndrom Yvonne Ridley)
Sponsored by Friends of Al Aqsa: Palestinian Nakbah: A 60-Year Catastophe
Supported by Demos: The Islamist Threat: Myth or Reality? (i panelet bl.a. John Esposito)
Supported by CagePrisoners: Guantanamo: From Cuba to Britain (!!!)
Supported by Conflicts Forum: Beyond Islamophobia: Towards a New Political Discourse
Supported by The Guardian: How to Understand the Quran (i panelet bl.a. Tariq Ramadan)

IslamExpo

jonathanfryer — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:37:27 +0000

This evening I was at the Opening Ceremony and pre-reception of IslamExpo at London's Olympia, which proclaims itself to be Europe's largest celebration of Islamic heritage, culture and traditions under one roof. It's certainly an impressive operation, running until Monday, with hundreds of stalls, exhibits, gardens and cafés, as well as a rich and eclectic programme of lectures, seminars and entertainment. Topics in the former include burning issues such as 'Is radicalisation a failure of multi-culturalism?', 'The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?' and 'Attacks on Islam: Free Speech or Islamophobia?' Speakers scheduled to appear include the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner, former Guantanamo inmate Moazzem Begg, Tariq Ramadan, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), John Esposito and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

At the reception, I ran into Ken Livingstone (who would be speaking later with Simon Hughes and others). It's the first time I've seen Ken since his defeat in the London Mayorals. He clearly still hankers after the job. Asked if he might run for parliament next time, he demurred, saying the only job in national politics worth having is to be Prime Minister. As that is never going to happen, maybe he is more sensible to concentrate on the (nonetheless difficult) goal of getting reselected by Labour for London in 2012.

Link: www.islamexpo.com

Oda a Londres

Ra — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:27:34 +0000

"In the days that follow, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to London, as so many have come before, because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves."
Ken Livingstone, alcalde de Londres (2000-2008), tras los atentados de julio de 2005

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Londres construye su éxito con lo que otras ciudades consideran inadmisible."][/caption]

It's Time to Finish the Fight.

flightofdeath — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:06:14 +0000

Three years on from the terrible, tragic events of 7th July 2005, let us spare a thought for those who died, their families and their friends. Let us be thankful for our emergency services, who were key to delivering a quick, effective and life-saving response. Let us be thankful that we know if this happens again, people will, like they did 3 years ago today, not panic after a bomb has exploded metres from them, but rush to help those around them and save lives. Let us be thankful that further attacks in 2005, 2006 and 2007 were thwarted - sometimes due to the stupidity of those trying to carry out these despicable deeds.

I have no doubt that terrorists will attempt, and it is highly probable that they will at some point succeed, to indiscriminately kill more innocent people in our country, be it in the capital or elsewhere. I have no doubt that they will continue to seek to divide us and to scare us. However, I have no doubt that they will not succeed in dividing us and scaring us. For that is the strength of the people as a whole - they fight, but not with murderous attacks. The resilience shown by those who travelled by tube the next day is a testimony to how we will stand strong against those who seek to hurt us and we will prevail. Our numbers are far, far greater than theirs and even if they strike us, we will get straight back up and be ready to retaliate with love and moral compassion - our 'weapon' to be used against them.

This feeling was echoed by many on 7th July 2005. Scott Mills rounded off his show with the song 'Tubthumping' due to high listener demand. The lyrics "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down" represented the defiant attitude of the people in this country. A small, seemingly anecdotal fact, but one of great importance nonetheless.

I think that Ken Livingstone, ex-Mayor of London, has said it best, so I shall end this post with his wise words.

Ken Livingstone wrote:

Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.

I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.

In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.

They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.

It's never the original accusations that get you in the end, it's the lies

labourboy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:32:17 +0000

Well surprise surprise, Ray Lewis has resigned, the day after Mayor of London Boris Johnson defended him fully and denounced the allegations as a conspiracy because he had the guts to go work for Boris Johnson.

