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 03/05/2008, 10:09
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nectarine
 
Joined on 02/08/2007
London & Lot-et-Garonne
Posts 179
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well I was working as a poll clerk at one of the polling stations in Surrey where our region didn't have a mayoral vote, only voting for the local council. I was surprised at the amount of people who came in and expressed surprise or anger that our area wouldn't have a chance to vote for the London Mayor, since the mayoral policies don't just affect central London but also the suburbs around that are full of commuters who travel in there to work. Without exception, all of the voters who came to my desk and asked if they had a mayoral vote then said that they wanted Ken out, as he had effectively driven the commuters away. They couldn't drive in to London (and suburban train services can be patchy in the evenings and at weekends) and that was a big issue, especially with the planned increase in congestion charge. Many of them had to take a vehicle in (vans, etc.) for building work and they said they were just being priced out. However, there is a surcharge on our council rates for pay for the mayor, so we have to pay but don't get any say in the vote! So, regardless of what central Londoners think, I believe there may be rejoicing in the suburbs - not for the vote for Boris but for the fact that Ken is now out!
If you look like your passport picture, then you probably need the holiday.
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03/05/2008, 11:38
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Dick Smith
Joined on 23/08/2004
Surrey and Manche (Pays Mortainais)
Posts 8,731
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 nectarine wrote: | well I was working as a poll clerk at one of the polling stations in Surrey where our region didn't have a mayoral vote, only voting for the local council. I was surprised at the amount of people who came in and expressed surprise or anger that our area wouldn't have a chance to vote for the London Mayor, since the mayoral policies don't just affect central London but also the suburbs around that are full of commuters who travel in there to work. Without exception, all of the voters who came to my desk and asked if they had a mayoral vote then said that they wanted Ken out, as he had effectively driven the commuters away. They couldn't drive in to London (and suburban train services can be patchy in the evenings and at weekends) and that was a big issue, especially with the planned increase in congestion charge. Many of them had to take a vehicle in (vans, etc.) for building work and they said they were just being priced out. However, there is a surcharge on our council rates for pay for the mayor, so we have to pay but don't get any say in the vote! So, regardless of what central Londoners think, I believe there may be rejoicing in the suburbs - not for the vote for Boris but for the fact that Ken is now out! |
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So the running of London is about some Surrey van drivers (and what a lovely bunch they are - not) being made to pay the congestion charge like everybody else?
Stunning political analysis...
Regards
Dick Smith
Nowhere is there warmth to be found
Among those afraid of losing their ground
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03/05/2008, 18:22
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LyndaandRichard
Joined on 01/05/2005
Posts 761
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I want to see him as pm of England. It's about time we had some characters to became the headpiece of countries. It's been rather stale since the Thatcher, Reagan, Hawkin, Gorby years. Grey, faceless pm's like Major, Blair and Brown with zero personality have made politics even more boring.
And if you watch Yes Minister, you will know that it's civil servants who run the country anyway....![Wink [;-)]](/cs/images/emotions/wink.gif)
Your Property in France
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03/05/2008, 18:33
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Marym2
Joined on 23/08/2004
london/brittany
Posts 103
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Well done Boris, and a few other too. Like a lot of people I voted for Boris as it was scandel after scandel (re Jasper) as well as the way this EX Mayor who for me has been a joke for many years, now he is out, lets hope Boris gets rid of a few things that the EX mayor forced on us in London. Wish he would give France the Games as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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03/05/2008, 19:44
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Cathy
Joined on 07/03/2006
Mostly near Bordeaux; Sometimes near Bristol
Posts 1,685
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Have a look at his website.
http://www.boris-johnson.com/
His books are fascinating and show his intellect. He is not a buffoon. "Lend me your ears" is a collection of his Telegraph articles. I read it about 3 years ago and was hooked. From then on, I would read his articles in the Thursday edition of the paper or online. The Barclay Bros paid him £250,000 per year for his writings. You don't pay that kind of money to an idiot.
'Dream of Rome' is an interesting study and as you read it, you can hear his voice dictating it - it contains his speech mannerisms. It has some absorbing analogies between the Roman Empire and the EU. Take a look at the customer reviews of this book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Rome-Boris-Johnson/
Cathy
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Your children won't remember you ironing their pyjamas but they will remember you reading them a bedside story.
