after some pretty well-documented gaffes in that area from ken this is all pretty wtf.
wasn't the guy in short circuit sikh?
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:14 (sixteen years ago) link
Precisely.
― Hello Sunshine, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:15 (sixteen years ago) link
ok well, i don't think boris is that stupid.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:16 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't think he's stupid at all. Just an idiot. Two very different things.
― Hello Sunshine, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:17 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.moviezone.cz/rubrics_images/novinky/6/johnpet_1.jpg
Ken has been a good mayor, apart from the cosying up to the muslim right wing; the congestion charge and cheaper busses have been good, policing doesn't seem to be any worse, he has bugger all power over anything else. Boris must be crust and humiliated at all costs.
― Ed, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:45 (sixteen years ago) link
crust = crushed
― Ed, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:46 (sixteen years ago) link
someone at m4tron4t just suggested they "bring in alan sugar".
― acrobat, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:47 (sixteen years ago) link
Boris must be crust... what, so I can eat him with curds and whey?
Mostly I've been pretty happy with Ken. Except for the bloody stupid Olympics thing.
― Masonic Boom, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:48 (sixteen years ago) link
simon cowell
― RJG, Monday, 16 July 2007 10:49 (sixteen years ago) link
> and cheaper busses
what are these cheaper buses of which you speak? when ken came to power it was the 70p / 100p split, and a day ticket was £2... (now singles are £1 oyster, £2 cash and £3 daily. (or free if it's a bendy bus and you get on at the back))
― koogs, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:05 (sixteen years ago) link
haha yeah otm. buses are not cheaper. nor is the tube.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:11 (sixteen years ago) link
The Tube is cheaper if you have an Oystercard. And hey, what with the glorious new bendy buses you can travel for free most of the time!
― Matt DC, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:41 (sixteen years ago) link
Cheaper than what? I'm pretty sure a travelcard was cheaper pre-Ken than on Oyster, even allowing for inflation.
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:43 (sixteen years ago) link
have they ever gotten cheaper, other than during the GLC?
― stevie, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:45 (sixteen years ago) link
the oyster fares themselves have gone up above inflation, i'm pretty sure. even then it's insanely expensive compared with its european equivalents.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:47 (sixteen years ago) link
The idea that the tube should pay for itself through the fare box is completely out of Ken's hands, but it's a fucking travesty all the same.
― Pete W, Monday, 16 July 2007 11:53 (sixteen years ago) link
cheaper buses??!?
oh xxxxxposts!
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:04 (sixteen years ago) link
it would be interesting to see a pre- and post-ken comparison of bus fare vs. number of buses on the roads, the latter of which has gone up considerably since he became mayor (not to mention average bus speed); it's not just a simple jacking-up of price (cf. the new york MTA), there are concrete additional and improved services being offered for the fare increase
i think ken's great, he should be mayor for life. he's not who i would grow in a lab to be my Ideal Mayor, but look at the alternatives.
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:13 (sixteen years ago) link
but i thought the congestion charge money was going to be used to improve buses etc.
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:18 (sixteen years ago) link
+i'm sure the metrocard was like $2 a day last time i was in new york, and you get 24 hour trains!
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:20 (sixteen years ago) link
but yeah, boris for mayor sounds a bit crap. Can't we just have Arnold Schwarzenegger?
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:21 (sixteen years ago) link
Not seeing much in the way of improved or additional services on the Victoria line at the moment :(
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Do you really think that BORIS* would make the trains run on time?
Come on, this is a man who looks like he can't even match his socks in the morning.
*and I mean Johnson, no the Japanese noize band. Though having a Japanese Noize band for mayor might be quite good.
― Masonic Boom, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:25 (sixteen years ago) link
No, I would definitely vote for Ken over Boris (or probably any of the other candidates). Just moaning.
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:26 (sixteen years ago) link
I know. I just don't want my FIRST ELECTION TO EVER HAVE VOTED IN, OR EVEN BEEN LEGALLY ABLE TO VOTE IN to have to vote against the man I want to father my children. :-(
― Masonic Boom, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:29 (sixteen years ago) link
The first election I ever voted in, I (indirectly, obv) voted for Tony Blair... oh such optimistic days etc. Worcester got its first ever Labour MP thanks to me though (well and partly due to redrawing the boundaries so most of the surrounding farmland got shifted to Wychavon or Malvern or wherever so the constituency only covers the actual city now)
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:34 (sixteen years ago) link
poor children :(
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:49 (sixteen years ago) link
red ken doesn't control the tubes though, does he?
ken c, those things are true of the MTA in new york, but remember that the subways are on about the same frequency - or less - than london buses. and also that the NYC bus system is a joke.
