Prang!! Boris skids on thin ice

David

"First of all Boris fails to display true grit in bringing about what Hitler had failed to achieve by taking all of London’s buses off the road:"

I don't get this. What's one totally different event got to do with the other? The effects of one are not the same as the effects of the other, so a comparison is totally ridi...oh, it's Melanie. As you were.

Daibhidh MacAdhaimh

Concerning the suspension of bus services:
I was a bus driver in Edinburgh during the late, marginally still stoical 1970s. Heavy snowfalls were routine winter challenges for us drivers and passengers alike to overcome. The only buses that failed to run were those that were temporarily stuck in stubborn, icy patches. I recall crawling down North Bridge on the No 31 during a morning rush hour. My nose practically touched the front windscreen in order to peer through the thick, falling snow that threatened to smother the glass. A woman waiting to dissembark thanked me for bringing her in to the city centre safely. 'Aye, nae bother, hen,' I said cheerfully. Her gratitude puffed up my then 22 year old ego heartily and re-enforced my determination to get folks to their destinations. Such was the collective stoicism of society that reigned then.
Now living in London I despaired at LT's decision and lame excuse yesterday to suspend services. The excuse that the buses might skid in to cars was an assumption that was hardly a vote of confidence in drivers' professionalism. The force guiding the decision was hardly that of the stoical but rather its replacement: the now all too familiar ogre: health and safety.

Suffolkbor

Where was Boris when the anti Israeli demonstrations were taking place ?
I don,t recall seeing his physog on the tele once or heard him comment on the violence and anti semitism .
Red Kens replacement has turned out to a regular wet wipe .

David

The day that an awful toad like Vaz is allowed to get on his high horse about anything to do with honesty and morality is the day politics dies.

Jenny

What are you banging on about, David? The point is that even in a war the buses never came off the road, yet a bit of snow did that on Monday. That's what one totally different event has to do with another. The writer is saying that something as serious as a war never stopped the buses yet a few snowflakes did. That's why the comparison is so different. Why are you Guardianistas so thick? No. don't answer that, anyone who reads Pollyanna Tonynbee...

Really liked this piece, Mel:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1135359/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-The-age-snitch-A-nurse-suspended-praying-Carol-Thatcher-sacked-private-remark-How-public-sector-informers-creating-Stasi-Britain-.html

Go Mel!

Frank P

A clever tease, Melanie and a great juxtaposition (even though it fell on stony 'David'). Boris hoist with his own petard.

It seems that every department of bureaucracy panics at every exigency these days in the old Smoke; terrorism, serious crime; gangsterism; binge-drinking; feral children with guns; On the Buses; the weather (whether rain, heat wave or a flurry of snow); 'Elf 'n' Safety! Each of the head honchos claim: 'this is the worst crisis that London has ever had to face' - whatever the completely predictable glitches in the life of the Metrollups. Now the new nabob of the utterly unnecessary and recently imposed Mayoral Office opens his mouth and puts his foot in it yet again, proving what we suspected all along when he was a full time TV entertainer/part time MP: that he's a clown. Our once wonderful Capital City is truly lost. It's now a Third World conurbation and your caption Londonistan is a deadly serious and suitable description. What hope for the rest of the UK?

Come to the Land of the Iceni and prepare for resistance! As JG would say on PW: join the Outlawry! At least lets go with a bang, not a whimper while Boris is whinnying from his Crystal Gherkin – what a Wally!

Frank P

Jenny

Apparently Carol Thatcher was referring to Gael Monfils.

http://www.tenniswallpapers.net/France/Gael-Monfils/

I suppose it raises the question, can a statement of the simply truth ever constitute a sacking offence? If the truth insults, tough titty! Even more so if it's uttered in jest and the jest is not directed at anyone present. I noted that Chiles joked that Bob Winston looked like Groucho Marx on the One Show tonight, while Winston was puffing his new book. Perhaps I should report Chiles for anti-Semitism to the same idiot who sacked Carol. The clear inference was, "All these Jews like alike, don't they?" I jest, too. But I'm sure it would be taken seriously by the same yardstick that was used. Or would it ...??

I've taken a dislike to that pasty faced prick Chiles recently, he reminds me of a suet pudding that has started to go mouldy and he shows strong Leftie tendencies. As for Jo Brand .....

But should we be surprised ... it's the BBC for Chrissakes! We know they're broadcasting from another planet. Pull the plug.
As I just commented on the Mail piece: pure Ingsoc 2009.

Archie

Boris is a damned sight too PC and Cameronesque for his own good....... and ours. He's turning into a real disappointment!

David

"The point is that even in a war the buses never came off the road"

The effects of war are completely different to the effects of snow. Put simplistically, the blitz involved bombings at night. That had little effect on the ability of vehicles to safely traverse roadways during the day, for the most part (obviously there would be no go areas being cleared, but this would not apply to the whole network at the same time).
Ice on the road, on the other hand obviously restricts the ability for large vehicles to do so, and tends to cover the whole network. As I say, the effects of the two are different, and one has to wonder about someone who compares them unquestioningly.