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04/05/2008, 8:49
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Quillan
Joined on 23/08/2004
Forum Moderator
Posts 3,576
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Looking forward to the political comment this morning on the Politics show to see what they have to say. Having read a few of the 'morning after' article's perhaps it was not just the link between Ken and Gordon that was Ken’s downfall. There seems to be a state of apathy involved especially when you consider 55% of the registered electorate could see little point in getting out and voting.
I was wondering if this is the real state of current UK politics, this state of general apathy. In the last election it appeared a lot of people turned out to vote but in reality didn't, I shall explain what I mean. I remember somebody tried to work out what the real turnout was by taking the quantity of people who were registered to vote and comparing them against those in the last census who were eligible to register to vote and there was a massive, massive difference. When a survey was done, by the labour party incidentally, the reason people were not registering to vote was because they didn't see the point as nobody had anything of interest to offer them with regards to future policies. Sort of "it will never change whoever is in power so why bother". You can of course argue the rights and wrongs of such attitudes but you can't stop people thinking the way they do unless you drop the voting age to 16 and indoctrinate them at school " type="#_x0000_t75">.
You do get 'die hard' Labour supporters who find it difficult to both see or understand that like the Tories they too have got it terribly wrong and are so totally out of tune with the electorate, their aspirations, wants and needs. Very few or the government members, if any, have ever had to live off income support or low wages, never had to wonder what they can buy with the two quid in their pocket to feed the 2.5 children. The labour party wants to get rid of child poverty in the UK. The intellectuals say they are referring to education etc when what the ordinary people on low incomes really want is financial help to put food on the table and cloths on their children's backs. What does labour do, smack these people in the mouth by removing the 10p tax, well that will really help them.
People want better education, health and policing. These are issues that local and national government, labour in particular (as they are the government) have failed to address in real terms. They threw billions after billions in to these sectors but fail to do nothing about the massive hole in the bottom where the money appears to go out quicker than it goes in. It's just throwing good money after bad. The 'trick' is they can legitimately say they have given loads more money to these sectors, more so than the previous government, but ordinary people, especially in inner cities see little or no change. They are like the forgotten population.
London has been left in a terrible state by Ken. The Surrey 'white van driver' who is legitimately going about his business is finding it hard to compete against the major courier services because of the congestion charge. Just because you don't like them does not mean they don't have the right to work. Small business's are suffering, corner shops who have to go outside the congestion charge area to visit the Cash and Carry. Builders, painters and other tradesmen also suffer as does the end user because theses people can't operate inside London. Those inside (the now to get bigger) congestion zone that require these trades have to pay a higher rate to the companies based inside the congestion zone because they in turn have to pay higher rent for their offices and because there is also a lack of competition and can charge what they like.
Londoners want to see more police on the street, not a couple of hundred they need a few thousand to make a real difference and they want them to be highly visible to stop crime. They also want to be able to travel on the public transport system late at night without the worry that the group of youths at the end of the tube platform won't mug them. The truth is they probably won't mug you but its how people feel and the only way to stop them feeling this way is to have a visible police presence. Perhaps Boris will deal with this in a "New York" way where people have successfully 'reclaimed' the streets at night
Londoners want better transport at cheaper prices to make them move out of their cars. Kens method is to beat people over the head by having the congestion charge. This does nothing for the big company car abusers because it's not them that pay the charge so they just carry on driving in as they always have. What it does hit are those that need and use their cars in central London for deliveries. It also effects the service industry (like lift engineers, computer engineers etc, etc.). What is even more bizarre is that crossing London by car can often be quicker than using public transport, so where is the incentive. Why not introduce school buses, think how that will remove the 'school run' cars from the roads at peak time and cut down of pollution. You could use "walking bus's" for getting kids to school like the do outside London except the parents won't have it because there are not enough police around to deter perv's and gangs from attacking their children.
So now they have got rid of Ken (who did have some good points, once, a long time ago) it will be very interesting to see what happens and how the money will be spent.
http://www.chambresdhote.com
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France Forum » General Discuss... » Other Topics » New London Mayor
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