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:50 (sixteen years ago) link
red ken has also told virtually every PFI venture that's gone tits up that they can go hang if they expect a bailout from local government
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:51 (sixteen years ago) link
i mean, as zany as boris is, could even he out-zany this deal that red ken made?? (ans: yes, but it would benefit a handful of his friends rather than a quarter million londoners on income support)
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 13:56 (sixteen years ago) link
that is the right kind of zane
apart from the cosying up to the muslim right wing
jog my memory?
― blueski, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:13 (sixteen years ago) link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4165691.stm
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:16 (sixteen years ago) link
peter watts linked a beef ken had with ed 'the islamist' husain on the today prog recently where ken got his ass handed to him.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:21 (sixteen years ago) link
Qaradawi is hardly a right-wing Muslim
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh god, I think I wanna have your babies...
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44000000/jpg/_44000588_boris203_bbc.jpg
I don't really understand all these "anyone but Ken!" haterz. Though I suppose the things that people complain about (the congestion charge) are exactly the sort of things I think make him a great mayor. These things may not be popular, but they make London a better place for the people that LIVE here.
― Masonic Boom, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:23 (sixteen years ago) link
<i>Qaradawi is hardly a right-wing Muslim</i>
True enough, antisemitism is very left these days.
God, I sound like Nick Cohen.
― Pete W, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:25 (sixteen years ago) link
not always
xpost
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:25 (sixteen years ago) link
he's pretty right-wing, tracer. the ken of the '80s was, if memory serves, quite sanctimonious about LBG issues etc...
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:25 (sixteen years ago) link
whereas boris is a fun-loving leftie
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:28 (sixteen years ago) link
this thread is actually worse than boris being mayor would be.
― blueski, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:30 (sixteen years ago) link
blueski for mayro
― ken c, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:31 (sixteen years ago) link
actually oh god no
ok, enlighten me on Qaradawi's right-wingness, i'm totally willing to be wrong here. but i remember poring over transcripts when that story broke in 2004 and finding nothing very remarkable about Qaradawi's views (the homophobia is unfortunate but unremarkable if you consider that the guy's a Muslim cleric; i mean, try asking the Archbishop of Canterbury how he's livin these days on that issue; still, Ken addressed the homophobia head-on)
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:32 (sixteen years ago) link
http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2007/07/blurring-the-li.html
gives some sense of the husain vs livingstone thing. i need to google "ed husain mi5 mossad" now to see how it's gone down.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:33 (sixteen years ago) link
oh well, if the guy's a muslim cleric then i guess he gets a free pass.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:34 (sixteen years ago) link
come on Galloway...
― blueski, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:35 (sixteen years ago) link
galloway vs ken vs boris vs... littlejohn
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:37 (sixteen years ago) link
"you coudn't make it up"
― Mark G, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:38 (sixteen years ago) link
enrique i'm not giving Qaradawi a free pass; i'm giving Ken one.
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 16 July 2007 14:42 (sixteen years ago) link
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/4/3/1333451230152/Ken-Livingstone-and-Boris-008.jpg
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 12:59 (twelve years ago) link
Will West @Castmana1Now I like Ken Livingstone, and I like Boris Johnson, but which is better? There's only one way to find out... #kenandboris #fight
― Mark G, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 13:03 (twelve years ago) link
i trust we all have our "sack boris" oyster card wallets?
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 13:22 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.tssa.org.uk/en/campaigns/index.cfm/campaign/sack-boris
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 13:23 (twelve years ago) link
oh good i need one to replace the horrible mastercard one.
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 13:35 (twelve years ago) link
got held up by the ancient, sputtering "not ken again" bus last week. p much decided my vote.
― Upt0eleven, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 14:05 (twelve years ago) link
JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin added: “When I first moved to London, Ken was in charge and he opened this huge library near where I lived in Wood Green. It was my first taste of his extravagance and that’s always stuck with me. So I’m backing Boris — I hope he’ll spend money more wisely than Ken has done.”
