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Boris Johnson (Mayor)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Boris Johnson debates Alan Johnson to put the case against Proportional Representation

Boris a PX debate Last night Policy Exchange hosted a debate to discuss the merits of replacing the First Past The Post electoral system with Proportional Representation. Billed as Johnson v Johnson, the case for PR was put by Home Secretary Alan Johnson, supported by Vernon Bogdanor, with Boris Johnson and Lord Norton of Louth backing First Past The Post.

Alan Johnson admitted that he was missing Gordon Brown's appearance before the PLP in order to keep the engagement and during his speech appeared to suggest that Labour cannot win the general election when he said that we "may well get" a coalition government at the impending general election. He went to say that he had no problem with coalition governments and lamented the fact that he had thus far failed to persuade his party to hold a referendum on electoral reform, expressing his personal preference for the AV PLus system recommended by the Jenkins Commission.

To do Boris's reply justice, I merely offer you the full transcript of his speech...

Ladies and gents, I want to congratulate Policy Exchange and I want to begin by extending my sympathies to my cousin Alan for the heroic way in which he is enduring his ordeal.

Everybody or virtually everybody in Westminster knows that the best thing for the Labour party and the country would be the speedy removal of Gordon Brown. Everybody knows that my cousin Alan is far and away the best man to fill his shoes and across Britain there are men and women yearning for the cabinet to summon up the gumption and do their duty by party and by country to go into No 10, where Gordon waits, muttering with his head in his hands, like Marlon Brando at the end of Apocalypse Now and terminate his command.

What do we get instead? Nothing but muttering and moaning and the ludicrous rubber dagger plots of Hoon and Hewitt and a cabinet reduced to a hopeless coalition of the untrustworthy and the dithering. Not since the waters retired from the face of the earth has this country seen such a display of protoplasmic invertebracy and as the dying days of Labour drag on you may find it hard to believe that any system could produce a government more feeble, more indecisive more racked by internal feuding and division. And yet it could, my friends, if we were to follow cousin Alan and introduce PR.

Continue reading "Boris Johnson debates Alan Johnson to put the case against Proportional Representation" »

Posted at 13:25 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Constitution and democracy | | Comments (63)

Boris throws down the gauntlet to George Osborne to abolish Labour's supertax on bankers' bonuses

Boris Johnson smiling Before Christmas, London Mayor Boris Johnson outlined his fear that Alistair Darling's 50% tax on bankers' bonuses over £25,000 risked "super-penalising" London. 

But he has now upped the ante by suggesting that up to 9,000 bankers may leave the City as a result of the tax and that the capital and the country would be losing out.

He has written to Treasury Select Committee chairman, John McFall, demanding an urgent inquiry into the matter:

"One bank told my office that 1,600 of its staff had asked since the Pre-Budget Report for help in relocating from London. Another bank told me that it is considering moving 700 to 800 staff from London in the near future as a direct result of the bank payroll tax.

"Even if institutions decide not to move out of London entirely, many will chose to relocate key functions and personnel in other places around the world perceived to be more welcoming than the UK."

He estimates that 9,000 bankers leaving the City would lose the Government £1.2 billion in lost tax and National Insurance.

But whilst the mayor is voicing opposition to Labour Government policy, it would seem the day is fast approaching where there will be cohabitation between a Tory mayor and Tory Government.

And the Daily Mail interprets Boris Johnson's latest salvo as being equally aimed at the Conservatives:

"Mr Johnson threw down the gauntlet to Shadow Chancellor George Osborne to rule out extending the fiscal grab, which is meant to last for only one year.

"The Tories have no plans to dump the supertax, which could be worth up to £5 billion to Britain's embattled public finances."

Make no mistake, Boris is his own man and if David Cameron becomes Prime Minister, he is not going to be afraid of challenging him and his colleagues.

Jonathan Isaby

Posted at 08:44 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Tax and spending | | Comments (101)

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Will Boris duck re-election? And will Peter Mandelson be his opponent?

BorisShield The two questions are raised by Fraser Nelson in his News of the World column, and distilled at Coffee House.

