The first stop on Boris’ big tour of London was at a recycling centre in Sidcup. Just in case Livingstone is reading that is in outer London. Get someone to show you on a map.
James Cleverly AM
Conservative Candidate for Braintree, London Assembly Member for Bexley & Bromley
James Cleverly AM 
… and a Routemaster to boot. Boris has a very good piece in the Telegrap today about the stupidity of the London Transport system for buses
Boris look’s very much like the back end of a bus. He needs to come up with a decent response to the charge of racism that is levelled against him, watermelons and picanninies, colonial rule for Africa, black democratic tyranny in South Africa, derogratory commments on Chinese people and Muslims among others. What an impressive litany of offensive statements. Boris can certainly run for Mayor but he cannot hide from Londoners on these issues for very much longer..and then the jig will be up! The question for James Cleverly is do you consider that sacrificing your political career for this Tory racist is worth it?
Who knows what the public actually make of him, but Livingstone has won two mayoral elections just because he was a bit of a personality so Boris just needs to make sure he doesn’t screw up, or fall off the back of that bus, or do something similarly stupid.
Anon – come on, Boris isn’t racist. You are clearly a deluded Labour policy wonk who’s afraid to come out.
Has anybody seen Boris on a real London bus? Or is his campaign to < HREF="http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/boris+ill+bring+back+routemaster+bus/758747" REL="nofollow">bring back the routemasters<> more about the bendy buses making it harder for cyclists to ride and use their mobile phone at the same time (as I have seen Boris do)?Routemasters are horribly cramped for anybody over 4 foot tall and difficult to stand in if you have a head on your shoulders. On top of that they are impossible for people in wheelchairs to use.No other major city in the developed world uses such old fashioned buses, so why bring them back to London?
Kinglear so you think its only died in the woll Labour part supporters that would take offence at such statements? Why not check out http://www.blink.org.uk fior BJ latest rambling on returning Africa to colonial rule. Here reaserts that his view as expressed in an article in the Spectator some time ago was right!He could have refuted these statements or simply said he changed his view. He does neither.what he does do is trou out a pathetic patronising old colonial claptrap From the blink web site..Asked to explain an article in the Spectator where he argued for the return of colonial rule in Africa, he said: ‘You feel such a sense of despair when you see suffering like that that you wonder whether some of these things were better under a different system.’SO there you have it BJ has the mindset of a old colonial tory.
Actually, anon, I suspect that what Boris was referring to was the wonderful job some of the incumbents, especially in eg Zimbabwe, have done since colonial rule was scrapped. One of the things that would seem to have been largely scrapped as well is the Rule of Law. Old colonial Tories are rather good at upholding such things.And I personally don’t think it is racist to say so.
Well at least Boris apologises for insulting people of other races, unlike Ken who refused to apologise even when told to do so by the London Assembly and the Prime Minister.Now perhaps we can have a mayor who doesn’t need to apologise for regularly insulting people.
What would be really good would be for a politician to actually say what he thinks. Despite having to be politically correct at all times ( remember the US politician who described a policy as niggardly and had to resign? Of course, a niggard has nothing whatever to do with black people, but neither his accusers, or, apparently, himself knew the difference)it would be excellent to hear what they really really thought. Then we might get trust back in our politicians and political system.
Questions Boris Johnson must answerWhen it has been put to Boris that his articles has offended black communities, he claims everything has been taken out of context and that it is all a plot by his opponents.A lot of people have read his journalism and are still offended. The truth is – Boris just doesn’t understand race. He just doesn’t realise why people are upset?These are some key questions that Boris must answer:Is it acceptable under any circumstances to say Africans have “watermelon smiles” and call black children “piccanninies”? Isn’t this further evidence of a colonial mindset?Boris reserves the right to make jokes, but when those jokes play on the kind of colonial stereotypes used in tandem with oppression of other countries, can such jokes ever be acceptable? Boris has recently reaffirmed your belief that colonial rule would be better for Africa. Does he really think Africans are incapable of governing themselves?Does he recognise that Muslims revere the Prophet Mohammad to such an extent they are unlikely to roll in the isles at “Life of Mohammad?”Boris wrote that Nelson Mandela was replacing the tyranny of white rule with the “tyranny of black rule”? Boris also wrote that Mandela was taking South Africa towards “banana republic poverty”? Does he understand why this could be seen as sympathising with apartheid?What is Boris’s views on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry? He penned a whole series of articles criticising various recommendations, and does not seem to have had a good word to say about the inquiry. He says it was a “witchhunt” against the police and has whipped up “hysteria.” It sounds like he was against the inquiry.He wrote: “Chinese cultural influence is virtually nil.” Was this another ‘joke’, or does he really believe that?His prescription for dealing with racism appears to be to “axe large chunks of the anti-racism industry.” How will this help tackle racism in London?Does he believe Eleanor Bland, the Conservative former parliamentary candidate, should have had her membership suspended for allegedly circulating an email rhyme about immigrants… the same one that was posted on his website?
Dear John,Do try to keep up! This has already been done to death and all level headed people are well aware that Boris is no racist.Not even the Livingstone cheerleaders believe it; they just think that it might hurt him a little. So much for positive politics.You keep up the smear campaign and let everyone know what negative campaigning looks like. We’ll keep promoting a positive agenda for London.