― useless chamber, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 15:54 (twelve years ago) link
They have books in Wetherspoons you know.
― mmmm, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 18:24 (twelve years ago) link
libraries are pretty much the dry, marxist version of wetherspoons
― Ms Tum-Bla-Wi-Tee (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 18:42 (twelve years ago) link
god this is TOMORROW
any particular feelings about jenny jones or siobhan benita? or brian paddick, indeed.
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:19 (twelve years ago) link
This is the quietest election ever, I've barely even noticed it.
Wonder if Paddick might come in fourth.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:28 (twelve years ago) link
maybe because boris is so far ahead in the polls? or because it's not exactly an inspiring choice
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:36 (twelve years ago) link
if the populus poll is to be believed there's a possibility that paddick might come FIFTH :o
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:37 (twelve years ago) link
I've been more aware of Paddock than any of the others as his "i'm a copper" billboards seem to be all over South London. Probably not the best way to go to attract Brixton votes, really.
― Upt0eleven, Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:39 (twelve years ago) link
isn't his entire shtick meant to be "i'm a copper but not like all them other corrupt thuggish coppers and i will REFORM the POLICE"? he's not v good at conveying it
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:42 (twelve years ago) link
i spent a few hours the other week googling the london assembly candidates in the little booklet. how did people work out who was running before the internet?
i guess the plethora of right-wing splitter parties should serve to split the vote so it's a good thing, but it's horrible flipping through the booklet and being like, oh look, there's the BNP, the 3nglish d3mocrats, UKIP and the National Front! plus some bullshit about traditional marriage.
― c sharp major, Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:49 (twelve years ago) link
paddick has been comparing himself to galloway, apparently, based on a) their low polling numbers and b) their reality tv show pasts
:(
you can't even make punchlines about these people any more
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:52 (twelve years ago) link
can't say i'm not tempted by benita purely because she's a faceless dull civil servant and not a personality clown, but protest-voting is kinda lame isn't it
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:53 (twelve years ago) link
I passed Boris' bus this morning, outside the Hilton, Paddington. He was not in it.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 2 May 2012 11:01 (twelve years ago) link
so far beyond parody, these cunts
― Bad Company's Drummer's Daughter (stevie), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 11:53 (twelve years ago) link
If Ken Loach had written that...
― Mark G, Wednesday, 2 May 2012 12:22 (twelve years ago) link
It's only because he hopes Boris'll close it so that he can turn it into a pub called The Library.
― Scary Move 4 (dog latin), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 12:32 (twelve years ago) link
MJ hibbett is a prophet
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 12:48 (twelve years ago) link
― Upt0eleven, Wednesday, 2 May 2012 10:39 (4 hours ago)
yeah his are the only ads i've seen. in kingston, where i guess it could sell.
tho i haven't received my polling card, i imagine i'll turn up at the office tomorrow and my vote will have been nicked.
― danny houellebecq (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 15:49 (twelve years ago) link
Don't think it's that cut-and-dried, he effectively decriminalized cannabis in Brixton. Of course he's also a LibDem and a nonentity as a politician.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 16:01 (twelve years ago) link
he has those posters in finsbury park and tottenham also, i can confirm
― Bad Company's Drummer's Daughter (stevie), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
I got a Ken leaflet through my letterbox the other night at 10pm just after I'd shut off the TV and the whole house was quiet, it frightened the hell out of me.
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
my french housemate who's not eligible to vote has received a voting card, maybe you could just use hers merdeyeux
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 16:46 (twelve years ago) link
xp, i got an election leaflet at eleven pm, a few years ago, while watching The Exorcist. I nearly died.
The election was probably there for the taking with a stronger candidate but i can't see Boris getting beaten by Ken. The Labour campaign has been half-hearted, at best. At worst, it's looked like they've actually wanted Boris to win - possibly with a view to him challenging Cameron for leadership somewhere down the line.
― Just like you, except hot (ShariVari), Wednesday, 2 May 2012 17:29 (twelve years ago) link
this is the first i've seen the borisbus and its broken down just in the middle of the road #moneywellspenthttp://distilleryimage10.instagram.com/75722684b55c11e188131231381b5c25_7.jpg
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 13:48 (eleven years ago) link
it turns back to being a bendy bus afterallhttp://distilleryimage0.instagram.com/62a243c2b56611e1abb01231382049c1_7.jpg
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 14:48 (eleven years ago) link