Ken vs. Boris: It's So On

From what I've seen the worst candidate has to be Paddick, he's like the arrogant robot from some Star Trek spinoff: no personality, an ability to think systematically with no capacity for imaginative and speculative thought, no empathy with mammalian species... that kind of thing. Plus scratch the surface and you know there's a Tory underneath, a Liberal in other words.

you watch star trek spin-offs? geek

Of course, what I meant to say is I imagine he's like the arrogant robot from a Star Trek spinoff

Did anyone see the interview with Paddick in Time Out? He just lost it completely, for no apparent reason.

He's out of this depth

this depth? LOLz

From what I've seen the worst candidate has to be Paddick, he's like the arrogant robot from some Star Trek spinoff: no personality, an ability to think systematically with no capacity for imaginative and speculative thought, no empathy with mammalian species... that kind of thing.

More like this guy amirite?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/04/Rimmer1.jpg/250px-Rimmer1.jpg

Less sympathetic

What's wrong with being a pragmatist? When it comes down to it KL does give money to LGB (and even T's) causes, he does set up equality initiatives, and he does try to do things for those lower down economic scale. So the fuck what if he's 'pretending' and goes home and gets pissed and tells a few fanny jokes? With BJ you're going to get that crap (with added public school racism) and without any of the good stuff and a whole load of bollocks about Routemasters and the good old days on top. ffs London isn't fucking Henly on Thames.

Did anyone see the interview with Paddick in Time Out? He just lost it completely, for no apparent reason.

-- Matt DC, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 10:32 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4561/Brian_Paddick-interview.html

holy shit, what an idiot ^^

doctorcroc (21 hours ago) Show Hide
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id rather have routemasters at any cost instead of taxpayers paying for a mega mosque funded and security paid for by the taxpayer

Thing is it's all those Henley on Thames types in the suburbs who are going to get BJ in (Ned xp).

steveallen808909 (5 days ago) Show Hide
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vote ken out if u dont want to pay for the east london mega mosque which will be a security nightmare and a sacluded community

What's wrong with being a pragmatist? When it comes down to it KL does give money to LGB (and even T's) causes, he does set up equality initiatives, and he does try to do things for those lower down economic scale. So the fuck what if he's 'pretending' and goes home and gets pissed and tells a few fanny jokes? With BJ you're going to get that crap (with added public school racism) and without any of the good stuff and a whole load of bollocks about Routemasters and the good old days on top. ffs London isn't fucking Henly on Thames.

-- Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 10:39 AM (31 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

it matters, being a pragmatist, if you're posing as a man of principle. with the money thing -- i have no idea, it's a bit vague to say he has given money "to lgb causes", it just sounds like pandering. i don't know what "the good stuff" is from livingstone -- bread & circuses stuff, i'm assuming. i have no idea what he does for those low down the economic scale. the cost of living in london (everywhere else too, but...) has risen like a motherfucker in the time he's been in power because the house-price boom (in london especially) has brought about inflation by flooding the city with (homeowners' borrowed) money. the one thing i'll say for ken is at least the price of a bus journey hasn't risen toooo much, but the tube is still astoundingly high-priced. when i lived in london, well under the average wage, i was simply priced out of riding it. so bfd if there are a few public beanos each year.

Thing is it's all those Henley on Thames types in the suburbs who are going to get BJ in (Ned xp).

Pre-fucking-cisely. We can argue the toss for ever about Ken's odd bedfellows and worry about Trot cults from the past, and in the meantime London is going to get one right wing fucker who thinks black people are alright as servants and gay people are the same as dog fuckers. Your choice London.

I really couldn't care less if Livingstone is a hate-filled hypocrite or not. The only important thing is whether, within the narrow remit of the London mayorship, he's made things better or worse. Transport is one of the few things he has any control over (and even then he had the tube ppp contracts imposed on him) - I don't live in London any more but I visit regularly and it seems to me the transport situation is about ten times better than it was ten years ago. It is actually possible to go a few stops on a bus these days without being stuck in traffic for an hour. I guess the congestion charge as a flat tax is unfair, but before it was getting almost impossible to get around central London. For those opposed to the congestion charge, what would you do instead?

the one thing i'll say for ken is at least the price of a bus journey hasn't risen toooo much

90p with an Oyster Card? That's pretty impressive. Plus I think if you're on New Deal or sumthin', it's actually only 45p.