Fraser writes that Boris is "highly unlikely" to stand again - eyeing, instead, the prize of Ten Downing Street (despite Boris' claims to the contrary).

The best reason Fraser gives is the obvious one: "Boris is up for re-election in May 2012, by which time the Tories will be making Irish-style spending cuts - and be hated for it. Whoever stands as Labour candidate has a pretty good chance of victory. And being the most powerful figure in the party."

[I emphasise "Irish-style". Does Fraser know something we don't about 5%+ cuts in public sector pay?]

If Mandelson does stand he'll have to beat Ken Livingstone who wants a third crack at London's top political job.

I can't quarrel strongly with Fraser but, on balance, I think Boris will stand again...

  1. By all accounts he is enjoying the job.
  2. I think he'll want to be Mayor for the 2012 Olympics (which take place immediately after the moment he is up for re-election).
  3. In the absence of a strong alternative Tory candidate there'll be enormous pressure from the party for him to stand again.
  4. His chances of ever becoming PM will not be helped if he is seen to have walked away from a re-election challenge. Tory members don't yet think he is Prime Ministerial material. That is most likely to change after eight successful years of governing London (not four).
  5. The backdrop of an unpopular Tory government in Westminster will make his task hard but I expect Boris Johnson to be increasingly independent-minded. Watch him fight for Crossrail against a Tory Treasury. Watch him fight for a fairer share of the taxes paid by Londoners to stay in London (not Scotland). Watch him tack to the left with a defence of "a living wage" and to the right with a defence of the City. He'll style himself as as independent of a Tory government as Ken Livingstone styled himself as independent of Tony Blair. He certainly has the charisma to do it.
  6. Boris' re-election task will be made easier if there is a bloody Labour primary battle between Mandelson and Livingstone.

Jo Johnson's recent selection showed the potency of the Johnson brand. Boris can walk into any safe seat in the country but he might as well wait until 2016 to do that.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 12:02 in Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (28)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

'Green Boris' says Darling's supertax on bankers is unlikely to work

BorisOnMarrSpeaking on Andrew Marr this morning, Boris Johnson said that he doubted that Alistair Darling's supertax on bankers' bonuses could work without "super-penalising London".  The Mayor of London said that he shared anger at the idea of taxpayer-funded bonuses but that any attempt to tax these bonuses should have been agreed internationally.

He began his interview by saying that he was a full convert to the climate change agenda, citing the Stern Report as a key moment in the development of his thinking. He paid tribute to David Cameron for putting green issues at the heart of British politics and said that climate change sceptics should realise that there were often good financial reasons for combating global warming anyway.

Continue reading "'Green Boris' says Darling's supertax on bankers is unlikely to work" »

Posted at 10:07 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Environment, Tax and spending | | Comments (28)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

What should David Cameron learn from Boris?

Picture 2 James Forsyth has covered the "Boris v Dave story" in his political column in this week's Spectator and it is well worth reading.

He begins by pointing out the similarities and contrasts between the pair:

"Both Boris and Dave are, of course, Old Etonians who graduated to Oxford and then the Bullingdon Club. But they are not cut from the same cloth. The Mayor’s friends enjoy pointing out that he went to Eton on a scholarship. Cameron supporters retort that while Boris left Oxford with only a 2:1, Cameron took a First. Their styles are also opposites: one suave and assured, the other dishevelled and chaotic. Boris says what he thinks almost without thinking. Cameron’s pronouncements are carefully calibrated."

Boris has of late placed himself to Cameron's Right by taking a more robust line on Europe, the 50p tax rate and bankers' bonuses - which infuriates those around the party leadership; but where should the would-be Prime Minister perhaps be swallowing some pride and learning from the mayor of London?

Forsyth points out that much of what the party is promising in government on transparency is already being done at City Hall, for example, and that there are close links between the policy-makers at City Hall and CCHQ. But most significantly it is the mayor's political style from which Cameron should learn, asserts Forsyth:

"Boris’s secret is his authenticity: voters feel that they are getting what they see and not being spun a line. They respect that. The rough edges in politics are, often, what shows the public who a politician really is. When someone is going against the received wisdom or taking a risk, you know that they mean what they are saying. Cameron’s fault is that he is perhaps too perfectly presented, too polished, too preoccupied with spin."

