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May mayoral election
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oryx


Posts: 205
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #41
20-04-2008 08:16 PM

What Roz said, especially about Johnson being catastrophic.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #42
01-05-2008 09:29 AM

Whoever you vote for, vote today!

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #43
01-05-2008 09:58 AM

BarCar wrote:
Snazy, how are you assessing what the majority thinks? Opinion polls? Newspaper coverage? Your own personal opinion? That of the people you know?

We're all entitled to our own opinion but the only people able to accurately state what the majority thinks will be the returning officers on election day.



Im basing my right to express an opinion on the polls that have been done, what I see as a majority of people I interact with in person, and from large discussion forums I use. I think thats enough for me to make an educated opinion on?

I dont believe I said KEN IS OUT, simply that if the projected majority are to be believed. Sorry if thats un PC, but its my opinion Smile

Reasons I dont believe Ken deserves another term..

1/ He stated that power = corruption, and no one should be allowed to stand for more than 2 terms... Now he stands for a 3rd.

2/ he refers to the London budget as money allocated to HIM not Londoners. he has a very mine mine mine attitude about the whole thing.

3/ He stated he conned the government into bidding for the olympics so he could get money for the regeneration of East London. So he lied! He says he has no interest in the 3 week event.

4/ with ref to #3 in the last debate he then DENIED saying the above !

Little things, but things that destroy my trust in people.

Then there is the CC which is is telling porkies about again, the Tidal Flow at the blackwall tunnel etc....

Pre-judging people is quite a worry I have to say, I would much rather see something fresh and new, with a wonky wheel, than old and stale with rusty wheels, like we have at the moment.

I should say however, that I do think some aspects of Ken's reign has been positive. Mainly the first term.
Tell me, was it not Ken who didnt want ANY central london celebration for the millenium ?

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Johnc


Posts: 138
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #44
01-05-2008 10:00 AM

Agree 100% with Michael. The mayor of London is responsible for a budget of around ?19 billion.

Think about this before marking your cross

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jon14


Posts: 145
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #45
01-05-2008 12:01 PM

Thanks Johnc, will do....

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jon14


Posts: 145
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #46
01-05-2008 03:35 PM

roz wrote:
You may not particularly like the man (Ken) as an individual but you can hardly say he hasn't done a good job, or hasn't London's and your average Londoner's best interests at heart.


You what?

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #47
01-05-2008 04:01 PM

jon14 wrote:

roz wrote:
You may not particularly like the man (Ken) as an individual but you can hardly say he hasn't done a good job, or hasn't London's and your average Londoner's best interests at heart.


You what?



Well you cant...... can you ??

I can lol Laugh

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Baboonery


Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #48
02-05-2008 04:29 PM

Snazy wrote:
I dont believe I said KEN IS OUT, simply that if the projected majority are to be believed. Sorry if thats un PC, but its my opinion Smile


I wish people would stop hiding behind the term "PC" to mean "anything I don't like". When I'm mayor I'm going to ban it.

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #49
02-05-2008 11:09 PM

I shall remove my tongue from my cheek for this reply then :D

Well, I now believe the word majority to relate to the number of people who went out and voted on Thursday..

Well done Mayor Johnson Smile

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #50
03-05-2008 08:29 AM

SecondedSmile

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Red67


Posts: 141
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #51
03-05-2008 09:25 AM

I'm out of here - i am horrified that there are so many people who subscribe to a shallow politics of selfishness and fear that 'the majority' represents......

best of luck, you'll need it

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #52
03-05-2008 10:17 AM

Red67 wrote:
I'm out of here - i am horrified that there are so many people who subscribe to a shallow politics of selfishness and fear that 'the majority' represents......

best of luck, you'll need it


Are we talking about Ken here now ?
Now the majority has been defined its not a good word anymore?

How about giving the bloke a chance, and coming back in 6 months time with one of 2 comments.. "I told you so" or "im shocked at how well he has done"

We had 8 years of Ken, so everyone knows what he is about and capable of, and of course what he is interested in doing.
Lets wait and see what Boris can and will do before suggesting its all doom and gloom.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #53
03-05-2008 11:34 AM

Can't stand this 'time for a change' nonsense.

Why not get divorced from your wife after eight years.

"Why?"
"Well, she did lots of good things, generally happy with her, but well...was just time for a change."

The population has very short memories. I hope Boris isn't as much of a disaster as I fear.

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #54
03-05-2008 12:18 PM

nevermodern wrote:
Can't stand this 'time for a change' nonsense.

Why not get divorced from your wife after eight years.

"Why?"
"Well, she did lots of good things, generally happy with her, but well...was just time for a change."

The population has very short memories. I hope Boris isn't as much of a disaster as I fear.



I hardly think the 2 things you try to draw parallel to are fair to compare.
The though behind time for change is... things are stale, things are no longer moving in the direction people want it to, and that Ken appeared complacent in his role and in his responsibility. This was demonstrated by his campaign.