However, it's not the accusations that made his position untenable, but the lies he's been telling. The key moment came when the Ministry of Justice issued a statement (and I imagine Jack Straw was quite gleeful about it) saying that, contrary to what he says, Ray Lewis has never been a Justice of the Peace. Lewis tried to clarify his comments by saying he'd been 'considered', but by that point the game was up.

Johnson tried to defend his own actions by saying he'd been 'msled' by Lewis, but you have to wonder why not background checks were carried out on him. As it happens, they could have carried them out but decided not to, which is frankly unforgiveable given that David Cameron has aligned himself with Lewis since Day One of becoming Tory leader.

So the Tories are in a bit of a mess over it and it looks like predictions about Boris' capacity and judgement in becoming Mayor of London may be true after all. Although I disagreed with the original resignation of his advisor over the so-called racist remarks, two resignations in the space of two weeks is horrific. As Ken Livingstone pointed out, he only had one in eight years.

Naturally Labour have sought to stick the knife in, as they should do frankly. Hazel Blears saying that the Tories are in complete disarray. What amused me was the pathetic response of one of Boris' advisors, Kit Malthouse, unelected Deputy Mayor for policing, who said that Labour were 'dancing on his political grave' and that this was 'ungracious' because of all the work he'd done to help young kids. What sort of an argument is that?

It's this continuous attitude of the Johnson administration, that they are always hard done by, always the martyrs, always the victims of a left-wing/politically correct conspiracy, that shows the massive streak of arrogance that runs right through Boris Johnson and his team, and by extension (given that the 'team' are all Conservatives) the Conservative Party.

I have to admit, although Ray Lewis may be a very capable man and actually - lies aside - be innocent of all the accusations, there is an element of schadenfreude in watching Johnson struggle in the mess of an aide being accused of wrongdoings, after the capital he made over the Lee Jasper affair, which he exaggerated beyond belief to paint Ken Livingstone and his team as totally corrupt and loose with taxpayers money (the sums of money involved in the Jasper affair are a miniscule amount of the Mayors total budget).

It just goes to show, what goes around comes around, and his team can hardly cry foul now that the boot is on the other foot.

Boris's Pride outfit and the political precipice

thelayoftheland — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:48:59 +0000

So so sad I cannot be there... wouldn't this be amazing! Thanks Dave! I still think he'd do worse than follow Dr David Bull's outfit.

In more exciting news perhaps the country's wonky shopping trolley wheel is unashamedly steering us towards that rather worrying looking precipice on the right.

But how far? I hope the New Statesman doesn't have the answer:

An increasing number of traditional Labour voters believe that the party no longer reflects their interests. This is in no small measure a result of new Labour's triangulation tactic - a deliberate shift to what the political class thinks is the "centre ground". It is also a symptom of a failure to prioritise grass-roots activism at the local level, instead flirting with the "virtual party" and delivering messages through centralised marketing. The danger is not only that we ignore the reasons for the strength of the BNP, but that in so doing we reinforce the very conditions that have created it.

Oh do be quiet

Jonny Rosemont — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:57:28 +0000

Is it me or is Ken Livingstone sounding like a broken record? He lost and now he's acting like the worst loser of all time. Looking to wait for Boris to make a mistake? Honestly, like the rest of his compatriots, he really doesn't know when his time is up!

Livingstone: Look, I Came Here For a Good Argument

Neil Reddin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:28:32 +0000

At the risk of appearing a Livingstone obsessive, I though I'd post a transcript of Ken's first appearance today as a presenter on LBC radio.

(Errrm, it may not be entirely verbatim, but you'll get the general idea of how it sounded!)

Ken Livingstone (for it is he): "Hi, this is Ken Livingstone here on LBC. Phone me, text me, or email me, and be as rude as you like."

Caller 1: "Hi Ken. I’d just like to say what a tragic shame it was that you lost. I compare it to the assassination of Allende in Chile by the evil American Empire, or the rise of Hitler perhaps."