Read the full piece here.

Jonathan Isaby

Posted at 19:26 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), David Cameron | | Comments (41)

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Boris warned about sending political messages to his 59,000 Twitter followers

Picture 38

Boris Johnson's twittery celebration of The Sun endorsing the Conservatives has earnt him a warning.

The Guardian has the story:

"The matter was referred to the GLA panel for dealing with complaints, who concluded last month that the mayor "could have been seen" to have been breaching a clause in the code of conduct governing elected members, "as it appeared on the evidence presented that the mayor of London was using GLA resources in seeking to affect party political support"."

With nearly 59,000 followers Boris Johnson is by far the biggest Conservative representative on Twitter.

David Cameron (famously) does not Tweet for fear of looking a "Tw*t"!  The most newsy Twitterer inside CCHQ is Head of Press, Henry Macrory.

The Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Brown, is the biggest Labour star on Twitter. At just over one million followers, she has much more 'Twitterpower' than Boris.  With Downing Street emblazoned all over her site, however, she will be limited in her use of Twitter to back her husband.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 05:40 in Blogs, websites, e-etc, Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (32)

Friday, December 04, 2009

Boris may have to choose between car-free London (for a few days) and a £300m EU fine

The London Evening Standard reports that Boris Johnson may have to ban cars from central London for an unspecified number of days in order to ensure Britain's capital city hits mandatory EU requirements on clean air.

If the targets are missed London could be hit by a fine of £300m - costing the average London council taxpayer £15 more for one year.

I find it hard to believe that other European cities (Athens springs to mind) are meeting clean air targets... and does Greece pay its fines to the EU?

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 11:32 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Environment, Europe, Transport | | Comments (129)

Monday, November 30, 2009

On St Andrew's Day, Boris wants extra investment in London as the price for the capital's subsidy of Scotland

This has been coming for sometime. Boris Johnson today launches his campaign for London to get a fairer share of the tax revenues it generates.

The Mayor of London makes the call in his Telegraph column. He insists there is nothing anti-Scottish in his demand. He declares that he loves Scots and Scotland.  "On this St Andrew's Day," he declares, "the Saltire is flying proudly outside City Hall."

But he then launches his attack on the Barnett formula - an "amazing political antiquity" - which sees money transferred from London, in particular, to Scotland and other parts of the UK:

"The English taxpayer sends about £20 billion every year to Scotland as a kind of present. This famously helps to give the Scottish parliament the financial autonomy to do some things that are deemed unaffordable in England – such as free university tuition, certain anti-cancer drugs and free nursing care for the elderly.  This system is the subject of all sorts of Scot-bashing polemics, but seems unlikely to be fundamentally reformed because, after all, we have a Union and it is right that the richer parts of that Union should help the poorer parts. The real question, and the one on which I would like our beloved Scottish Prime Minister and Chancellor to focus, is how come we can afford to pay the Barnett formula? Where does the money come from? I will tell you. It comes from London. There are only three regions of the UK that make a profit, in the sense of contributing more to the Treasury than they receive in spending, and they are London, the South East, and the East; and London is the powerhouse that drives the other two, with a net tax export estimated at £19 billion per year."

Boris stops short of calling for London's money back but he wants the Treasury to pay for infrastructure projects such as Crossrail.  A better deal for London is essential, he implies, if the capital is to continue to pay for the rest of the UK. London's Mayor calls for investment in infrastructure to be paid for by future tax revenues.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 08:07 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Scotland | | Comments (145)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Boris blasts Brown's "economically illiterate" 50p tax band as he gears up to paint himself as a very independent Mayor of London

Johnson50p The Mayor of London is at his best in The Telegraph this morning, pouring scorn on Gordon Brown's "utterly tragic" 50p tax hike:

  • Boris lists some of the wealth creators leaving Britain, partly because of the 50p tax band.
  • He sees it as a reversal of the Thatcherite reforms that made London a world capital for law, finance, advertising and other service industries.
  • He notes that Britain's top rate of tax will be higher than our major competitors and up to 25,000 top earners may flee Britain as a result... or never bring their ingenuity to these shores.
  • And for what? Avoidance and the brain drain may mean less revenue is collected from the new tax band.

