Reasons to vote for Ken, no.5
OK, it's election day, and this is my last one.
Because he is a competent mayor, who has done a good job of administrating one of the world's greatest city, and no other candidate could plausibly do that.
Ken: "The Labour Party has poured money into London. We’ve received £39bn over ten years for transport, £2bn coming in for a major new sewer system, £4bn that the Mayor has to spend to build 50,000 affordable new homes, £79m going towards youth provision – and that’s before the Olympic investment."[source] Can you seriously imagine the buffoon Boris being in charge of that sort of thing?
Can you imagine Boris going off to Singapore winning the competition to host the Olympics and not putting his foot in it? I mean, Boris can't even visit Liverpool without having to dashing to escape the lynch mob; can we really expect him to represent London on the world stage? Boris couldn't even be trusted to say the same thing from day to day that he was demoted from being a junior shadow minister, it was too responsible for him; it demonstrates contempt for the people of London that the Tories trust him with our city.
London is a palpably better place as a result of Livingstone's term. Oyster cards, the congestion charge, decent investment in buses, community police officers on the beat: we cannot afford to jeopardise this.
If you don't accept my reasons, Dave Hill has at least five more, here (h/t Andrew). This is my favourite:
Previously:
Because he is a competent mayor, who has done a good job of administrating one of the world's greatest city, and no other candidate could plausibly do that.
Ken: "The Labour Party has poured money into London. We’ve received £39bn over ten years for transport, £2bn coming in for a major new sewer system, £4bn that the Mayor has to spend to build 50,000 affordable new homes, £79m going towards youth provision – and that’s before the Olympic investment."[source] Can you seriously imagine the buffoon Boris being in charge of that sort of thing?
Can you imagine Boris going off to Singapore winning the competition to host the Olympics and not putting his foot in it? I mean, Boris can't even visit Liverpool without having to dashing to escape the lynch mob; can we really expect him to represent London on the world stage? Boris couldn't even be trusted to say the same thing from day to day that he was demoted from being a junior shadow minister, it was too responsible for him; it demonstrates contempt for the people of London that the Tories trust him with our city.
London is a palpably better place as a result of Livingstone's term. Oyster cards, the congestion charge, decent investment in buses, community police officers on the beat: we cannot afford to jeopardise this.
---
If you don't accept my reasons, Dave Hill has at least five more, here (h/t Andrew). This is my favourite:
Two: Livingstone Has Made The Best JokeAlso read: Livingstone interviews in Time Out and the Jewish Chronicle, the Time Out final assessment, the ES's Paul Waugh on the 7/7 factor.
It happened last Friday morning. A caller to Vanessa Feltz’s Radio London show asked the three main candidates which Shakespeare character they most resembled. Livingstone, self-mocking, chose Julius Caesar. Johnson said Pericles. Much has been made of Johnson’s admiration for the great Athenian leader of that name. Embarrassingly for the classicist, Shakespeare wrote about a different Pericles. Livingstone, often derided as an un-British philistine, spotted this. Johnson, graciously, acknowledged his mistake. Talk then turned to the Sun’s endorsement of the Tory candidate. Johnson expressed his gratitude for this. “Oh Boris,” quipped Ken, “that was before they heard your mistake about Pericles.”
Previously:
- London's left and the peach paper
- Keep the BNP out of London
- Astrologist, Holocaust revisionist and... Respect member
- Bob from Brockley's election endorsements: The rest of London
- Bob from Brockley's election endorsements: Lewisham and Greenwich
- Reasons to vote for Ken, no.1, no.2, no.2 and a half, no.3, no 4
- Political advice at the station
- Greenwich and Lewisham, leave Jones well alone
- The Boris and Ken show continues
- The Ken and Boris show
- Top blogging (on voting Labour)
Comments
just find it interesting how europe seems to be voting conservative, all of a sudden.
To be fair to Boris, he does appear to be very progressive. In his first week in office, he has approved a desalination plant for London (which we need) that Ken was dithering with. Come year 2009, no more problems with water shortages for London - ever. Ken's objections to the plant were unfounded.
As a motorist, I hope that Boris abolishes the congestion charge, which is nothing but a money spinner for the mayor, but somehow, I cannot see Boris doing that.
BTW - my post on Zimbabwe was not a 'defense' of Mugabe's regime, but more of an attack on Western meddling in the internal political affairs on Zimbabwe. For far too long the West have appeared unable to keep their interfering noses out of Africa's political business.
So we should allow the genocide in Darfur to contine.. which we shamefully have?
That kind of "let's not meddle" mentality has been the cause of much death.
It's like allowing a neighbour to beat the shit out of his wife and kids, without calling the authorities, because it's their business, not yours. well, frankly, i wouldn't want that on my conscience.
I am a big supporter of the congestion charge, one of many Ken initiatives that made London better.
I don't know about desalination - I'll have to take your word on that.
On Zimbabwe, I think we as humans, whether Western or not, have a duty to intervene in injustices that effect others. Some meddling is colonialism, but the business of our fellow human beings is our business. Incognito's domestic abusing neighbour is exactly the right metaphor.