KL: "Oh dear, how embarrassing. This isn’t a set up, honest. We’d better find someone to criticise me otherwise they’ll complain that we’re not balanced."

Caller 2: "Hi Ken, I’d like to say congratulations to you on getting a larger vote this time than you've ever had before."

KL: "Errm, thanks, but we’re going to have the authorities onto us because we’re not finding any callers to have a go at me.

"By the way, we asked Boris Johnson if he wants to come on and have a good argument, but haven’t heard back."

Caller 3: "Ken, mate, I think you could do no wrong. I was so upset when you lost."

KL: "I’m going to have to cut you off there, surely there’s someone out there who wants to argue with me. Incidentally, if Andrew Gilligan’s listening, he could call in if he thinks he's hard enough.

Caller 4: "Ken, I’ve got a few points for you. I think you are an anti-semite and a paranoid fascist. Let me go through each of those."

KL: "OK, fine. This is more like it."

Caller 4: "Right then. That you’re paranoid. I say this because… police … bbxzxt."

KL: "Sorry caller, you’re breaking up. Oh well, time for the travel news."

(Time passes).

Ken: Thanks there to Dave Spart in Neasden. By the way, we did invite God onto the programme, but we haven’t heard back from the big beardy coward.

…

OK, so now for a few more accurate nuggets (again from memory .. what? I do have to work y'know):

Andrew Hosken (unofficial biographer): "So, would you run for Mayor again?"

KL: "Well, if there was a by-election – I mean, if Boris was arrested and carted off, as he should be – then yes I’d like to do it."

On the US embassy not paying their congestion charge:

Cuddly Ken: “If I could I’d have directed the police to crush the ambassador’s car … with the ambassador still in it.”

Caller: “Why don’t you have a go at other countries … like the Nigerians for instance?”

KL: “Well, the Nigerians have never paid anyway.” (So that’s alright then?)

Livingstone Admits Mistake!

Neil Reddin — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:33:04 +0000

On Andrew Marr’s show this morning, former Mayor of London (a title which definitely suits him) Ken Livingstone said he regretted putting the congestion charge call centre in Coventry rather than Croydon, because people in Croydon would have had a better idea of where things were in London.

He has a point, though I doubt that is why Croydon was among the many boroughs that voted Ken out of power.

But that was it. It was rather like getting blood out of the stone for Marr, and even now, Livingstone’s admission sounds rather like Stalin regretting that he didn’t use a different interior design scheme in the Kremlin, or Franco wishing he’d tried to rig a different year’s Eurovision.

Needless to say, he still blames his defeat on Labour’s national unpopularity and, of course, the Evening Standard. This week, though, we will have the delight of witnessing Ken’s own dabbling in the media as he hosts the 1-4pm slot on LBC radio.

“I’ll be the perfect afternoon antidote to Nick Ferrari. You can detox with me.”… quoth Ken on the station’s website. Now was the reference to addiction treatment his own invention or that of a mischievous LBC PR bod?

From City Hall to Club Row?

daistation — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:53:54 +0000

Communist Students member James Turley sees little prospect of future success for Socialist Action and Respect:

When the Respect (un)popular front split last autumn, it provided something of a parlour game for the rest of the left - which fragment would collapse first?

The Socialist Workers Party was seriously rocked internally by the nakedly apolitical nature of the split, and Respect-SWP included very little more than itself. The George Galloway wing had legal ownership of the name and almost all of Respect’s elected representatives went over to Galloway’s side.

Respect-Galloway, however, seemed likely to be crippled by the lack of activists and resources. The SWP had provided most of the foot soldiers for the project. Respect Renewal, as it has become known, had only Alan Thornett’s much smaller liquidationist International Socialist Group as a substitute. The SWP took almost all the student section, as well.