It's all political, the Mayor of London concludes, and amounts to a desperate attempt to prop up Labour's bloated state:

"This Government has spectacularly mismanaged the public finances. It has overseen an explosion in the wage bill of the state, to the point where the average public-sector worker now earns £74 more per week than a private-sector employee, as well as having much better pension and other entitlements."

The whole article is worth reading.

George Osborne and David Cameron are not prepared to make these arguments although I suspect they don't fundamentally dissent. This side of the election they are not going to let Labour paint them as the friends of the very rich and - on a related front - bankers. Those of us who believe in simpler, lower taxes will have to be patient. Lower and simpler corporate taxation is likely to be a major feature of George Osborne's first few budgets. Central to his vision of a hi-growth Britain is the creation of an environment that will make the UK an attractive headquarters for international business (see James Forsyth and Irwin Stelzer).

Boris meanwhile will continue to set his own political course. He'll fight the 50p tax band, for example, and he'll support a living wage for Londoners, an earned amnesty for migrants and whatever else he thinks is in the interest of the city he leads. He is fully aware that he comes up for election in the middle of what is likely to be the mid-term of a Tory government that will be taking very difficult decisions on public spending. I and CCHQ fully expect him to oppose some of those cuts. He'll campaign for London to get a fairer share of public spending - pointing out the huge subsidy to Scotland while some of the UK's very poorest communities are in London. Boris is a Tory through-and-through but expect him to style himself as even more of an independent once the General Election is over.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 08:26 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Tax and spending | | Comments (58)

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

BBC fails to screen Jeremy Paxman getting challenged by Boris Johnson on his own BBC salary

Boris Johnson's appearance on Newsnight on Monday night was quite something. Classic TV:

Missing from the interview, however, were exchanges when Boris challenged Jeremy Paxman to be as transparent about his own BBC salary as he is as Mayor of London.  The Daily Mail has the story:

"The unscreened exchanges are said to have included a section where the Mayor, whose post pays around £140,000, pointed out that Londoners could see how much he earned while TV personalities are not subject to the same level of openness. Mr Johnson is said to have challenged the presenter five or six times to say what he earned, then turned to others in the studio and said: 'He won't tell us, he won't tell us."

Shame on the BBC for not screening that.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 08:28 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Broadcasters, media, arts | | Comments (47)

Monday, October 05, 2009

Boris tells George Osborne: If I can find savings in London, you can find savings in Whitehall

DSC05256 After entering the conference hall to the theme tune to EastEnders (having appeared on the show last week), London Mayor Boris Johnson gave a typically confident speech to the conference in which he said that if he was able to find savings in London after eight years of the Livingstone regime, then David Cameron and George Osborne (whom he named specifically) could do the same with the country:

"If we can cut cost in City Hall, George then you can cut cost in Whitehall as you promise to do."

He added, referring to the recent story about how a pair of female police officers discovered they were not allowed to babysit for each other "unless they both secured OFSTED credentials in baby-sitting":

"Get rid of the nonsense, but don't chop the investments essential to the UK economy; Cut the baby-sitting monitors, but don't cut Crossrail; Cut the baby-sitting monitor human resources department, but don't cut the tube upgrades; Cut the baby-sitting monitor equal opportunities action day but don't cut the great projects and investments that will deliver jobs and growth now and make London more attractive for generations to come."

Boris has confirmed that he will be freezing the GLA precept on Londoners' council tax bills - ie a real terms cut - for the second year running and says that he will now save an extra £5 billion over nine years at Transport for London, and Paul Waugh highlights some of the savings Boris is trumpeting there on his blog:

*Cutting 1,000 admin jobs have gone at London Underground following the integration with Metronet, saving £570 million
* Cutting "several hundred" more posts elsewhere across TfL
* Saving £220 million from consultants bills
* £400 million from switching to more efficient computer systems
* £130 million from moving staff out of central London to cheaper premises in Southwark and North Greenwich.
* £185 million from re-negotiating the Oyster ticketing contract alone. A further £240 million from changes to contracts linked to the c-charge and low emission zone
* £200 million cut in marketing and press budget, redirected to fund extra police on Tubes and buses.
* Pay for senior staff has been frozen and bonuses cut, and the pay settlement for most staff will "reflect the economic realities being faced by millions of Londoners".

