UK News

Olympic debt and land deal gives momentum to legacy

The government has signed off a multi-million pound debt and land deal with the Mayor of London, which could have endangered parts of the 2012 Olympic legacy and threatened to turn it into an unseemly Conservative spat.

Margaret Ford, chairman of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) responsible for managing the Olympic Park post-Games, had used every possible opportunity to flag up the debt issue ever since the Conservative-led coalition government said it was to review the previous Labour government’s deal.

The Treasury had agreed in March to pay 438 million pounds after much to-ing and fro-ing between central government and Boris Johnson’s office.

But the coalition, which has made reining in  a record peacetime budget deficit its top priority, said it would look at the deal. It has also told Olympic organisers responsible for the Olympic build to find 27 million pounds of savings.

Ford told the House of Lords last month it was crucial the Treasury honoured the deal to transfer the LDA’s land and debt to central government, otherwise companies could be put off investing in the Olympic Park.

The OPLC would need to go forward as the freehold owner of the site, without being saddled with the multi-pound debt, she said.

Does class matter in politics?

Three big speeches have been delivered at the Conservative Party conference so far — by party leader David Cameron, the mayor of London and national bumbler, Boris Johnson, and the party’s spokesman on the economy, George Osborne.

What do all three men have in common apart from their membership of the Conservative Party? They were all educated at elite public schools (Johnson and Cameron at Eton and Osborne at St Paul’s) and all went to Oxford, where they were members of the same dining and social set, the secretive and selective Bullingdon Club.

They have all tried to play down their wealth and upbringing — Johnson has even made an appearance on Britain’s favourite soap opera EastEnders — but there is no erasing the fact that Osborne is an Irish baronet, Cameron is a direct descendant of King William IV and Johnson also has a sprinkling of royal ancestry, even if he has described himself as a “one-man melting pot”.

Opponents have pointed to the wealth and clique of the Conservative leadership to suggest the party is out of touch with ordinary, working-class Britain and unfit to govern. What do you think? Does class really matter when it comes to running the country?

Will there ever be the “right type of snow” in Britain?

The last time round when there was such widespread travel chaos in Britain due to snow was quite some time ago….it was in 1991 – the year the “wrong type of snow” was born – British Rail’s ill-conceived attempt to explain why the railways had come to a virtual standstill after heavy snowfall.

The “wrong type” of just about anything has since been used to explain why the country’s creaking transport system is grinding to a halt ….remember the one about the “wrong type of leaves” on the tracks?

OK, before you read on I should declare that I’m not British and hail from a country that usually copes with bad weather a lot better than Britain.

But I’ve been here long enough – 20 years to be precise – to think when I heard on the radio in the morning that no London busses were running at all – that didn’t even happen during the Blitz, apparently – …”oh well, it must be bad then … better log on from home”. And so did thousands of employees, many of them actively encouraged by their employers not to travel to work unless it was “critical”.

At least I could rest assured, sorry – work from home assured – when the Metropolitan Police declared in a news release that it was maintaining policing despite the bad weather.

But I still couldn’t help thinking:  why is this happening, and shouldn’t I make a bit more of an effort to get into the office? Why is there hardly any public transport, forcing so many people to stay at home when there is heavy snowfall? Can’t the streets of London be gritted, and why is no one shovelling the snow off the pavement outside their houses, an effort common in many countries that experience wintery conditions?

from Davos Notebook:

London — warmer and cheaper

London is cheaper and warmer, at least compared with Davos, says London Mayor Boris Johnson.

"The fall in the pound is of huge value to London's exports and all sterling-denominated assets. We're seeing a very impressive effect here. We take advantage of the upside and the upside is that the pound is competitive," Johnson told Reuters.

"And everybody in Davos, once they finish this massive negotiation of egos, this complete vanity, should come to London. It's considerably cheaper and considerably warmer."

How safe is your street?

Ever wanted to know how many crimes were committed in your local area?

Well, by the end of the year you’ll be able to get some idea with every police force required to produce online interactive “crime maps”.

West Midlands and West Yorkshire are two of the forces who have put information about the number of offences in different neighbourhoods on their Web sites and on Wednesday the country’s biggest force, London’s Metropolitan Police, activated its crime mapping site.

The government believes that the maps will help alleviate public perceptions about crime, revealing that the number of actual offences is far lower than many people fear.

“By rolling out up-to-date, interactive crime maps, we can better inform people about crime problems in their area, and enable them to have much more of a say in what their local police focus on,” said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last month.