Since then, the SWP wing has become ever more ridiculous. A bungled last-minute name change to ‘Left List’ preceded a disastrous showing in the London elections, and now, farcically, its national council looks set to recommend the adoption of ‘Left Party’, aping Die Linke in Germany. All of Respect-SWP’s remaining councillors in Tower Hamlets (one defected to the Tories earlier this year!), including long-time close ally Oliur Rahman, are seriously considering going over to Labour. The spotlight has fallen away from Galloway’s wing.

Discussions

Some clues to the direction Respect Renewal is taking can be picked up from the latest, fourth issue of its paper, simply titled Respect.¹

The most obvious feature of this publication is how typical it is of the left press in general - that is to say, dry-as-dust sub-populist agitational articles recycling truisms for a mass audience, which, if it actually existed, would not be that stupid anyway. This focus starts on the front page, with Gordon Brown wearing an ineptly-Photoshopped Robin Hood mask over the stupefyingly banal headline “Robs from the poor, gives to the rich”.

Perhaps surprisingly for those who expected RR to go ‘off the deep end’ into identity politics and forget the working class entirely, much of the rest of the paper is concerned with reports of trade union struggles, and a full-page article by SWP defector Nick Wrack runs under the headline “Working class people deserve a party to speak for them”. Indeed, most of the 24 pages read like nothing so much as Socialist Worker. No doubt this is due to the substantial input not only from comrade Wrack, but from the ISG as well.

Salma Yaqoob writes an interesting article for the back page, promoting Respect’s opposition to postal voting on demand. Her core argument is that it plays into the hands of patriarchal power structures in Asian communities, with the effect that women are effectively denied a secret ballot and forced to vote a certain way. If she is correct about this - and there is no reason to suppose she is not - there is a certain irony involved, as it was exactly these patriarchal structures whose mobilisation elected George Galloway to parliament in 2005.

Her conclusion is slightly dubious - would not abolishing postal votes simply switch the burden of disenfranchisement onto those who rely on them? - but the simple act of highlighting a democratic question as a key policy platform (apart from the war) is a break from the SWP era.

And Socialist Worker would not run a letters page which actually allowed for serious levels of dissent on two issues. The first is a short missive weighing in against no-platforming the BNP, not a position amenable to most of the left and certainly not to Respect, with its dubious history of supporting state proscriptions on fascism. The second is a longer, more detailed argument against abortion from a proclaimed atheist correspondent (itself a response to an earlier, pro-choice article by the ISG’s Terry Conway).

So is Respect on the way to a healthier internal life at least? Here, our picture must be qualified by turning to student politics.

Rumblings in NUS

Ruqayyah Collector, incumbent black students officer for the National Union of Students, posted on her blog last week an aggressive condemnation of the SWP’s intervention at the recent NUS black students conference. Collector is a member of Student Broad Left and - presumably - Socialist Action, the clandestine Stalinist sect that controls it.

Student Respect (which was never much more than the Socialist Workers Student Society, and went over to the SWP side of the Respect split entirely) had put up non-SWPer Assed Baig for black students officer, the post Collector currently holds. Ruqayyah claims that Baig and SR entered into a bloc with the ‘Organised Independents’, a motley crew of liberals, Tories and christians and one of the two serious factions on the NUS right. This “unprincipled” bloc is a threat to “the maximum, principled unity of African, Arab, Asian and Caribbean people”, and will play into the hands of those who wish to push through the anti-democratic governance review.²

Assed Baig, for his part, hit back with a long list of criticisms of SBL’s “corruption” - and claimed that “Student Respect’s line was to transfer to Bell [Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy, SBL candidate and now black students officer elect] despite Ruqqayah’s [sic] undemocratic methods”. However, “we decided to let delegates choose for themselves between the corrupt Broad Left and Salima [Lanquaye, Organised Independents candidate]” (I assume this apparent contradiction implies that SR members second-preferenced Bell without agitating for others to do the same).³

The arguments are circular and often laughably hypocritical, but there are two symptomatic sentences which we should note. Collector refers to Baig as “the SWP/Left list candidate standing fraudulently as Respect”; Baig, before his bullet-pointed list of accusations against SBL, declares: “We can no longer remain publicly uncritical of the way the Broad Left have run our campaign” (emphasis added).