He also used the speech to insist that he would oppose high taxation as it would make the City of London less competitive:

"I will oppose high marginal rates of taxation because they failed in the miserable 1970s, because they yield tiny sums of revenue and because they only serve to drive away talent."

Jonathan Isaby

Posted at 12:20 in Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (28)

Monday, September 07, 2009

Boris chooses the wrong mosque for his message about Islam

Last week Boris Johnson encouraged people to learn more about Islam:

”That’s why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque. I would be very surprised if you didn’t find that you share more in common than you thought.”

Fair enough but the Mayor of London chose to issue this message at the East London Mosque.

We learn from the excellent Harry's Place that...

  • The ELM's imam, Abdul Qayum, is a signatory of the pro-Hamas Istanbul declaration.
  • "In sermons at the mosque, Qayum himself has praised Hamas, denied that they are terrorists, cast Israel as an enemy of Allah that will be crushed, and compared Israel to Pharaoh, Genghis Khan, the crusaders, and Hitler."
  • The ELM is due to be addressed by Anas al Tikriti, who supports the murder of coalition soldiers in Iraq.

Read the full Harry's Place post. Boris could hardly have chosen a mosque less appropriate to his message that the average Londoner has much in common with Muslims.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 12:51 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Race and multiculturalism, War on terror | | Comments (84)

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Why on earth is Boris Johnson spending £600,000 on a new logo for London?

Source: The London Evening Standard.

Tim Montgomerie

3pm Although this story from Paul Waugh suggests he is not as wasteful with train fares as the good ol' BBC.

Posted at 14:09 in Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (23)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Boris and Cameron rush to congratulate Freddie, Strauss and England's victorious Ashes team

Poor David Cameron went to Edgbaston on the day that the Test was washed out but like all cricket fans he is delighted at today's victory in the Fifth Test.  He has just issued this statement:

"Congratulations to Andrew Strauss and all the England team on their Ashes triumph. Its been an incredible series and a fitting end to Andrew Flintoff's test career. The team and backroom staff should know just how proud the entire country is of their inspirational performance."

Boris got there first with his congratulations:

''England have spun, swung and swatted their way to an incredible triumph. It is a wonderful achievement and testament to the courage, determination and remarkable array of talents within this fantastic cricketing team.  This victory is all the more impressive in the way the team has dealt with adversity, injury and the huge expectations of a nation hungry for cricketing success. I hope this truly amazing feat will inspire young kids who may never have played cricket to pick up a bat or a ball in the hope of becoming the next Freddie Flintoff, Monty Panesar or this weekend's century man Jonathan Trott.''

Guido has, of course, decided that Brown's decision to with-hold his Jonah-style good wishes was the crucial factor.  Perhaps Boris, in contrast, has the Midas touch?  Britain did very well at the Beijing Olympics with him watching... The two winning test matches were at Lords and the Oval - both in Boris-controlled London! ...and he issued this memorable video at the start of the series:

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 19:41 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Cameron 'The Man', Light relief | | Comments (37)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Is Labour seeking to punish London for backing Boris?

(Previously posted in error on the "old" ToryDiary)

DSC05269 A story appears in tonight's Evening Standard - though not currently online - that London is to lose out to the tune of more than £200 million when it comes to the Government's spending on housebuilding:

"Although on paper London benefits from £207 million earmarked for the homes plan, City Hall has now dug down into the figures and unearthed what it says are cuts of £205.5 million. That means a net benefit of just £1.5 million"

London Mayor Boris Johnson has wasted no time in criticising the Government - John Healey, the housing minister in particular - and, according to the paper, has complained that London is "losing out to Labour-voting regions in the North - even though it had greater need."

The report states that the same budget for the North East will double, even though it has just 300 households in temporary accommodation - whilst London - which has 48,000 such households - will see its share of the money fall.

