I’ve no wish to distract you from the real meat of this blog but Ross Lydall gives me the chance to add a little sauce. His account of Brian Coleman’s bust-up with LBC’s James O’Brien is quite rich in entertainment. Coleman, under some impressively formidable pressure, admitted front-line services may be cut. His [...]

The Councillor’s office.

Secretary

Have you seen this, sir? They’re claiming you were taken out to lunch by the very company you paid to break the strikes…

Councillor

And?

Secretary

You mean it’s — true?

The Councillor’s office. In the distance, cries of “get Coleman out” are heard.

Councillor

I’m sorry if they’re angry but the cuts have to be made.

Secretary

Yes, Councillor.

Councillor

It’s not as if I like it – but this [...]

Look, I know we’ve had our disagreements with Andrew – and it’s beyond the remit of the site – but, hey, he’s got a damn good article here on the Iranian…

It may not matter all that much: although some blogs are rather important, the vast majority are not.

In London, various blogs obsessively [...]

This is quite encouraging…

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has announced £1.4 million to improve the provision of rape crisis centres in London.

This funding over three years has been found through efficiency savings achieved since the Mayor took office and is an important step in delivering the manifesto commitment to tackle violence [...]

Richard Barnbrook has released a fabulatory review of his first year as an AM, so let’s cast an eye over his claims and, as seems inevitable, the reality looming behind them…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15vb6VsPS44&feature=channel_page[/youtube]

Barnbrook has, as he asserts, been bullish on knife crime; both real incidents and ones that, for the purpose of [...]

Prospect carries an interesting article on Blondon’s first birthday…

As the election neared Nicholas Boles, former director of pro-Cameron think-tank Policy Exchange, was parachuted in. Yet Boles’s arrival, which began as an effort to protect the Tory reputation for efficient governance, unintentionally hobbled Johnson’s first year, as City Hall became riddled with factionalism.

Within [...]

Here’s an interesting report(pdf)…

London has only one rape crisis centre, based in Croydon. It has a six-month waiting list for ‘off-peak’ appointments and a waiting list of up to one year for appointments in the evening. This is unacceptable for women and young girls suffering the significant health and well being consequences of [...]

So, Brian Coleman became Mayor of Barnet last night, and he’s already latched on to the problem with the Borough: yes, it’s bloggers! We apparently “regard it cool and trendy to undermine democratic institutions“, and have “community criticism rather community service”. Well, as I’m feeling suitably pompous today, let me remind Mayor Coleman that, just [...]