“No longer” indeed - since the SWP has enjoyed a long and ‘productive’ period of on-off alliances with Socialist Action. The latter, as is now infamous, provided bureaucrats to Ken Livingstone during his tenure as London mayor, and SA and the SWP between them ensured that the 2004 London leg of the European Social Forum was dominated by Livingstone-friendly voices and rendered as always an inert talking shop.

And earlier this year, in a sectarian power-play against the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty’s student front, Education Not for Sale, during talks for a united left slate for the NUS full-time positions, SWP/SR insisted on two spaces on any slate for SBL and only one for ENS (none at all, of course, for Communist Students). Communists can only laugh at Assed Baig’s sudden ‘discovery’ of Ruqayyah Collector’s lukewarm opposition to the governance review (given SA’s parlous record on democratic questions in general, one imagines that its only real objection is that it does not get to enforce the review), since it was Baig and his SWP supporters who provided left cover for it in the run-up to conference.

What could have caused such a happy relationship to turn sour? Collector, in her accusation of “fraudulent” use of the Respect name, gives us our answer - Socialist Action has, since its ignominious ejection from City Hall, changed its base of operations completely to Respect Renewal.

Where now?

This highlights an interesting process which is only now beginning.

The total immersion of Socialist Action into Respect Renewal is not, yet, making its effects fully felt. Certainly, a publication edited by these bureaucrats would not feature such a wide selection of voices from the different RR factions, never much more than allies of convenience.

The paper, it will be remembered, was created effectively on the initiative of the ISG, which even suspended publication of Socialist Resistance for a time in order to put more resources into Respect’s paper at its Club Row headquarters. Its editorial board was appointed before SA began fishing around for influence, and when the ISG represented the largest and most influential organised left grouping within RR -which is why the paper today bears the ISG’s fingerprints in its workerism-plus-identity-politics political approach.

In the short to medium term, we can expect some kind of struggle between SA and the ISG, then, effectively in competition for the Galloway ‘contract’ - the right to take a hegemonic role over the day to day activity of the grouping.

Until recently, the smart money would be on Socialist Action emerging victorious from this process - but that was because SA was drawing a number of ‘smart’ pay cheques from City Hall (not to mention exercising something like Ken Livingstone’s royal prerogative), some running into six figures. Those resources are gone, and only one or two full-timers in the NUS and CND remain in similar gainful employment.

There are three possible outcomes, then: firstly, the marginalisation of Socialist Action might be desirable for Respect’s political character, but it would leave it in the same overstretched/undermanned boat it currently occupies; secondly, the rise to dominance of SA could precipitate a split with (or even in) the ISG, with Respect coming to be a ginger group influencing Labour leftists; thirdly, some kind of compromise between the two forces would leave it better off organisationally, but (even more) strategically directionless.

None of these possibilities point towards the serious prospect of future success. One thing is for sure: the beast that emerges from this struggle will be every bit as strategically infantile as the forces that brought it to birth.

Notes

1. www.respectrenewal.org/images/stories/downloads/respectnewspaper4.pdf
2. www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/ruqayyahcollector/275557.aspx
3. www.educationet.org/messageboard/posts/1175528323.html

from the Weekly Worker

The man with the golden opportunity

Tom Harris — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:26:52 +0000

Attended the launch party of my Facebook friend Jonathan Isaby's book, Boris v Ken, co-written by Giles Edwards. No sooner had I arrived in a very crowded upstairs room at a pub in Horseferry Road when who should walk in but...

"Britt Ekland!" I gasped excitedly to an SNP MP and a Scotland on Sunday reporter.

Britt Ekland! Star of one of my all-time favourite films, The Wicker Man, and, of course, the actress who played Mary Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun, opposite Roger Moore's 007.