Jonathan Isaby

Posted at 20:21 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Housing | | Comments (14)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Boris dismisses his £250,000 fee for Telegraph column as "chicken feed"

Picture 11 Interviewed for the BBC Boris Johnson dismissed the £250,000 he is paid by The Telegraph for his excellent Monday column as "chicken feed".  He continued:

"I happen to write extremely fast. I don't see why on a Sunday morning I shouldn't knock off an article, if someone wants to pay me for that article then that's their lookout and of course I make a substantial donation to charity.  Maybe that money shouldn't go to charity, maybe you'd rather I didn't make those contributions to charity. It seems to me to be a wholly reasonable thing to do."

Liberal Democrat frontbencher Norman Baker was quick to go on the attack:

"There is nothing wrong with people writing newspaper columns but this is an enormous amount of money and for Boris Johnson to dismiss it as 'chicken feed' shows just how out of touch he and the Conservative party are from the reality of life for millions of Londoners struggling to make ends meet in the depths of a recession."

Not Boris' most sensitive remark.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 08:39 in Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (58)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Learning lessons from the three resignations from Team Boris

AxedBorisAide Yesterday Boris Johnson lost his third Deputy since becoming London's Mayor thirteen months ago.

Today's Evening Standard suggests that Ian Clement resigned after dishonest expenses claims.  Clement, 44, claimed to be meeting London council leaders when he was allegedly meeting his lover, 23.

Mr Clement's resignation follows the earlier departures of Ray Lewis and Tim Parker.

All three resignations are unfortunate but Boris Johnson has overcome these problems and has built a very strong core team of Anthony Browne (Policy), Guto Harri (Communications), Malthouse (Policing) and Milton (Policy and Planning).

I hope the Conservative Party is watching this whole business carefully, however.  Nick Boles - who ran Boris Johnson's transition - is heading up the Party's Implementation Team with Francis Maude.  Some personnel problems are unavoidable but there must be lessons from this.  I think particularly of vetting procedures, agreeing structures in advance and also the strength of guidance that is issued to those that David Cameron will appoint to his own team (should he become Prime Minister).

A key difference between Team Boris and Team Cameron is the stability of the latter's 'inner sanctum'.  As ConHome will reveal in a few days' time - with the publication of our profile of 'David Cameron's West Wing' - the Cameron machine is characterised by very stable relationships, forged over many years. 

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 12:54 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Government-in-waiting, Team Cameron | | Comments (21)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Boris welcomes LSE report that suggests immigrant amnesty would produce £3bn boost to economy

Jonathan and I did not set out this morning to upset readers but I guess that his case for John Bercow and my support for Boris Johnson's amnesty for long-term illegal immigrants will both succeed in enraging most of you.

I used to be instinctively against an amnesty - or 'earned regularisation' as Team Boris likes to call it - but started to change my mind a year or so ago when I read an article by Anthony Browne who oversees policy for London's Mayor.  Browne set out the three options very clearly:

  1. We can oversee a massive deportation of illegal immigrants but "no country that sees itself as civilised wants to send immigration officials into schools, yanking distraught children away from their distressed classmates."  There is also the stubborn fact that Britain has a very poor record at deporting large numbers.  An estimated two-thirds of illegal immigrants have been here for more than five years.  Do we really believe that that is going to change?
  2. We can accept the status quo where immigrants and their children live in a limbo land - half in the economy and half out.
  3. Or third we can offer immigrants an 'earned regularisation' if they haven't committed crimes.

I suspect Britain will end up muddling along with option two because politicians lack the courage to either deport or to regularise but a report from the London School of Economics suggests that there are economic benefits from pursuing the third option.  Reported by the BBC and Telegraph the study suggests a £3bn-a-year boost to the economy including nearly an extra £1bn in tax revenues.

