The Mayor blows his top

Chuck Unsworth

Sally Hamwee is/was not really up to the job of controlling the debate. She should have suspended the meeting much earlier. Livingstone has just been allowed to insult her and the Assembly without any come-back. He was way, way off topic and way out of order. Just shows what a spineless lot they are. Is The Mayor ex-officio entitled to attend the meetings? If not, he should be excluded. If he is, then they should place a motion before the Assembly rescinding that right.

Anan

What an imbecile. When he's got no decent challenger, he's the elder statesman, magnanimous. Now that he's going to lose he throws tantrum after tantrum.

He loves to talk about "londoners" as if he represents them and the councillors don't when in fact it is the other way around. He thinks he owns "londoners" and that he can use them every 5 years to vote him back in to office - but if they start to realise he's utterly not fit for purpose, it must be because of a conspriacy against him, it couldn't possibly be because he's so useless, ohhh no.

He has shown nothing but contempt for all of London and its people in this outburst, along with an unhealthy dose of paranoia toward the Evening Standard. He's crying like a baby about "electioneering" but it is he who does the gimmicks like trying to use minority-groups' votes to win power and freezing transport fares until election day.

What a pathetic excuse for a politician! Even by politician's standards he's a joke - Darling seems more like a leader than this baffoon.

Arrogant fool. Let's just hope this continues!

Ciaran Austin

Actually, while it was wrong to blow up like this (very typical of Livingstone), he has a point. The opposition parties are saying that Jasper is a disgrace and yet when pressed as to why they wouldn't question him said they hadn't got enough evidence yet. If you have enough evidence to defame somebody then you ought to have enough evidence to ask them a few questions.

ROJ

Do you think that the people who vote for Livingstone care about this? Do you think they are even aware of it? Livingstone knows who his constituency is, and he knows how to get that vote out. Check out his recent endorsement by certain groups, allegedly in breach of the charity laws. I support Boris, who is far more genuine and committed than he gets credit for, but Livingstone will win in may, I'm sorry to say.

Herbert Thornton

Come on, Ken.

Do what your fellow Marxist Khruschev did at the U.N.

Take your shoe off and bang it on the table.

Then we can all have a good laugh.

Austin Barry

What an extraordinary twerp this man is. His indignant nasal whine reminds me of an old corporal in the Catering Corps after someone has criticised his mushy peas. You also get the impression that he suffers from what our American chums delicately refer to as "Jock Itch", hence the sour expression. Roll on Boris.

Punishment of Luxury

I just remembered why I'm going to vote for Ken says what he thinks. You all know he's going to win don't you. Boris can skulk back to Henley & good riddance to the Tory Toff.

CS

Punishment of Luxury, saying what you think is only a virtue if what you think is rational. All Livingstone was doing in that video was shouting down anyone who dares to oppose him. He's fallen into the trap of believing his own publicity (Ken's a lovable cheeky chappie) right at the point when most of us are seeing it for a lie.

ian wilkins

there are a lot of people who just vote for ken regardless so please remember the first of may and vote this muppet out for londons sake.

Fergus Pickering

Boris also says what he thinks. But of course he says it in a posh accent and we can't have that, can we? My own accent, for what it's worth, is more like Livingstone's.

Punishment of Luxury

CS you can spout on all day long on this hardly read blog & he's still going to win again. Also your guy Boris has said plenty based purely on class prejudice anyone remember Liverpool & Portsmouth? I bet Ken couldn't believe his luck when Porsche decided to enter the fray over the CC. Toodle pip

Nick Kaplan

Punishment of Luxury, I wonder if your illiteracy (“I just remembered why I'm going to vote for Ken says what he thinks.”- makes no sense in English) is indicative of the kind of stupidity that would motivate anyone to vote for this arrogant despot!

TheLaughing Cavalier

Why is the video no longer available?

CS

Punishment of Luxury, sweetie-pie, so Boris has said plenty based purely on class prejudice has he? This would be the Boris you describe as a "toff", would it? It's pretty well known that the piece on Liverpool was not actually written by Boris. Though he took responsibility for it as editor. But, even if he had written it, accusing Liverpudlians of mawkishness is hardly an example of class prejudice as it's a view most of the country holds. Liverpool is as decent a city as any in the UK but it does have a strong mawkish, self-pitying streak (you never find an unemployed florist there).

Punishment of Luxury

CS he's toff and for that reason & for the fact he appears to have no polices beyond getting rid of the Londoner & something about bendy buses he won't be getting my vote. It seems to me that class prejudice cuts both ways, I was at a Boris fund raiser & it was full of braying toffs telling me how we had to rid London of that awful oik Livingstone. Nick Kaplan is that the best you can come up with criticising my blog English sticks & stones my friend. Come May 2 I will raise a cheer & Boris will be crying on his Bullingdon mate Daves shoulder & what really winds you lot up is that you all know I'm right.

Nick Kaplan

Punishmet of luxury; So Boris won’t get your vote because he’s a toff. That seems like the reasoning of a perfectly rational person, next you will say “I wouldn’t support Obama because he is Black or Hillary because she is a woman.” Again the things you say do not inspire much confidence in the average Livingstone voter.