She looked exactly as I had last seen her in a documentary about her marriage to the late Peter Sellers: still very glamorous and gorgeous. Britt Ekland. I could hardly believe it.

"Do you want me to go and speak to her?" asked the rather too-eager nationalist.

"No, I want to," I replied, leading the way through the crowd.

Britt Ekland! Fantastic. Once, just after being elected, I had passed Roger Moore at Heathrow's Terminal One, and had ever since regretted not stopping to speak to him. I doubt if I'll ever get another chance. But here, right in front of me, was a real life Bond girl, and I wasn't going to miss this opportunity, oh no.

"Excuse me," I ventured, straining to be heard over the noise of the crowd around me, desperately trying to create a good impression for this screen icon. "But are you Britt Ekland?"

She smiled. "No."

Oh.

Britt Ekland: never met Tom Harris

Unions Sever All Links with Rise Festival

Aled Dilwyn Fisher — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:53:38 +0000

No surprise, really, given this.

From Unite in London:

**** FOR IMMEDIATE USE ****

LONDON UNIONS SEVER ALL LINKS WITH RISE FESTIVAL

Today (Monday 23 June) the trade unions in London announced that they have withdrawn all support from the Mayor of London's Rise Festival.

The organisation of the event has been a fiasco from start to finish. Arrangements for the festival began under former Mayor Livingstone. Three weeks after the London elections new Mayor Johnson confirmed the event would continue as before.

Then suddenly Mr Johnson's new cultural advisor, Munira Mirza, stripped the festival title of its sub-heading "London United Against Racism" only for the Mayor to say to the BBC that he knew nothing of this decision.

Ms Mirza also banned the Cuba Solidarity Campaign from continuing their joint sponsorship of the Latin American stage in partnership with Unite, and from even participating in the event.

The unions have decided that this package of measures changes the focus and nature of the Rise Festival to such an extent that it will be just another musical event in Finsbury Park, and therefore that money earmarked for anti-racist campaigning will be better spent in other ways.

Megan Dobney, the TUC's London Regional Secretary said: "Trade unions are greatly offended by the removal of the central anti-racist message as well as by the ban on an organisation supported by the TUC. Trade union negotiation has proved fruitless and SERTUC is therefore left with no alternative but to withdraw."

Steve Hart, Unite London Regional Secretary said: "Rise, or Respect as it was known, was launched by the trade unions as a means of involving mainly young people in anti-racism in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence and other racist murders. What is the point of what was explicitly an anti-racist festival if it drops its commitment to anti-racism?"

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary said: "We have supported the Rise Festival as a celebration of London's diverse communities and of anti-racism. It appears that this clear message is now being lost and the FBU no longer feels able to participate. We remain committed to any genuine initiative aimed at combating racism."

This statement is also endorsed by Thompson's Solicitors and the Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils.

**** ends ****

For further please contact: Megan Dobney (TUC) on 020.7467.1220; Steve Hart (Unite) on 07970.081509; Matt Wrack (FBU) on 020.8541.1765

Note to editors:

The Rise Festival started life in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence murder as the TUC organised Respect anti-racist festival.

The idea was taken up by Ken Livingstone when Mayor, who promoted seven annual festivals during his mayoralty.

During the Livingstone years the name was changed from Respect to Rise.