Can't stand Polly Toynbee, and wouldn't waste my money on the Grauniad.Left wing rubbish.

Raymond Joseph Douglas

At least with Ken, you knew where you stood. Boris is a wet wipe !

Original Tony

I am afraid to say that it's not only the streets of London that have lost its grit...I am afraid the whole British nation has lost it too.
Nobody stands up for anything anymore, few are prepared to take a risk and we allow tons of Brussels-inspired political correctness and stupid rules to shower over us.
During my holidays to various parts of Europe it is plain to see that only the UK follows Brussels-inspired laws that should be univerally followed by the rest of the EU. The French, Spanish and Italians just shrug their shoulders at the guff we so willingly obey.
Britain needs a powerful, inspirational leader or else, I am afraid to say, 'Great' will soon have to be dropped from the British title.

THX1138

That's where Hitler went wrong he should dropped snow instead of bombs.

phil

Boris dont worry phil thinks you are a star -if you had run the buses and people were killed by the skids this story would have different ,and if you forgot Davids phone call for lunch it doesnt bother me .Now if you read this please tell us what did you do to upset Mel .I always thought she was a friend

Pot Head

phil Boris supported Obama and criticised some of Mel's blog posting about about Obama also there was some kind of issue about Ray Lewis, not sure what but Mel wasn't a happy camper.

Mel is very thin skinned about any kind of criticism, hence her attacks on Guido, David Aaronovitch, Private Eye and now Boris.

Like all bullies she can hand it out but can't take it.

CS

Did the buses carried on running during air raids?

Winston Smith

I watched the news on this and laughed loudly at what Boris Johnson said. I can't remember the exact words but it was along the lines of; "We do not have enough vehicles(road gritters) to deal with this and really it's not worth it when we have freak snowstorms like this that happen once every twenty years or so...."

I was completely amazed that anyone, let alone the mayor of London said this. It shows just why I thought that Boris Johnson is the worst person for mayor. He's a buffoon, unable to debate without losing it and a complete twit. Don't get me wrong, I hated Livingstone and anyone would have been better but the three choices were appalling for Mayor.

When I was growing up in Dundee in the 70's, I used to go swimming every morning before school and that was all year around. It got so cold in winter, that the River Tay froze over. It would regularly snow and heavy, but schools were never closed and first thing in the morning, around 5am, the gritters would be on the roads. Not only would that but also council workmen with shovels and grit to clear the pavements. Sometimes those coming from the country would get the day off school to the envy of their classmates, but it was understandable. The snow would not be an excuse to shut businesses.
This episode should be resolved with the removal of Boris Johnson from mayor. he is incapable of doing his job. We're not talking about a little village in Surrey. We're talking about a capital city of the World!

It showed incompetence from those in charge. They should have had gritters on all the roads and council workmen cleaning pavements in the centre. Bad organisation and poor handling, show that the UK is unable to run itself because of morons in position of power.

phil

Pot Head-- Mel is very well read ,very bright and loyal but her bedside manner is not her best asset-I mostly am in agreement with her but at times she does astonish me -I wonder if Obama is beginning to make some of his erstwhile critics just a teeny bit confused -well occasionally !-I am still ambivalent ,but he is definitely not all wrong ,which of course he has been depicted on these threads .Now I am going to put on my crash helmet before the posters strike --an American (lol)
MESSAGE FOR MEL -LAY OFF BORIS -YOU DO NOT WANT RED KEN BACK DO YOU ?

JJS

Yeah -- but I still support Boris -- despite his ridiculous "we did OK".

Frank P

CS

Did the buses carry on running during the war? Well, rather like the Eighth Army tanks - only the ones that hadn't been blown up the day before.

Turn in your graves all you departed bus drivers and emergency workers from WW2; the ingrates are in charge. "Lest we Forget?" - Fergeddabahtit!

A flurry of snow - and instead of a functioning world capital, it becomes a picture postcard set for happy snappers (vide today's Torygraph (ha!) and the completely contrived front page picture). What a generation we have bred!

I wonder what Boris would do if we had a peasouper - the ol' 'London Particular' these days? Take a holiday in Istanbul, probably. Mayor? More a high strung filly it seems; no bets on that one for a five furlong dash. She'd pull up at the first patch of hard going.

David

"I was completely amazed that anyone, let alone the mayor of London said this"

Why? He's right. Why on earth is it worth spending money maintaining an infrastructure to deal with events that happen once every 20 years? For 19 years you'd be spending public funds on things that weren't needed.

Winston Smith

David(February 4th, 2009 12:17pm)

So then David, let me see you think that it's best not to employ more council workers, with which to salt pavements and grit roads because it only happens once every twenty years? Let's look at the how much money the UK has lost because its transport system was shut down meaning people couldn't get to work?
Let's also take into account as well the people who may be suing the council for not salting the roads and pavements and have had injuries?
The bombs of WW2 never shut down the transport system but snow did?
Are you serious? The amount of money that could have gone in tax to the government yesterday that didn't because of the snow is massive. Or do you miss this as well?

