Red Ken - Can He Survive?

[Officer Dibble]

I?ve just been reading an investigative report by Andrew Gilligan on Red Ken and his moody world of municipal finance. It seems Ken?s ?race? adviser cronies, like Lee Jasper, have been living it large with trips to Africa, moody trading companies, and a large sum paid to a sexual partner ? ostensibly for her ?social projects?.

Andrew Gilligan reports ? ?Lee Jasper, the Mayor's director of equalities and policing, is at the centre of a network of companies which have received large sums of public money from Mr Livingstone while appearing to do little or no work in return.? And he goes on ?Hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money paid to the companies is unaccounted for or has disappeared.?



In light of these and many other similar allegations, come Thursday, will Londoner?s be of the opinion that Ken and Lee are shafting them and have been laughing up their sleeves at them for the past 8 years? Will they be of the opinion that they don?t want any more of their money being spent on all this ?diversity? bollocks? Will they be fed up with Ken hob-knobbing with our mortal enemies, appearing to take their part, as though nothing had ever happened? Or will apathy reign supreme? Will Ken live to sneer another day?




Officer Dibble

[colonel]

He'll win on second preferences- so over half of Londoners will have their choice.

Giligan is a cunt who has clearly been reading too much Dibble.

[Bob Singleton]

The Evening Standard, like all the papers within Associated Newspapers, has a pathological hatred of Ken Livingstone.

Andrew Gilligan is an old friend of Boris Johnson (Johnson gave him a job on The Spectator when Gilligan was sacked by the BBC)

Gilligan is in the unusual position of being both a reporter AND a commentator at the Standard. While it's not uncommon for a commentator to bring personal feelings into articles, it hardly inspires confidence in the partiality of his reporting.

In a recent Guardian article by Peter Wilby (a self-confessed fan of Gilligan as well as someone who, when editor of The New Statesman backed Frank Dobson over Livingstone) he points out a recent biased piece of reporting by the Standard...

As the election approaches, the Standard becomes more partial. Last Wednesday, it ran the front-page headline "Suicide bomb backer runs Ken campaign" ("Ken's campaign" on the Standard website).

Two things become apparent only when you read the story. First, the "campaign" is not the official Livingstone one; it is an independent group called Muslims 4 Ken, with no direct connection to the mayor or Labour. Second, the man in question backs suicide bombing in Palestine, not, as the headline might lead you to expect, in London.

In his article, Wilby goes on to point out that while Gilligan has promised to scrutinise all the major candidates running for mayor, he has yet to do anything other than target Livingstone...

On March 11, Gilligan launched "Truth Check ... which will carefully test all the statements made by ... the main candidates". This first piece examined "untrue or misleading" statements on a radio show, and found Livingstone making one every 58 seconds, almost three times as many as Johnson. Four weeks later, a second Gilligan article looked exclusively at further Livingstone untruths. No equivalent on Johnson has appeared so far, though Gilligan promises one soon.

Gilligan argues that, after eight years as mayor, Livingstone has more of a record to examine. I do not quite buy this. How did Johnson perform as a shadow minister? Is he a good constituency MP? Did he show management skills at the Spectator? Do his columns suggest sufficient sensitivity (OK, political correctness, if you prefer) to run a multi-ethnic city? Who's financing his campaign? The Standard has investigated none of these matters. It says Livingstone isn't fit to be mayor, but it has not tested Johnson's suitability. Only a mix-up over the cost of new buses has emerged to Johnson's discredit.

To repeat: I don't like Livingstone. I admire Gilligan (a lefty like me) and his paper. But I fear the Standard's coverage gives the mayor ample grounds to cry foul if he loses office on May 1.

London is ill-served by its sole paid-for newspaper.

I'm not Livingstone's greatest fan, but I dread to think what would happen to this city with a clown as its mayor; for that is what Boris Johnson is! A few appearances on HIGNFY have turned him into a darling for the unthinking masses, but while his buffoonery may be endearing, its not a reason to give him control of a major world city.

[randyandy]

Depends if they want um erm um Boris instead I suppose.

You know the one I mean Dibbs the Tory chap that Green Dave doesn't want.

The bloke who thinks he will be able to get a no strike agreement with the RMT if he asks them nicely.

I am not sure apathy will play a part but I think people voting Boris for a giggle may bring consequence to themselves.

[Mike_CFC]

Ken's only got a few hours remaining as London mare,yes,mare.

I voted for Paddick,i know he won't win,but it takes votes away from Ken.

Boris will win,i think.But 4 more years under Ken would just be unbearable.

I voted for Lib Dems for my local area(London SW) as New Labour is a wasted vote in my area,and the Tories simply have to go.

[Officer Dibble]

"I voted for Paddick,i know he won't win,but it takes votes away from Ken."

Well, anything's better than Ken.



Officer Dibble

[Mike_CFC]

And with Paddick being an ex-Copper,he certainly would kick these degenerate Yoof's and wannabee gangsta's into touch.

Evening Standard are doing their best to get Ken out of City Hall,and seem to be doing a fine job of it.Officer Dibble wrote:

> "I voted for Paddick,i know he won't win,but it takes votes
> away from Ken."
>
> Well, anything's better than Ken.
>
>
>
> Officer Dibble
>
>
>
>

[Officer Dibble]

"And with Paddick being an ex-Copper,he certainly would kick these degenerate Yoof's and wannabee gangsta's into touch."

Yes, he seems alright to me, but he can't win the day.



Officer Dibble

[JonnyHungwell]

I hope he gets thrown out, even if it means Boris the Incompetent gets in - he's a right tosspot, but can't be any worse than the arsehole Livingstone. I've grown to hate Livingstone since the congestion charge.

[one eyed jack]

I agree..Boris is the lesser of two evils. I wont be backing Colonel Kurtz..oops I mean Ken Livingstone thats for sure.