Another Tory Banana Skin

jonathanfryer — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:04:44 +0000

Boris Johnson has been in office for less than two months and already he has lost one of his key advisors: his deputy chief-of-staff, James McGrath, who fell on his sword when it became obvious that there was no way of excusing his comment to a black journalist that elderly Caribbean residents of London should go back home if they don't like it here, now that Boris is in charge in City Hall. I do not for one moment believe that James McGrath is a racist, nor Boris Johnson for that matter. But they, like several other senior Tories, have chalked up quite a record of saying unfortunate things that can harm race relations. I do not think that we need to have the sort of rigid political correctness which Ken Livingstone sometimes espoused. But everyone even remotely connected with politics in the capital these days has to acknowledge that we live in one of the most multicultural cities on earth, and that that diversity is something to be celebrated. Talking about people 'going back home' was for many people a hurtful thing to say, even if that was not James McGrath's intention, just as Boris Johnson's earlier written comments about 'picaninnies' and 'water-melon smiles' were not greeted with the jocularity in which he no doubt intended them. If the Conservative Party aspires to run not just London but Britain, it needs to send some of its senior figures on a cultural awareness programme. Remarks that might have gone down well in certain suburban golf clubs or the changing rooms of public schools a generation ago are unacceptable in the UK now.

Total Politics for Anoraks

jonathanfryer — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:38:10 +0000

MPs and councillors will find a new publication landing on their desks soon: a magazine called 'Total Politics', which is being launched by the Tory blogger Iain Dale. The enterprise is backed by (Lord) Michael Ashcroft, which is a bit disconcerting, as he is the man who has been pouring tens of thousands of pounds into parliamentary constituencies the Conservatives are hoping to snatch at the next election. But Iain Dale is insistent that it will cover the whole political spectrum, so there will be something for everyone. The cover story of the first issue (July) is an interview with Gordon Brown, who looks marginally less zombie-like than he has on television recently. Polly Toynbee is there, as is one of those questionnaire-thingies with Mark Oaten, MP, who reveals that his favourite view is crossing into Manhattan from JFK airport, and that he gets up to dance to Sister Sledge. Sigh. But there is some meatier stuff.

Unelected political anoraks, including former politicos like Ken Livingstone who are suffering withdrawal symptoms, can purchase the new mag from newsagents and certain bookshops. Or take a look online:

www.totalpolitics.com

Caroline Pidgeon's First Outing

jonathanfryer — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:02:27 +0000

The newly-elected LibDem member of the Greater London Assembly (GLA), Caroline Pidgeon, did her first local party members' briefing last night, when she went to Beckenham. Hailed by the Evening Standard as 'someone to watch', Caroline has been given the plum transport brief, which is the one that Lynne Featherstone used so effectively before moving onwards and upwards to become an MP. But as Caroline lamented, GLA members have no real power, unlike her role as deputy leader of Southwark Council. Instead, their job is to scrutinise the Mayor. There have been two Mayoral question times already, and Caroline has been pressing Boris Johnson on his pledge to bring in a Routemaster Mark II bus, as well as on trams and other issues of concern. Oddly, unlike his predecessor Ken Livingstone, Boris did not go round City Hall meeting and greeting GLA members straight after his election, and Caroline is not alone in wondering if he will get bored with all his mayoral resposibilities after a while. But as he seems to be busy appointing unelected people to do most of the real work, perhaps that won't matter.

Political falsehoods

northbritain — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:56:13 +0000

Well it didn't take long, did it?

Boris Johnson, the new London Mayor, famous for his political blunders, has stumbled into another one. He has just claimed that Londoners are "forking out for things in Scotland".

It was said that during the London Mayoral campaign that the Conservative Party shielded Boris from the journalists and the public. Most of all they were protecting Boris from himself.

When Boris Johnston won the election, First Minister Alex Salmond wrote to him saying “If there are things that we can co-operate on, let's co-operate.” One of these areas of co-operation would have been the planning of sporting events: London is hosting the Olympic Games in 2012, Glasgow is hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Boris Johnston's views on Scotland have been well known before this outburst.

At the time of Alex Salmond's letter to Mr. Johnston, the First Minister refused to be drawn in a war of words with the new Mayor. Instead he merely pointed out that originally the previous Mayor of London had also held similar inaccurate views on Scottish expenditure, before being shown of the true figures. “If Ken Livingstone can see the light in these matters, even Boris Johnson will come to realise the same thing.”