Punishment of Luxury

Nick- The British public don't like the toffs that's why Boris & Dave will both lose. Watch Peter Hitchens excellent programme Toff at the Top to see what a right wing commentator (one of your own) thinks. Ouch http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yM873nCyI

Nick Kaplan

Punishment of Luxury; I have seen Hitchens’ programme and he was not, unlike you, criticizing Cameron for being a Toff, but instead criticizing his shift to the left (a perfectly legitimate complaint). Your problem seems to be with their background and not their policy, I am merely suggesting your view is completely irrational and seems to be harping back to some pathetic 1830’s class war mentality. I would imagine the reason why you, Red Ken, Hazel Blears and all the other bigoted members of the Labour Party feel it necessary to make such ludicrous and irrelevant criticisms, is purely because, on the policy front (as per usual) we have you beaten!

Punishment of Luxury

Nick -Doh so why did he call the programme "Toff at The Top, you obliviously weren't watching the same programme as me & tell me why did Sam Cameron throw her toys out the pram over it if was just about politics? Lets see in the run up to the election how much the Tories play the man not the ball, Cameron has already called Brown that weirdo in No 10 & we all know how much the class card was played against Prescott by sniggering Tory back benchers. On your earlier point toffdom is not the same as being black or a woman, toffs have a sense of superiority & entitlement that cuts them off from ordinary folk as we discovered in "Toff at the Top" (not lurch to the left at the top) he only got the job in Central Office because an equerry to the Queen phoned up & demanded that they Central Office gave him one & pronto. The more the public see of Cameron & his Eton mafia the more the polls will narrow & anyone else but Dave & Boris would be double digits clear by now in London & in the country , as Paul Weller sung in his marvellous song Eton Rifles "Hello hooray there's a price to pay, to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles Rifles" The Jam generation what a joke did know who wrote that article ever bother to read any Jam Lyrics. Well the price we will all pay if this clique of toffs ever gain power is that old British disease of accident of birth being more important to success than hard work & conviction will once more play it's ugly hand. I'm heartily sick of NuLab & if David Davis was leader I would have held my nose & voted Tory but with this lot in charge not a chance & I know loads of people who feel the same. Re polices do you have any they all look a bit Nulab to me. Anyway hope your enjoying the banter as much as me.

Nick Kaplan

Punishment of luxury; your knowledge of political history is, to say the least, poor. This is demonstrated in your ridiculous comment “Re polices, do you have any, they all look a bit Nulab to me.” Such a comment fails to take into account the fact that 10 years ago a typical comment may have read “Re policies, do NuLab have any, they all look a bit Thatcherite to me.” In fact, Peter Mandleson, one of the main architects of New Labour has been quoted saying “we are all Thatcherite now.” Bearing this, and the continual stealing of Tory policies by Brown (e.g. inheritance tax), in mind, it is hardly a surprise that many of Cameron’s policies are similar to NuLabs. Your comment then only serves to highlight the point I made, that we have won the ideological battle. Secondly, your ludicrous generalisation that “toffdom is not the same as being black or a woman, toffs have a sense of superiority & entitlement that cuts them off from ordinary folk,” is, firstly, patently untrue. And secondly if the pride “toffs” feel justifies your discrimination then does it not follow, by your logic alone, that you are entitled to be racist towards a man who is proud to be black? Your continued slurs against anybody remotely upperclass inspire little confidence in your intellect (why resort to such comments I ask again?) and serve only to highlight your bigoted mindset.

Punishment of Luxury

Nick- Look I'm not going to go over the whole policy thing it's so boring & of very little interest to the public who did what when. People vote for political parties for lots of reasons & I bet policy is right down the list I think the really important factors are tribalism (are they one of us as Maggie would say), the personality of the politician who knows what Obamas polices are but he would get my vote in a flash & frankly weird things Janice Turner in the Times wrote that her friend had voted for Justine Greening in Putney because she liked her jacket when she came to the door canvassing. Looks like genes may also be a factor I scan read an article in the New Scientist while in the queue at Waitrose saying that our right/left leanings could be hardwired into our DNA. I agree have gone overboard on the Toff thing & I was trying to wind you lot up have to say that worked in spades but I do think it it is a factor in the reason that both Boris & Dave are not doing as well in the polls as they should be with opponents both on their knees. If we come back to my point on tribes they both represent a very small tribe & one that we no longer feel any deference. TB hid his toffdom & he's Labour so he can't be a toff, Maggie & Major were solidly middle class & no one choose Brown but Cameron starts at an immediate disadvantage his tribe/base is too small. You guys made a mistake when you picked him I think Tory activists are natural social climbers & older so still have that sense of deference so they liked the toffdom & they thought TB keeps winning so we need are own slick PR spiv the heir to Blair & a good speech sealed the deal. David Davis messed up the speech & came across too much like that disaster IDS & do we really want a oik from a south London council estate . Rightly or wrongly I think you need a leader with wider class appeal if you want to win..I hate typing into this small box.

salieri

PoL: you ARE John Prescott, aren't you? That word "obliviously" just gave you away. I claim my £5.

Punishment of Luxury

salieri well done obliviously I am.. Bloody spell checkers.

Punishment of Luxury

Mozart couldn't spell either he didn't do so badly

salieri

I declare an interest. I hated Mozart (though I didn't kill him, you know) but not his literacy. Can PoL point me to an example of this alleged inability to spell? Whether in German, Italian or French, his linguistic ability was flawless. And he went to a state school.

salieri

Go on, then: just one example?