Things are moving at a fast pace in Boris world, with the recent stumbles over airport policy being followed by further departures from the administration, although at least in this case it’s not people whom Boris only recently appointed. That’s not necessarily a good thing – as a Captain the time to worry is not when the rats leave your ship but when the helmsman and the guys who know how the sails work decide to go over the side. Boris didn’t, lets face it, bring a great deal in the way of municipal adminstration experience to the party, so a key measure of how he’s doing is watching the City Hall revolving door.
First, there’s a welcome whiff of resistance emerging from the Labour Party. Took your time, lads. As an example, Simon Fletcher in the Guardian reports on an outbreak of Boris-bashing at the Labour Conference, led by the terrifying figure of Gordon Brown.
Meanwhile, on a new blog (h/t Dave H) John Ross puts the boot in over the resignation/removal (delete according to political preference) of James Bidwell from the Visit London marketing organisation, which is apparently considered a waste of money. Not sure I see it myself – if Boris thinks the organisation needs pruning or abolition he should say why this benefits Londoners other than by helping him freeze their precept. The constant pretence that there’s no downside to cuts is beginning to wear thin here.
It is of course the case that both these gentlemen were closely associated with Ken Livingstone, and given that the national Labour Party is still telling the world why Ken lost and in one case working with Boris, would it be too much to ask that they relearn the art of opposition now? The practice might come in useful come 2010.
Another opposition figure from the other side of the London political scene is former AM Damian Hockney, whose occasional comment pieces on Mayorwatch display a high degree of understanding allied (Boris please note) to a lucid and concise writing style. Unusually for a Man of the Right, his latest piece laments the recently departed Ken-era City Hall bureaucrats David Lunts and Janet Worth:
I’m a supporter of slimmed down government, a fan of the Taxpayers Alliance campaigns and no devotee of the idea of ever increased powers and money and staff for any area of government. And a remark the new Mayor made about wanting a lean mean machine to run London should receive the support of all. But squeezing local government of good people and treating those who remain like a second class state in the name of savings is false economy and is the type of thing that brings the concept of value for money into disrepute.
Well worth a read – as ever the blogs have the interesting stories and angles the mainstream don’t report. John Ross and Damian Hockney, rather amazingly, seem to share a common concept of value-for-money in public adminstration.
Talking of not reporting, the apparent U-turn on the plan to replace Heathrow, spotted by the Tory Troll appears not to have penetrated the consciousness of the dutiful journos who printed the original plant from Malthouse last weekend or indeed many other writers. How surprising. A lot of people round here would be rather less keen to support another airport in addition to the one whose traffic is flying overhead all day and night, particularly given the suggested price tag. It’s the closing down bit that appeals to non-airport working Tory voting west Londoners.
It’s worth setting something out here:
- The problem with closing Heathrow is that you annoy all the firms set up deliberately near it plus everyone who works there and all the airlines.
- The problem with not closing Heathrow is that none of the big airlines will move, leaving you with a classic white elephant, only perched on an explosive sandbank.
- The problem with Boris Johnson is that he can’t say no to his team when they want to do something foolish, nor can he apparently judge the foolishness of ideas. I’d like to think these will change with experience, but I think they’re inbuilt. In any case, nearly six months in he’s running out of excuses.
6 responses so far ↓
Another raspberry for Boris Airport – http://danstewart.building.co.uk/2008/09/23/boris-island-what-a-joke/
A very good piece from Damian Hockney. All this is so familiar – I once worked for an organisation which head-hunted, at great expense, a new “Director Of Operations”. The previous incumbent (whose job had a different title, naturally) was sacked and the new Director went on her merry way, instantly sacking everybody whose salary was above a certain level, whilst having no idea whatsoever of how the organisation operated, whether on a day-to-day basis or over a whole year. Yes, she saved a large amount of money immediately but then it quickly became apparent that trying to farm out bits of several people’s jobs to others who have no idea what they’re doing as there’s nobody to explain it to them doesn’t actually work. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t last long and the deleted posts, plus further new posts, were reinstated.
I think we’ve all been there. The cult of managerialism, as Chris Dillow would say – it’s not what you know but what you’re seen to do that matters.
I worked at City Hall in the first couple of years after Damian Hockney was elected and was struck at how he and his colleague on the Assembly were so insistent in budget discussions on the detail of any cuts and would only support things which were spelled out and not related to personalities or politics. I was in the lift when they both had a real set to with the Tories over the idea of staff cutbacks at City Hall and Hockney’s colleague Peter Hulme-Cross was really scathing about counter-productive attacks on staff. I remember him saying they’d achieve no savings, only destabilise the staff and the running of the place. To some of us on that floor, their argument was very persuasive because the savings to be made from the Tory Group budget proposals were tiny and token. And would piss off supporters and opponents alike.
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This was a con for the populist vote of keeping an icon! Throughout my life I saw countless people fall from routemasters- mainly the elderly, children, pushchairs flying off as well as tourists (who are unsure how to use them) jettisoned as they sped around roundabouts! They were DEADLY and TFL should release the figures. There was NO safety with conductors as it was NEVER in their job description to intervene in violence. They are ticket collectors, not bouncers! Fare evasion? Is it only London with so many thieves? Other countries work well with random (severe ticket inspections and fines!) Save Our Benders!!
“Is it only London with so many thieves?”
I’ve noticed with having builders in lately how casual theft is considered acceptable (software/film piracy, unlocking mobile phones, chipped satellite TV). There’s an interesting point to be made about the effect on public morals of restrictive but easily crackable technology. I presume people just separate ‘good’ crimes from ‘bad’ ones, like with speeding.
Ahem. Open platforms should theoretically be more dangerous but I can’t even offer personal experience here – I’ve been a bus user in London for 11 years and I only rarely ever used an RM. They just weren’t on the routes I used – I think a couple of trips on a 94 was about it. Given the high turnover of population in London quite a lot of people will be unfamiliar with the concept, which is one unsaid consequence of trying to turn the clock back.