Before realising the truth, Ken Livingstone was quoted: "We need Crossrail to keep London's economy ticking over so that we can continue to pay for the Scottish to live the lifestyle to which they are accustomed".

On today's outburst, it seems that it's taking Boris Johnston just a wee while longer to get his head around the figures.

The SNP Westminster leader, Angus Robertson, no doubt felt exasperated by Mr. Johnston's latest gaffe. "When Boris Johnson gets up in the morning, he should thank his lucky stars that Scottish oil revenues are keeping the London Treasury afloat. And at bedtime, he should express his gratitude to the rest of the country for the Lottery good causes money being diverted to fund the London Olympics.

"Now that Boris is elected, it's time for him to get real. Public spending per head is higher in London than in Scotland. Even his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, eventually realised the error of his ways and accepted that Scotland subsidises the UK exchequer. Educating Boris in financial reality might prove more difficult."

What is clear however with both these London Mayors is an initial misunderstanding of how much monies Scotland's economy provides the Treasury.

These "Scotland is overly subsided" views are not only held by the two Mayors but by a section of the English public too.

Its not the case in Scotland where even the unionist politicans admit that an Independent Scotland is financially viable and well capable of looking after themselves.

So the question is, why does that view persist in England? It does the idea of the Union no good in England if Scotland is thought of as a subsidy junkie. In a recent poll 59% of English wanted Scotland to be independent.

I think the problem may come from the Westminster Government's lack of direction.

If Gordon Brown claimed Scotland was a subsidy junkie, it would inflame English independence or at the very least the demand for an English Parliament, neither of which things he desires.

If Gordon Brown claimed Scotland more than paid its share, it gives backing to Scottish independence and loses Labour's grip on Scotland, neither of which things he desires.

Hence able to say neither, he just wraps himself in a Union flag, and continually talks about Britishness. Hence the recent flawed proposal for a British Day.

North and south of the border no-one buys it. I mean, his favourite moment in sport was the England 2-0 football victory over Scotland in 1996? The anglification of the Prime Minister has been so rapid and zeal-like, the manner would impress David Koresh.

Thats why Boris is on firmer ground with "You've got Scottish MPs, the Prime Minister and Chancellor, who are treating the country in an inequitable way".

Its certainly inequitable to Scotland anyway.

He should drink it or auction it (unless it "belongs to" Ken Livingstone of course.)

David Davis — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:23:55 +0000

David Davis

Boris Johnson has found over 100 bottles of fine Burgundy in ken Livingstone's old office.

If it turns out to be the property of council tax payers, I guess he could flog it and give them a rebate of about 0.0002p each. If it's Red Ken's actual private stuff, I guess they should send it back (but you can never tell with lefty politicos these days, as the dividing line between their property and that of the "people" is so nebulous.

I suppose he could auction it for some charity or other. A donation to the Libertarian Alliance would be most welcome.

Boris: Unready on day one

Neil — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:04:05 +0000

So, you remember when the left's Guardians of Moral Purity declared Ken Livingstone unfit for office; citing, among other things, his lack of openness and accountability, his lavishing money on unelected hacks and basically running City Hall as his own personal fiefdom? Well, they might have got their wish, but it turns out the man replacing him has decided he'd quite like a bit of that. Via LC, The Tory Troll uncovers the £465,000 Mayor Johnson has spent on a 'transition team' of spinners and Team Boris toadies.

Now, we could point out the flagrant hypocrisy of Team Boris mimicking Ken at his worst - the cash wasted on cronies, the lack of openness - but The Bleeding Heart Show abhors the use of clichés. Instead, we'll just point out that it doesn't reflect well on a man who tried to portray himself as the epitome of competence to spend half a million pounds of taxpayers money in the hope that someone might teach him how to do the job he applied for. Would quite as many Londoners have put a cross by Boris' name if they'd known, to invert a well-worn slogan, that he was 'unready to lead on day one'? I'm not so sure.

Photo by Flickr user Roystonford (Creative Commons)