Boris Watch

From The Tory Troll and Steve Platt

I promise, or at least hope, that is my last excursion into gossip, but I can’t help noticing the developing friction between Boris and Assembly member John Biggs. It is probably to be expected, as the latter is Deputy Chair of the Labour Group, but even with that considered, he seems to be fashioning himself [...]

“You wouldn’t have any problem with [the Rise festival] continuing its anti-racist theme?”

“Yeah, sounds fine to me.”
June 17th

“Boris has made a commitment to go ahead with the Rise Festival this year and wants to emphasise its cultural and community dimensions”
“The idea is to promote it as a major festival that brings together Londoners from all [...]

This evening sees a huge celebration in Hyde Park to mark Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday.
It’s exciting that Mandela should choose London over all other world cities to hold such a prestigious event.
So, is the Mayor of London going to be there? I ask, because I don’t know. There’s certainly no mention of him in any [...]

Dave Hill recorded the State of London Debate, and I’ll work my way through it through it, over whisky, cigarettes etc. In the meantime, however, other reports are filtering through.
Dave notes differences of opinion among the panel, while Martin at Mayor Watch was entirely unimpressed with the officials, but thought that Ross Kemp was rather [...]

One of Boris’s key campaign pledges was to give “injured veterans who live in London” free transport. Today, I was pleased to see that he has confirmed his commitment to this pledge, with a press release stating that:
“The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today announced that injured war veterans in London are to receive free [...]

Simon Milton, Boris’s planning and housing adviser, has blundered his way into the wider world, with an impassioned plea for the privatisation of schools. He invisages a world where charities and companies run state schools, for philanthropy, profit or other interests.
“I have no difficulty with that idea,” he said. “My view, and the LGA’s view, [...]

Andrew Gilligan has attempted to land a few tired punches on ‘da Left’ in today’s Evening Standard. After admitting that it “hasn’t been a good week for Boris“, he writes that the true danger is to ‘anti-Boris forces‘, or “Ken Livingstone groupies” as he charmingly dubs them elsewhere. It seems that scrutinisers of the administration [...]

Dave Hill reports that “Boris has withdrawn London’s membership of the global ‘Mayors for Peace’ initiative, founded by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”.
Jenny Jones, London Assembly Member, who used to be London Chair of Mayors for Peace, isn’t impressed:
Mayors for Peace is an organisation working for cities and their residents to be free from [...]

Noone among us can attend the State of London Debate, so if you’re going and would like to write a report then send your thoughts, praise or venom to staff AT boriswatch DOT co DOT uk (with the obvious format changes, of course, but I trust that you’re all are aware of that…really).