Let's not hope we get another freak snow storm that lasts for a week. Worse still imagine if this becomes a regular occurrence every year, or else lots of businesses will shut along with angry people.

You miss one point don't you and this is the main one; Why do you think we pay council tax, if not to make sure that our streets are safe to walk on at all times and I'm not just talking about policing.

We should be asking for a council tax refund.

Ros Morris

None of the paths on Hampstead Heath had been gritted. It was a complete nightmare, trying to traverse the ice. (The dog loved it but I don't have four legs). I asked a man in his green hut (one of the prolific workers) why they didn't grit all the main paths. "We don't grit those," he said. I asked why. "We never do and we don't." The only path that they do grit is the one leading to their hut! You gotta laugh... Meanwhile the rest of the green men and women are riding around in their environmentally friendly electric cars. I guess because they don't actually have to walk anywhere on the Heath, they couldn't give a toss!

Suffolkbor

Why is this old excuse about not being able to afford expensive snow clearing equipment for infrequent extreme weather events tripped out ad infinitum .
Surely a system could be employed where such equipment could be hired during emergencys on an ad hoc basis
from private companies under contractual agreement .
If no such companies exist then there is an opportunity there fo an aspiring entrepeneur .
It is not necessary for a country with a maritime temperate climate to have to purchase , equip and maintain the type of snow shifting vehicles that countrys such as Canada and Sweden would have .

I have a collection of British Transport films that have been digitally restored by the B.F.I.and one thing that always strikes me is the no nonsense can do attitude displayed when dealing with adverse climatic conditions .
Trains were dug out of snowdrifts by men in flat caps with pipes and capstan full strength cigarettes dangling from their lips . They knuckled down and got the job done without the endless whinging and excuse making that is prevalent today .
During the great smog of 1952 buses were lead along the roads by men carrying flares .
How times change .

stanley Jerusalem

Forget about it! Boris Johnson is a non-event not waiting to happen. He's about as relevant to daily life as sun-tan lotion. Remember we had a Mayor of London foisted on us by those who claimed "all other major cities have one,[so we want one too]". He represents the same interests as the layers of expensive[and superfluous] management at the NHS and even the BBC and Covent Garden Opera House. Cut them away and we'd be saving billions and getting results.
M & S did it in the 80's and benefited. It's the generation of jobs for the boys [oops, and girls] - What DO they do? Oh,they have policy meetings,[don't they?]What do they achieve? Well they propose to set up a committee to investigate the possibility of forming and action group to source new directions. What for? We make plastic cups. Well Human Resources feel the need to examine all possibilities, I think........
Coffee Break!
Nurse! The screens!
Play the music! Open the cage!

stanley Jerusalem

P.S. How did we manage for so long without one?.....
What?
Oh, about 800 years, I think.

William Iceberg

It took me 45 minutes to walk to my local shop which normally takes me 5 minutes, it was very dangerous to walk even if you are young and fit, the government knew about the snow situation few weeks ago, if the council man and woman did not want to do there work and put a salt on the sidewalks, the community or the people in the neighborhood should get together and do it, I guess this is London there is no community and the neighbors don't know each other

stanley Jerusalem

William Iceberg
February 4th, 2009 7:29pm
[Nice nom de plume]

In the winter of 1947 every household in our street in North-East London dug the snow [up to 2ft deep] from the front of our houses as far as the kerb [only one person in a street of 60 multi-occupied homes owned a car.]
Buses , trams and trains all ran and I went to school -50 yards away. No-one was absent. This during a period of extreme austerity but with the reminder of sticking together straight after the war.
That Britain must have died and none of us noticed.
Shame really, innit?

BTW here in the Holy city a snow warning alone will close all schools and no bus will leave its garage - still I'm not going anywhere. Even Melanie was snowbound here two years ago! Did her D.Mail Editor believe her? Hmmm.

Edward in the USA

No need to use plows, just wait for "Global Warming" to clear the roads.

EC

Oh dear Boris Rix has dropped his trousers again. It's all showbiz these days. May the farce be with you .....

Stanley @7:29pm; Winston & Others@various

In case any of you were wondering about what you or the Speccie Techies did to send the margins and formatting awry the answer is probably nothing. Posts where the formatting has gone "a bit Boris" when viewed with Internet Explorer 7 are perfectly OK when viewed with other browsers like 'Safari' or 'Firefox.'

Also after updates to IE were received around the New Year it (IE) has been freezing on a random but frequent basis. I'm certain that the cause of this is anthroprogenic.

e&oe

Neil

When was the last time you sat on a bus like the rest of us proles, Mel?

Alexandrovich

EC: I've just tried Firefox. No difference except one; it runs about twice as fast as Explorer!

Also updated to IE8 recently but soon reverted to 7.

Edward in the USA

Neil, are you speaking about "The Short Bus" you regularly use to go to school?