An audience speaks

Ian C

If I were the owner of the Criterion I would not let the feet of whoever allowed this to happen to touch the ground as they went out the door. Desperate measures for Ken it sounds like - they should have known that noone likes their evening hijacked, let alone for politics. It's a presumptiousness born of the complacency of too long in office (already).

Joshua

What shocks and angers me is not so much Livingstone's anti-Semitic remarks and attitudes as the almost complete insouciance with which they were greeted by the gentiles of Britain.

C Powell

I agree that the imperative is to remove from office a man who proudly embraces Islamofascists, though there are many other reasons to vote him out as well. The question is whether there are enough of us to achieve that. My hope is that the "time to go Ken/Anyone but Ken" brigade will outnumber those who are not impressed by Boris or are voting to stop him becoming Mayor. A close run thing, I suspect, not least because the Lib Dems are so keen on Ken's "green" credentials, so automatically anti-Tory, that they tend to overlook Ken's repellent views and authoritarian tendencies. We can but hope that Ken and Labour get a bloody nose on May 1.

Jonathan

What garbage, Joshua - there was a storm of demands for him to apologise. Here's a taste: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/16/britain.livingstone/index.html

Try to do a tiny bit of research before favouring us with any more of your "opinions".

Mark

There are precedents for this. Even Tony Blair - a better man by far than Livingstone - was roundly booed by the WIs some years ago when he was seen as waxing party political during an address.

British people take very unkindly to people using ostensibly non political occasions to further political goals. Unfortunately they are not so alert when it comes to BBC bias - as witness Jeremy Bowen's apalling "news" broadcast from Gaza last night which somehow managed not to mention Quassam Rockets at all.

szeni

And when did 'the gentiles of Britain' care about Jews (or anyone else, for that matter, except themselves)?

Beedeekay

And leftist Jonathan Freedland used his column in the Jewish Chronicle last week to persuade Jews to vote for Livingstone. Fat chance!!!!

THX1138

Just watched online the Andrew Neil London Mayor special. Boris was rubbish yet again a bit better than Newsnight but still all over the place with absolutely no command of detail.

Look I agree that Ken has a few dodgy mates & sometimes an unfortunate turn of phrase especially when pissed (who wouldn't like to take back a few things we have said under the influence) but the guy has done a good job running London on all the important measures and has great command of the detail.

As the great Terry Leahy at Tesco said "retail is detail" well running London is all detail and Boris has none, just look at that fiasco with busses is the extra cost £8M or £114M Oh don't ask me I'm only the candidate

What really annoys me is that the Conservatives put up such a useless candidate and only because he had a bit of brand appeal no credentials to run a city like London only that people had heard of him. The worst kind of PR spiverry I thought we were supposed to be above all that with Dave.

So thanks to a really stupid decision by central office I will hold my nose and vote for Ken.

Thanks Dave.

THX1138

Szeni- What a load of prejudiced rubbish. Shame on you.

peter watkins

How dare you try to paint Ken Livingstone as some outspoken racist.

Livingstone has spoken out more fervently against racism in London than almost any other politician.

Please explain yourself Pollard.

Mark

Sorry Peter Watkins but Livingstone has yet to apologise for a number of remarks that have offended London's Jewish community. if he were not so "right on" with multiculturalism in other ontexts and with other communities this would not matter so much, but of course, he is. It is precisely tatwhich gives rise to mistrust.

Let me put it this way. I am not a great fan of the modern prediliction for mass kissing at social functions, and am indifferent to hand shaking at business ones. However, if my hand is the only one unshaken, my cheek the only one unkissed, I tend to think the people there don't like me very much.

THX1138

So it looks like the buses will cost a bit more than £8M
Boris admits to a £100m see below.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MSFJ3JCv8ec&eurl=http://waugh.standard.co.uk/2008/04/the-sting.html

So Boris is sacked from The Times for lying; sacked by Micheal Howard for lying & now caught out lying about the cost of the buses.

What next ?

THX1138

peter watkins- Hold on. Where was Stephen racist? Often wrong but never a bigot.

THX1138

Hold on what was wrong with 2nd Boris post about the buses & his sackings?

THX1138

Sorry I was a bit quick off the mark. Looks like the excitement of the election is getting to me.

Michael Walker

"the imperative is to remove from office a man who proudly embraces Islamofascists"

Spot on. Support for liberal values has got to trump any other issue. Ken does not have that; worse still he has sheer contempt for these values that we hold dear.