No substantial Boris news this weekend, more a case of little tapas style platters than a full main course. So here’s a brief tasting menu:
New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s came to London on Friday, he brought with him advice and a crystal apple as a gift symbolising the city with which London often competes. In turn Boris gave Bloomberg a piece of London Underground tat, a shirt emblazoned with the Tube map. If Johnson really wanted to give the impression of having bought a gift as an afterthought on the way to the meeting, why not go the whole hog and plump for some petrol station bought flowers or those shell-shaped Belgian chocolates every newsagent sells? The Herald Tribune summarised Bloomberg’s advice Johnson as these three simple tips:
- Take the time to build a solid team, even if the press is on your case to speed things up.
- Do the hard, controversial things early. If you’re lucky, they’ll work out in time to help with re-election.
- Be yourself. Don’t worry about being flavour-of-the-month.
The New York Mayor also gave a lesson on obfuscation, suggesting that when dealing with journalists “you don’t have to match your answers to their questions. If you don’t give the right answers to their questions, they asked the wrong questions.” This from a politician of the country that’s trying to bring democracy around the globe.
Johnson has angered the art world by supporting a campaign to place a permanent statue of Battle of Britain hero, Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, on the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. The space, intended for an equestrian statue that was never created, currently holds specially commissioned sculptures decided by a competition that are replaced every 18 months. This year’s shortlist includes Tracey Emin, Anthony Gormley and Anish Kapoor (pictured).
The LA Times reports that Los Angeles’ top cop Bill Bratton isn’t coming to London, despite recent rumours. Bratton, who has in the past offered advice to Ken Livingston, said: “I have had no conversations with Mr. Johnson, I have not spoken with any members of his administration and I have not been approached to act as an advisor.” That’s a no then.
The new Mayor’s father, Stanley Johnson, is interviewed in The Sunday Times today about his ambitions to succeed Boris as Henley’s constituency MP. Johnson senior gives his son some guidance on how London transport could be improved: “You get on the Underground train and what do you hear? ‘This train terminates at Stanmore’. What complete garbage. Terminate is a transitive verb. You ‘terminate’ someone’s life. I will ‘terminate’ this conversation.” He goes on to boast that when he wrote his novel ‘Tunnel’ the channel tunnel hadn’t even been built, as if the concept had never occurred to anyone else before.
The Sunday Mirror reports that the junior Johnson broke the law as he cycled to work on Friday. Boris was caught jumping 6 red lights, mounting a pavement and failing to stop at zebra crossing.
Finally, the Mayor will today attend The Global Day of Prayer event at Millwall’s The Den, where he is expected to ask churches to help him cut crime.
Tapas image by Freddy
