There have been press reports, including one of the on the front page of the Daily Mail, concerning a group of fireman being summoned to rescue a seagull and being unable to do so due to health and safety regulations. Cllr Brian Coleman, Chairman of the London Fire Brigade and a Conservative member of the […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Anthony Wells of UK Polling Report has always cautioned me to be weary of opinion polls which are conducted over bank holiday weekends but we have a poll from ITV's London Tonight, the Evening Standard and LBC radio which has Boris 4% ahead of Ken Livingstone after voters' second preferences […]
Have a look at the latest league table for secondary schools in Enfield. You will note that Aylward Academy saw 48% of pupils achieved five or more good GCSEs including English and maths. While for the Nightingale Academy the results were 42%. Then compare the previous year for these two schools then called respectively Gladys […]
This morning Boris Johnson launched his latest manifesto – this time concerned with the economy. Among the proposals is to establish "an independent London Funding Commission to examine the case for a Barnett style formula for London, and lobby Government to ensure London gets back in funding what it contributes to the national purse." He […]
After the LBC debate for Mayor of London this morning Boris Johnson told Ken Livingstone in the lift going out: "You are a f****** liar." It so happened Boris was referring to Livingstone's claim that Boris had set up a company to avoid tax. But there were plenty of Livingstone lies broadcast this morning. The […]
Boris Johnson publishes his Crime Manifesto today with proposals for 2,000 more full time police officers. This would mean adding up to three police officers to each Safer Neighbourhood Team. Boris has presided over a 10.8% reduction in crime and he is determined to achieve a further fall. I'm particularly pleased by the emphasis placed […]
Another staggering example of the contemptuous attitude Ken Livingstone showed for the public purse during his time as Mayor of London. Andrew Gilligan reports for the Sunday Telegraph that at least £6,500 of Council Taxpayer's money to Jan Woolf, a woman who secretly bore his child. Livingstone also gave her Jan Woolf free exhibition space […]
Ken Livingstone has been grossly hypocritical over tax avoidance and is under investigation to see if he has broken the rules. He says journalists haven't asked his accountant any questions about it but he hasn't released his accountant's name. But I think a story broken by the Mail on Sunday this morning into his expense […]
UKIP has picked up a few defectors in local government recently. In Windsor & Maidenhead two Conservative councillors – Cllr Tom Bursnall and his wife Cllr Catherine Bursnall have joined UKIP on the grounds that the Government has not done enough to lower taxation. Perverse given that their local Conservative council is cutting tax. Why […]
Securing an Olympic legacy will be an important challenge for whoever is Mayor of London and this morning Boris Johnson launches a special Olympics Manifesto. Boris says: “This Sunday the Mayoral Development Corporation will be called into being specifically charged with getting long term value. “We will not spend a penny more on legacy budgets […]
In an interview for Prospect magazine that appeared on their blog on Tuesday the Labour candidate for Mayor of London repeated his support for the Occupy London movement. I thought that enforcement of the law in having them evicted from St Pauls was "deplorable." He adds: They had sequestered an area which didn’t impede people […]
This morning Boris Johnson published his Transport Manifesto fizzing with great ideas. It offers, among other things, driverless trains on the London Underground within a decade. Driverless trains don't go on strike. But more generally they are more reliable and cheaper to run and so cheaper to use. They are a financially credible way to […]
Boris Johnson has extended his lead over Ken Livingstone in the race for Mayor of London from 2% to 8% according to the latest YouGov poll. On first preferences of Boris is on 49%, Livingstone 41%, the Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick 5%, others on 4% between them. In the second preference, which is what […]
Last week Boris Johnson issued a Progress Report detailing which of his 108 manifesto pledges from 2008 had been kept. Not all of them have yet. But 91% of them have been achieved. Ken Livingstone was invited to undertake an equivalent assessment of his eight years as Mayor. He has declined to do so. But […]
Ken Livingstone's campaign for Mayor of London appears to be in self destruct mode. The extremism alienates many, while the hypocrisy must mean that even his comrades on the hard left don't feel they can trust him. He faces an HMRC investigation over his tax affairs. On a more mundane level his campaign is a […]