Bariquit, the Dr Morbius of london politics

Tom D OTM, price of buses has fallen.

Buses without an Oyster card are fucking extortionate nowadays.

Fleecing the tourists is a fine old London tradition

even my mum has an oyster card, and she doesn't live or work in london.

Why isn't Phil the Godhead Scouser with the megaphone running for Mayor?

Oyster cards only cost £3 or something these days, don't they? Tourists aren't priced out of getting them.

I agree that the tube is still outrageously priced compared with other major capital cities - but at least it's possible to get a bus these days with a decent chance of getting to wherever you're going on time. The traffic before the congestion charge was pretty unbelievable. I used to get the 137 home and sometimes it would take an hour just to get from Marble Arch to Hyde Park Corner.

Whereas now it can take an hour just to get from Sloane Square to Chelsea Bridge!

big question re where the media's leading over the next two years is: on friday will the story be 'ken pulls it back from the brink' or 'labour demolished countrywide'? i think both of those things will happen, but in terms of creating a narrative, it will be interesting to see where the commentary goes.

Can't wait to see cheap tube fares under Johnson. Or see him dealing with the RMT. I would love to be in that meeting.

xps

fuck a travelcard being nearly £6 off-peak, this is not progress

Bariquit, the Dr Morbius of london politics

and movies

and, uh, just life in general

So, what's the greatest margin Ken can lose the first ballot by and still get in on 2nd-choice votes? He'll surely get 60%+ of Paddick voters and 70%+ of Berry voters, I would think? Enough to overturn a four-point deficit, maybe? I guess Boris will hoover up the BeeEnPee alternates.

I thought Paddick votes broke down more in favour of Johnson?

Mike: you mean Pamela's giving 30% of her vote to someone else?

I agree with what Polly Toynbee says in her column:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/29/london08.boris
It moved me, and I wrote to tell her so, and that I will be happy to vote Labour on Thursday.

The only thing I don't agree with, in her largely spot-on commentary, is the use of the word 'effete' to describe BJ. I thought it had to do with effeminacy, and I actually think BJ is macho and hideously aggressive. Looking in a dictionary, I see that it apparently means 'exhausted, lacking vigour, barren'. I don't think BJ is that either. So I think she chose the wrong word, when she perhaps meant to convey 'upper-class / out of touch' or the like.

Otherwise, I think that it is a tremendous column.

I thought Paddick votes broke down more in favour of Johnson?

Yes, Liberals would prefer a Tory mayor

Can't wait to see cheap tube fares under Johnson. Or see him dealing with the RMT. I would love to be in that meeting.

I would love to be there too. I get a free tube pass soon coz of the silver lining (for me) of the Metronet fuck up.

ok we get it (xp)

I thought Paddick votes broke down more in favour of Johnson?

Oh really? I haven't seen any polls on that. Damn, I'm still living in some kind of SDP past, probably. I suspect the 2nd-choice votes aren't going that differently proportioned to the 1st-choice votes then.

With all these widely-differing polls around, are pollsters working with ludicrously small samples or something? Can't believe it's this volatile so close to election day. Maybe it's the push-pull of Standard smears vs dawning-realisation-it's-Boris.

Stop Boris. Stop London Becoming LOLdon.

He has reinvented himself to suit London's needs. The City, to its own surprise, responds positively to him, giving him much credit for seeing off Frankfurt as a competitor and even trouncing New York.

i was very moved by this, pinefox. i asked keir hardie and he agreed.

Dave Hill also gives reasons to vote Labour, though he is too generous to the Tory really:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dave_hill/2008/04/the_london_list.html

What year is your SDP past, Mike -- 1982 or so? I think they were past their electoral peak by 15 May 1985.

am or pm?

I don't think we need to bother with the latest propaganda issued by Millbank apparatchik Toynbee.

Ah, yes, ILM's reality-challenging "Polly Toynbee is a Blairite" thing, which requires you to either a) not know who she is, b) not know who Tony Blair is, or c) be really fucking thick.

are you off your meds?

toynbee : labour :: gilligan : livingstone

lol i mean gilligan : johnson

Dr Kelly died so that Gilligan might live.

Hasn't Toynbee always been rather more of a Brownite?(Though she must have a tremendously powerful microscope)

And there is no divergence of views within the Labour party?

Is Livingstone a Blairite too?

Is John Mcdonnell (sp?) a Blairite?

xpost