2012's London Mayoral Elections - Why Ken deserves a second chance

With less than two weeks to go until London makes its decision, why I think Ken, and sanity, deserves another chance.

 Caption by: Brickie via Poster Builder

I understand the support for Boris in a kind of unhinged way. If you've ever seen Have I Got News for you, chances are you think he's endearing, bumbling and boyish. So is Hugo from the Vicar of Dibley but no one would hand him the opportunity to directly affect the lives of 8 million people. He's an upper class, deluded, 'in it for the publicity' attention monkey – probably one who's father labelled him a buffoon, yes a buffoon, and is now trying to prove him wrong. That's right, I said it, Boris has daddy issues! I'm guessing. Probably. 

Any how, yes, Ken's time in office was overshadowed by broken promises, party flipping and a series of ridiculous news reports about moments when his mouth made a brief disconnect with his brain - But a man like Boris Johnson should not be throwing stones in glass houses - having offended his fair share of people, including but not limited to entire nations and vast sections of society. He's been sacked twice for lying, once from the shadow cabinet and once while he was working at The Times.

Flaws aside, Ken has done a great deal for London and its only now that we see the true value.

The Congestion charge for example. Sure, its unpopular with drivers but then what isn't. One short drive through London and my dear old dad would point out every grievance he could muster to think of, be it the speed bumps, road works or the decibel level of the ambulances. Its title maybe misleading. It's not so much a congestion charge, more a London Tax. It hasn't reduced the traffic in London, nor the pollution levels but what it has done is raise a lot of money for the city. Money that Mr Boris doesn't want to use. When he scrapped the Western Extension of the Charge at the end of 2010 it cost Londoners over £58M a year in revenue – vital revenue that was keeping bus fares low for us common folk. Still, Boris' fancy pants school mates in Kensington and Chelsea were chuffed to bits.

And dare I say it, I miss the Bendy buses. I will be the first to admit that when they came out I was not happy – angry rants did ensue. I love double deckers. I'm 24 years old and I still desperately want to go and sit up-stairs and watch the city go by, especially when we're going into the city proper. And there are things I miss about the old Routemasters – mainly their windows that actually let in air during the sticky London summer. But Bendy buses – well – they did what no other bus in London can do. Give people space. Yes fare evasion was a problem, but look at all the people employed to police it. Notice the word employed – a state Boris thinks materialises merely by willing to do so.  He has no idea how important the Bendy buses were to everyday life in central London. Neither did any of us to be fair. Of course now they're gone we can see their true value. Right after the Double Deckers came in on the 436 and 12 route which I use often, I immediately noticed how full they always were. They don't fit as many people – approximately 90 at full capacity compared to the Bendy bus' upwards of 120 people. There's less space for wheelchair users and pram users. Less seats can be accessed by the elderly, heavily pregnant and those with children. Less space for students with heavy books, artists with huge portfolios and musicians with their instruments. I am none of these things at the moment, but I am a Londoner who often gets on a bus loaded with shopping and the absence of space downstairs is more than an inconvenience - it's often dangerous. The Bendy bus was damn handy and I'm honestly quite sad they're gone now.

People see him as the mayor representing the suburban London, but he's not done all too much for them either. Traditionally conservative, suburban Londoners expect a tough on crime attitude. He was completely and utterly unprepared for last years riots and has reduced police numbers significantly - so much so that it's noticeable. He's even letting down the people he's supposed to be pandering to.

I guess the most horrific thing about Boris Johnson though is his complete lack of common sense. London is not a profit making company. There's no need to hoard money. It's there to be spent in the City. To create jobs and support for the community. Not like those people who impersonate police officers but real support. Support that keeps teenagers in education, helps single mothers raise their children in a safe and happy environment, and keep fares low so that when people find work they can afford to get to work.

Boris, its time to get on your bike. Ken's not perfect, but he's the better man. Whoever you support this year, whether it's Ken, or Green candidate Jenny Jones or any of the other Left candidates running this year – At the very least, give him your number 2. I mean second vote. You know what I mean.