Continue reading "Boris welcomes LSE report that suggests immigrant amnesty would produce £3bn boost to economy" »

Posted at 09:00 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Immigration and asylum | | Comments (145)

Monday, June 01, 2009

Boris wants Heffer in the Commons

HefferObamaed Simon Heffer may have rubbished Boris Johnson on the eve of last year's election but London's Mayor urges his Telegraph colleague to run for Parliament today.  The whole column is Boris at his teasing best.  Read it all but here's a taster:

"Imagine the thrill of watching a debate in the Commons, and all the Buggins'-turn merchants making their predictable contributions; and then imagine the look on their faces as Heffer rises to satirise the proceedings – irascible, implacable and, above all, independent. Imagine if Heffer could be persuaded to serve on one of the European standing committees. He would not succeed in stemming the tide of European legislation, since it is constitutionally impossible to do so; but he would make the most fantastic fuss, and he would remind the British public what was going on.

I have heard it said that the Conservatives are using this crisis to drum out some of the old guard and install a cooler, groovier and more metropolitan breed of Conservative. Well, anyone anxious about such a move should vote for Heffer, since it is frankly hard to imagine anyone less groovy or metropolitan. If we send him to Parliament he would be the grit in the oyster, the bacillus that makes the yogurt come alive. The embers of his political ambition have plainly been smouldering quietly, ever since Cambridge. We must all puff on those embers now.

If it helps spur him to action, let me say that to wimp out and content himself with being a journalist – with an expense account, without responsibility, a mere chucker of rocks from the sidelines – would be the action of a big girl's blouse. This is no time for pussyfooting. This is no time to trifle with the hopes of the people. I speak with the assurance of one who has worked with Heffer for 21 years. We want the Heff, as we affectionately call him, and we want him now."

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 07:31 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Candidates, Fleet Street | | Comments (66)

Monday, May 25, 2009

Boris Johnson v Alan Johnson on proportional representation

JohnsonVJohnson In a barnstorming article for The Daily Telegraph the Mayor of London launches a savage attack on MPs and backs David Cameron's call for an immediate General Election:

"How can Parliament raise more taxes when the toiling voters have seen the duck houses and the plasma screens bought with taxpayers' money? How can Members call on the courts to punish benefit cheats when they have so manifestly cheated themselves? How can they sit there and pass a single law when it looks as though some of them may have broken the laws against fraud and theft? They can't. It's over. They must go to the country, and I don't mean to their second homes in the country."

Ouch.

Boris Johnson also attacks the attempts by advocates of proportional representation to use expenses-gate to get their favoured constitutional reform introduced on the back of the current crisis:

"We don't need a constitutional convention. We don't need to contemplate proportional representation, since that will only intensify the power of the party machines and create even more lobby fodder. We want a new breed of MPs who will consistently tell the whips to get stuffed; who will smash the brutal and intellectually enervating system of party discipline that turns Westminster into a kind of Seventies Leyland car factory, apathetically turning out badly assembled laws to plague the people of this country."

Continue reading "Boris Johnson v Alan Johnson on proportional representation" »

Posted at 08:34 in Boris Johnson (Mayor), Candidates, Constitution and democracy, Europe, Parliamentarians' duties and remuneration | | Comments (132)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Boris says Richard Barnbrook should disinvite Nick Griffin or lose his Buckingham Palace garden party invitation

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, has issued this public statement regarding the decision of London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook of the BNP to take his party leader to a Buckingham Palace garden party:

"I have learnt today that the London Assembly has passed an invitation to Her Majesty's Garden Party to Richard Barnbrook of the BNP, following previous custom for all Assembly Members to be invited.

It now transpires, however, that Mr Barnbrook plans to bring as his guest the Leader of the BNP, Mr Nick Griffin, or another prominent member of the party, thereby threatening to turn a happy annual event - at which thousands of people across the country are acknowledged for their service to the community - into a political stunt.

We cannot tolerate any such abuse of the invitation or any potential embarrassment to Her Majesty. I am therefore writing to call on you to inform Mr Barnbrook -at the earliest opportunity- that he must either bring a guest who will not provoke political controversy, or consider his invitation rescinded."

On CentreRight yesterday Jonathan Isaby urged The Queen top block Mr Griffin's invitation.  Boris Johnson's intervention should spare her from the embarassment of having to entertain these racists.

Tim Montgomerie

Posted at 11:11 in BNP, Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (46)

Monday, May 04, 2009

Boris Johnson (Mayor)

Click here for previous posts.

Posted at 19:48 in Boris Johnson (Mayor) | | Comments (0)

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