People want to see what a fresh mind in the role can do. And personally I think its much needed.

If you really want to compare it to a relationship, then just look at the UK divorce rate Wink I think that says that a lot of people like change.

Besides, a relationship is something YOU choose, not a majority choose for you, so I would hope more people would be happy with their own choices.

CC needs addressing and strangely needs modernising, wierd for a new system.
The tariff for it needs to be transparent now and for the future.
London needs to get moving again rather than sitting in traffic jams.
And it needs to be seen that bendy buses are rubbish for London and that "green" cars still cause congestion, so need to pay.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #55
03-05-2008 01:36 PM

I hope you're right and he's less of a boarish, thoughtless Tory than his past comments have indicated.

With you on the bendy buses, though Wink

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #56
03-05-2008 02:36 PM

Its less political more open mindedness for me. I would honestly say that Ken and Boris are both rather more detatched from their main parties than some might think..

Sadly I think ken started off on the right foot and with good intentions, but appears to have put headphones on and stopped listening to London, and started doing his own thing.

I have never heard one person say "im doing whats best for you" more than Ken Livingstone. Yes unpopular decisions need to be made, but they need to achieve common goals, not personal ones.

Time will tell us everything we need to know. Yes 4 years is a long time, but if London takes these elections more seriously in future, maybe the ball can be kept rolling and only the right people will in future be selected for the job.

If this election has done one thing its brought awareness to people how important the vote really is. And I hope the same passion for voting will be had for the next GE too.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #57
03-05-2008 03:50 PM

I prefer to base my decisions on what people say. That's not being closed-minded. And with this 'listening' thing that politicians are supposed to do... they really can't win. If they do what opinion polls show they should do, they're accused of pandering to focus groups, and if they ignore opinion polls, they're accused of being 'out of touch' and not...'listening to the people.'

I'm not sure what personal goals you have in mind that's driven Ken to make decisions, but one thing I've never doubted is that his decisions were meant with London's best interests at heart.

Good luck to Boris. And I mean that. Smile

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #58
03-05-2008 04:30 PM

Not sure that every decision he has made has 100% been with Londoners interests at heart. The CC for example is a complete mess in every aspect apart from the fact it raises revenue.

I would agree though it is a case of damned if you do, damned if you dont to a great degree.
With regards to personal goals, he was quoted years ago saying he hates cars and would ban them if he could.
The introduction of the congestion zone was possibly a required thing to happen, but its all been done so badly its hard now to justify it, other than banning them as much as possible from London.

In a green view thats great, in a view taking society into account and social impact, its very different.
The idea to stage CC based on VED was poorly thought through, and VED and congestion could not be futher apart.
Let me get this straight, a London full of low and zero emissions cars would be an uncongested city? Nope, far from it.

So it went from being a sensible solution, to a financial penalty to the commuter and social driver..... AGAIN!

Based on that, I would say he took his personal hatred of cars too far.

Also the rephasing of traffic signals, the closure of the Blackwall Tunnel tidal flow (just before the planned consultation of Blackheath for CC expansion) and the almost deliberate poor road planning that we see all around London.

Just my opinion of course, and just one example of why I think Ken himself was becoming corrupt and distracted from the job in hand.

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Johnc


Posts: 138
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #59
03-05-2008 07:04 PM

Much of what Snazy says I have a lot of sympathy with, but despite that I still voted for Ken since I thought he was the best alternative, in terms of my aspirations and ideals of the 3. Not any specific policy.

I have concerns about Boris. Not that he will implement wierd and outlandish policies. There are enough checks and balances in any political system for that. Its just that he might not have the dedication and patience to deal with the day to day grind, which for much of the time is probably a pretty exhausting but dull job.

I will give him a fair crack of the whip though, and he goes in with clean slate as far as i'm concerned.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #60
03-05-2008 08:15 PM

The key question for me is; what effect will Boris have on TfL?
We can currently look forward to some great improvements to rail services in our area and TfL were talking about taking over part of the franchise from Southern - we had hoped for an announcement shortly after the election, let's see if we hear anything in the next few weeks.

But what will Boris's priorities be?
Will he continue the trend of TfL taking over more suburban services (with us as the next stage)? Or will he focus on breaking the congestion charge, spending ?100m on the replacement of the bendy buses with new routemasters, and introducing orbital bus services to get people around outer London (very slowly)?

It will certainly be interesting to see what the new mayor decides to do with TfL and what affect he has on public transport in inner London. After 8 years of the biggest expansion in public transport in London's history will the pace continue, or are we heading for gridlock?

Let's hope that Boris gets it right and that the trust the electorate have placed in him is proved correct. But we should remember that Tony Blair (and the opposition parties) said that Ken would be a disaster for London - they were wrong, and so maybe we should have a little faith in Boris and wait to see what happens.

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