“The latest annual crime figures showed another drop in crime nationwide but it’s important that people understand what this means to them in their local area and where challenges remain.”

New London Mayor Boris Johnson, who made providing the maps a key manifesto commitment, said it gave people the chance to see how their local police were performing.

There is no substitute for me, says Boris

The resignation of another key aide to Mayor Boris Johnson has sparked renewed questions over the Mayor of London’s leadership, with opposition leaders at City Hall charging that the “wheels are coming off” his new administration.

Tim Parker , the First Deputy Mayor and Chairman of Transport for London (TfL), has stepped down from both jobs, saying it was inappropriate for him to hold them as an unelected official. His resignation is the third of a key aide in the four months of Johnson’s mayorship.

Despite having a rather big job to do already in running the capital, Johnson will now chair TfL himself. In his usual combative style he announced: “Over the last few weeks, it has become increasingly apparent to both of us that the nature of the decisions that need to be taken are highly political and there is no substitute for me, as the directly elected Mayor, being in charge.There are limits, therefore, to what can be delegated.”

It begs the question why Parker was installed in both roles in the first place – the running of London’s transport system has always been a politically charged issue.

More important for the future though is whether Johnson is biting off more than he can chew by chairing TfL. Even in times of crisis, delegation to top aides will be crucial for the mayor’s success. One of the key arguments against voting for Johnson as mayor was his perceived lack of managing a large organisation, and judging by the rate at which senior aides are disappearing, he looks set for a rough ride, not least as yet another strike is looming on the London Underground.

Banning booze from the tube

Mayor Boris Johnson’s ban on drinking alcohol on the London underground starts on Sunday.The news hasn’t gone down well in some quarters and plenty of groups on Facebook have said they will be holding protest wakes.

Others believe the ban will have little effect on threatening behaviour on the tube anyway — most people who cause problems are drunk anyway and only a few are actually carrying cans with them, they say.

Do you believe the ban will make much difference?

Johnson overtakes Cameron

For the first time since he became mayor of London on May 2, Boris Johnson has overtaken Conservative leader David Cameron in “favourability”, according to an opinion tracker published on www.politicshome.com.

Johnson scored a rating of 3, up from -7 at the end of April, while Cameron got rated 1, up from -5.

The PHI5000 tracker is based on replies from a politically balanced group of 5000 voters across the UK, who answer a survey every day for the site, which was launched in April and is powered by opinion pollsters YouGov.

The panel are asked daily questions on a rotation system, covering their attitudes to the whole political landscape. As part of this, politicshome tracks a wide range of political personalities, including Cameron’s and Johnson’s favourability ratings.

Because of the consistency of the sample and questionnaire of the tracker, the site is able to track subtle changes in public opinion, it says.

Big task looms for Boris Johnson

(Updated on May 3 with new headline, election results, reaction and photos)

**For full coverage of the elections go to our special page**

The man described by some as a joke, by others as a brilliant mind has ended Ken Livingstone’s eight-year reign at City Hall.

The verdict is still out on what exactly Boris Johnson’s victory means for the Conservative Party overall but his performance as mayor could help determine whether people will vote for the Tories in a general election next time.

Johnson, whose experience of running big projects is limited, will lead one of the world’s most high-profile cities with an 11.3 billion pound budget to run public transport, police and fire services and promote the economy of this global financial centre.

The Labour Party may be hoping that the gaffe-prone “blond bombshell” will prove incapable of doing the job and thus damage the Conservatives chances of winning the next election. Johnson will have to get cracking soon with strong policies to bolster his image and become the ambassador that the Tories need him to be as the capital’s mayor.

Johnson paid generous tribute to Livingstone in his victory speech, describing him as “a very considerable public servant” and acknowledging that many who had voted for him had been wavering when it came to casting their votes.

Mayoral hopefuls take the Shakespeare test

Should Shakespeare be a factor for Londoners voting for their next mayor on May 1?

The three leading mayoral candidates revealed their knowledge of the Bard on Friday in a live phone-in debate with host Vanessa Feltz on her BBC London morning radio show .

Asked by “David in Finchley” which Shakespearian character best described them, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said he would like to be associated with Julius Caesar .

“Trouble is, I’m sitting next to a couple of Brutuses,” he japed.

Conservative rival Boris Johnson said he hoped to be likened in future to Pericles.

“Pericles, of course, was responsible for the rejuvenation of Athens … and the wonderful thing about the Athenian system was its democracy.