Entries in Tories (3)
London Congestion Charge Works - Shock Report
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 11:26AM Interesting Spin on TfL report that says congestion in London is back to levels last seen in 2002. Boris takes the opportunity to do as much as he can to rubbish Kens legacy, but the Tfl Press release says:
More than five years after the Congestion Charge was launched, and over a year after the western extension began, traffic in central London remains 21 per cent lower than pre-charge levels and traffic entering the extension has fallen by 14 per cent.
And:
There has been a 6 per cent increase in bus passengers during charging hours and a 12 per cent increase in cycle journeys into the western extension.
Sounds good to me. It turns out that actually the congestion problems are all to do with major roadworks, temporarily removing road space, and blocking key junctions. Yes, more needs to be done to cut congestion, and the charge won't do it on it's own.
Why Boris feels an appropriate response is to scrap plans to pedestrianise part of Parliament square escapes me. It's a temporary problem, whilst pedestrianisation will deliver long lasting benefits in Central London. Why should people who make sustainable transport choices be penalised to apease the petrol head lobby?
Purcell Said It
Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 08:54AM I can't believe that Steven Purcell, the leader of Glasgow City Council actually said that 'a vote for the SNP is a vote for the Tories,' on Newsnight Scotland last night.
I wonder how many voters watching would actually believe that?Doctor Vee is right. This is like watching the two biggest bullies in the playground fighting. No-one really likes either of them, but we keep watching to the bitter end anyway, as it's the only show in town.
It would have been nice if the BBC could have invited the Greens along to participate in the programme. Afterall, the Tories and the Libdems haven't a hope of winning whatsoever and they get invited on. In fact, the Greens have more local representation on the city council than the Tories and the same as the LibDems. So the BBC can hardly claim they are a fringe party.
It seemed somewhat ironic that the newsnight byelection set featured a green rosette in a prominent position and there was no-one there tor represent their views.
If they had been there, perhaps the level of debate might have risen above the 'ferrets in a sack' standard too?
Results of Glasgow East
Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 10:11PM Only a pure numpty would try to predict the outcome of any by-election, especially the Glasgow East one, especially two weeks before. That's what everyone on TV says just before they give their prediction of what the result will be, so I'm going to copy them, and get my oar stuck in early.
The papers insist that anything could happen but my gut feeling says I'm going to feel like I did when John Major was elected in 1992. Basically, just thoroughly flabbergasted that so many people could vote for the status quo.
Glasgow East is a place where voter apathy is the biggest issue. I meet folk in Glasgow all the time who say without any shred of embarrassment 'Politics? Nah I'm not into that stuff.' But, just like one of the guys in this video who's lived there his whole life, you can't blame people, when nothing does ever change. Labour have run Glasgow for decades and politics is done differently there. To me it seems like everyone votes Labour, and then the real deals are done by 'big personalities' behind closed doors, in the mysterious web of trade unions, regeneration agencies, religious organisations, and council offices that run Glasgow. Or, if you believe one of my work colleagues, it's actually the other way around, and the voting is just a formality that happens after the decisions have been taken.
The last Scottish elections shook Glasgow up, and for the first time, there is some real local opposition and scrutiny in Glasgow, but it's going to take a long time for that reality to make a difference to the culture in Glasgow. People connected to Labour can still pull strings that other people can't. Sadly, I suspect that getting people in Glasgow East to vote for someone else apart from Labour is just as hard as challenging the culture of smoking, drinking, drug taking and fighting that blights the area. Which is a shame, as there are other parties, like the Greens, who in theory at least, have policies that should appeal to left leaning souls.
The SNP might be predicting an earthquake, but I reckon they'll not be sending anyone new to Westminster. Labour have carefully worked it out so that the voting is timed to coincide with the Glasgow fair holiday. That'll mean it'll only be the apathetic knife wielding Ballieston tongs (who won't vote) and the dyed in the wool red or dead auld folk left in the neighbourhood (who will.)
If you look at the stats then it's pretty clear that the SNP would need all of the Tory, Lib Dem and SSP votes just to come within spitting distance of Labour, and that kind of squeeze is hard to imagine. Of course, weird things happen in byelections, and the turn out will be much smaller, so even if things stand still the SNP will be able to claim they've reduced Labours majority. But I doubt they'll win.
Assuming Labours Margaret Curran does win, I suppose it'll mean political silver linings all around in some senses. Alex Salmond might be happy to see another Scottish Labour heavy weight (ahem) out of the race for the Holyrood Labour Leadership, and so will the other Labour leadership contenders. Not only would she leave the field slightly clearer for them, she'd make the local selection process easier when the Scottish MSP constituency boundaries are redrawn. And let's not forget Gordon Brown will be pretty relieved too - even if she's not his first choice.
That's assuming she quit her MSP post of course. At the moment she seems to be keeping her options open, although she did concede that that having an office in Westminster and Holyrood would be 'unsustainable in the long run.'
It does make you wonder whether Ms Curran reckons Alex Salmond has set a precedent. Could this be the start of worrying trend in Scottish politics - party leaders feeling the need to have a seat in both parliaments? Would Scottish folk stand for it? I hope not.
To sum up. Labour win, but with a much reduced majority. SNP 2nd (swing from Lib Dems and Tories). Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems Squeezed) and Tories (squeezed, but less so) 3rd and 4th. Greens next. SSP and Solidarity split the socialist vote, consigning themselves to utter pointlessness (again).