I support and encourage everyone who can vote to vote on Thursday 3^rd of May. Exercise your Right to vote now before your right to apathy becomes your obligation.

USA Presidential Candidacy - Santorum drops out of the race to the White House

Something interesting finally happened!

My sincerest apologies for not having covered the last month of the US elections but to be fair, not much had changed, even after Super Tuesday. No doubt the papers had caught on to this, churning out one generic article after another – 500 words built around a single sound bite... Although to be fair, that is all news nowadays.

Super Tuesday's outcome was predictable as they come. Romney did well, winning 6 States. Bible Belt States, of which there were three, were winners for Santorum and Gingrich won in his home state of Georgia.

Gingrich mindlessly continued on, much to the detriment of Santorum's campaign. Gingrich's votes would have no doubt gone to Santorum, thereby granting him a win in many states that he ultimately lost by a small margin to Romney. And so it went on for weeks, Romney clearly in the lead but no one backing down. And then something actually happened yesterday. Santorum announced his departure from the race for Republican Nominee, backing down due to his daughter's health. Would I be cynical to imply that it is an empty excuse to walk away from inevitable failure? Perhaps. Still, his continuing lack of support for Romney has an air of bitterness that quite frankly doesn't surprise me about Santorum.

I fear prematurely declaring Romney's got it in the bag now. The last time I made a concrete statement regarding a US election, had someone held me to it, I would have literally have had to consume my footwear for I uttered these infamous words in 2004, “If Bush wins a second term I will eat my shoe.” Of course I was young and angry, I'd just seen Fahrenheit 9/11 and I had no idea the Democrats candidate had been branded 'out of touch'. And who the hell does Romney have to compete with? Gingrich? Who's so unpopular that he couldn't get a back scratch from a horny gorilla. His refusal to back down, even at this stage, does not sit well with the majority of his Party. And as for Ron Paul? I'm sure the only reason he remains in the race is because he's happy to get the air-time. I'm not particularly a fan of Ron Paul, but I'm happy for him to continue spreading his anti-war message best he can.

Is Santorum out of the running a good thing or a bad thing?

On the one hand, while I have a great many criticisms of Obama, I'm curious to see what he can achieve in a second term in office and, let's face it, I'd rather have a Democrat in the White House than any Republican no matter how flippy-floppy-flakey, sorry I meant to say moderate, how moderate they are. So it could be seen as a bad thing. With Santorum out of the race, Mitt Romney's moderate Republican values are likely to appeal to swing voters unhappy with Obama's tenure. Of course, if this whole charade carries on any longer even swing voters will steer clear of the clearly delusional and gaff prone bagillionaire. But who knows what America will be thinking in November.

Here's the thing though, whether it's bad news for Obama or not, one thing is certain, I'm happy Santorum's stepped to one side because I can't look at his face any more. I was actually starting to sympathise with Romney. That's how much I hate this man. His views on ethnic minorities and homosexuals is appalling. I'm tired of his lecturing on what marriage 'traditionally is'. Yeah, its traditionally about rape and ownership – something he appears to be an expert on.

I've had it with his accusations towards the black community, that they're the main receivers of welfare – because there's no unemployed white folk in the US is there? And his backwards views on education, and health care. He's rich. He can home school his kids and send them to private clinics. What a relief for him because if he was poor or unemployed, according to his rhetoric it would be just fine for his daughter, who suffers from a serious genetic condition, to be denied healthcare. And this war on women's rights is a disgrace. I've had enough of hearing about contraception being against God and children born of rape being a gift. I'm sick of hearing about women with little or no choice, being chastised and abused for making the most difficult decision of their lives. He is one of the catalysts for suffering all across America. For stereotypes that discriminate and make peoples lives miserable. He is a disgusting man and I'm relieved for America that this man is, at least for now, out of public view.