A long time ago , incandescent with rage at the imposition on our Borough of another 13000 Council house units , I hatched a brilliant plot . I decided that as any semi trained Poodle could do a better job than Ken so why should it not be me..ahem I filled in an application setting out my vision and called the local Papers who gave me some coverage .I obtained the backing of the Party leader and Deputy leader in Islington and duly sent my submission of to the Conservative Party . They have not even bothered acknowledge the work or the local Party which I remain furious about but that in the past now .( For god’s sake they wrote to some people in Prison!)
I continued to write to the local Papers about the high handedness of the GLA and was with the greatest of difficulty able to extract an answer from Ken Livingstones office to the following question . “If I do not like what is happening , who do I vote against , the office answered “It can be very hard to know”. It was at that late point in my life that I realised that what I had always assume to be a benign working democracy was nothing of the kind . Something of the tone of the complaints which Ken himself eventually answered can be gathered from this letter which I salvaged
P Waglands letter 26.7.06 ( Gazette )is quite right to point out the insidious accretion of powers to the unaccountable Mayor Ken Livingstone .Crucially these proposed powers include greater influence on housing and strategic planning decisions which , as we all know , spells yet more `social` housing estates in our heaving Borough .
The problem however is not future Mayors as Mr. Wagland believes. It is the international embarrassment we have for a Mayor now and behind him the Labour Governments wish to hide its policies. Ruth Kelly `s defence of the `Mayor -on -steroids `she wants is an exercise in Orwellian double-think. .She claims the post has brought ` Decision making closer to the people of London` and given `clear accountable leadership `. One fairly gasps at the cheek of it. It has had exactly the opposite effect by removing freedom from our Council to act on our behalf
Tony Blair`s misguided policies have created a need for vast numbers of new affordable houses which Labour are determined to get built .As the developments become a reality Local resistance is bound to mount and Governments do not like their feet so obviously on the voters necks . `Regional` layers like the GLA are the perfect insulation between the voters and decision makers. That’s why they want to `Build on this success ` as the minister puts it.
Real accountability and access to decisions will only come when our Councils are given back the power successive administrations have removed .Then we might see some real democracy. As it is I can only conclude …`If voting changed anything they’d abolish it `. (Published 1987 Author Ken Livingstone)
How innocent I was . I had no idea then of the greater purpose of chopping England up into Regional gobbets but I was at least instinctively aware that the Mayor was a n assault on Local Government and local people .
Odd then that today Boris has thrown his hat into the ring . I have eulogised Boris before. I `ve met him briefly once or twice and he has been charming in the extreme . I used to be a regular on his web forum and met some people who I still like a lot( virtually ) . Steven L , Jaq , Idlex , Mel, Jack target Steven D Auntie Flo and many others . I still re read some of the great man’s article and admire his views as much as I admire anyone’s. So despite he fact that in a sense I disapprove of the existence of a Mayor at all if we are to have please let it be Boris . Ed has a link to his superb announcement and HG discusses Livingstone . Go Boris !
Lets Kill Kenny !!
4 comments:
Ooh you met Idlex and Auntie Flo? Fantastic commenters, I've been on that blog myself. And Jaq and Melissa are supposed to be a bit saucy!! Melissa does a fantastic job of keeping them all in line I think. It's a fun place to be :-))
Go-o Boris!!
Met virtually P you are the only one I really know at all and I am lighted to see you.
Jaq is indeed saucy and I have long harboured impure thoughts about her !
Why thank you Mr Newman, I'd hope 'PaulD' doesn't read your blog if I were you. You forgot Tayles, too, he's still around.
PaulD and idlex are my favourites, although I'm worrying about the effect the smoking ban is having on poor idlex.
Well said that man - of course Steven_L is excellent and PaulD is one of my faves. Jack Target and Raincoaster, and of course Simon! I can't remember Tayles but miss Jack Ramsey's insight and excellent comments on education (and everything else) and of course Mac. I always miss Mac.
Idlex should write a poem about the mayor thing, or you Newmania? And do you remember the erotic poetry from a lady who visited a while back? Well I assume it was a female but I suppose on the net one doesn't actually know.
If you're having trouble getting on the Boz blog BTW, just scroll down the mayoral announcement and there's a link.
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