apparently this is a big deal?

Two things are particularly sad.Firstly there is the mad idea that "some one new" with a very dodgy right wing track record can do better than Livingstone, and secondly my understanding is that the BNP won almost as many votes as the Greens.

Well, that makes a nice change....the mayor sucking some pink cock.
Livingstone only ever sucked black ones - those of his middle-class English wanker mates, who just happen to be black and who have a vested interest in keeping blacks in the gutter, so that they can be "Leaders of the Black Community" - and Muslim ones, as his hatred of Jews makes him forget the taste.

BTW, the BNP got just over 5%, the Green Party over 8%.

It's possible that the BNP would have got more, but the NF (jeez, remember them) stood in some constituencies, and depressed the vote for the BNP. Overall, yesterday was a great day for racists.

http://results.londonelects.org.uk/Results/LondonWideResults.aspx

its all an inverted pyramid of piffle.

ah yes, the glory hole approach to politcal discourse

what this debate needs is some input from pikey and i never thought i'd say that

I'm not anti-English.
I'm just anti the small clique of insecure tossers who have somehow come to power in this country.
The English aren't generally a problem. As usual, they'll do exactly what they're told to do by anyone they perceive to be their betters.
It's just that Post-Westernism couldn't have evolved in any other country.

As for your non-New Labour, left-wing credentials, William.....err....I'm not sure how I'm going to put this but....err....you do happen to make a living by working as an administrator in an industry whose practices in the fields of exploitation haven't been seen anywhere else in this country for decades.
In 1987 I got a £3.25 minimum as a motorcycle courier. In January 1988 I got £3.60 (including attendance bonus) minimums as a motorcycle courier. In September 1988 I got a £3 minimum as a cycle courier.
What do we earn now?
Less, that's what!
Why? (Yep, believe it or not, I'm going to tell you.)
Because idiotic company owners - Lisa included - believe it's somehow clever for the industry to exist wholly outside the law.

Courier Emergency Fund? Why the hell do we need that? We all know why.
There is scarely a single individual at HMRC who regards the conditions under which London couriers work to constitute self-employment. However, London Economy PLC wants its packages delivered on the cheap and the taxman doesn't want to upset London Economy PLC. So idiotic company owners, instead of looking to bring the industry onside and getting cowboy outfits closed down, try to compete with pricks like Courier Systems, Arrow and Pegasus who pay poor, desperate kids £2 per hour to sit outside major accounts, freezing their bits off. Why company owners can't form a trade association to agree on some form of code of conduct is beyond me. There was that Westminster Code about 20 years ago (Working hours, no L-plate motorcycles, some commitment to standards of knowledge, etc.) but it soon withered and died.
It would take me - or you - about 30k and twelve months to get this industry regulated. But nobody does it.
So we need Courier Emerency Funds.

I have occasionally talked to proper businessmen about the courier industry. The subject of pay has cropped up.
"Say you get £10 for delivering a parcel somewhere. How much does the company make on that delivery?"
"Ten quid."
"No, I mean what sum do they take from the amount for which they invoice the client?"
"Ten quid."
"Ten quid?"
"Yeah."
"Fifty percent?!"
"Yeah."
"They take HALF???!!"
"Yeah."
"I'm in the wrong business!"

Most of the basic practices in this industry are almost definitely illegal.
Farmers don't pay potato/strawberry pickers a piece-work rate that means they earn £3 per hour if their fingers move like a concert pianist playing "Flight of the Bumblebee" on a keyboard, by designating them as "self-employed".
Hotels don't pay kitchen porters a piecework rate that means they earn £3 per hour, no matter how fast they wash dishes, by designating them as "self-employed".
Yet courier companies can pay riders well below minimum wage, as piece-work, due to the self-employed designation. Pure, unadultereated exploitation...and probably illegal.

I've said on here before that Creative are close to being the best company I've worked for.
However, that's like saying Hess was a better person than Heydrich....well, a bit harsh, saying Molotov was nicer than Beria would be a better analogy. So would describing gonorrhea as the best of the sexually transmited diseases.

You're a really nice bloke, Bill.
I'm not sure I've met anyone in this industry I'd trust more than you. You're honest, extremely conscientious and hardworking....and I'm not taking the piss when I say that. However, hard though it might be to swallow, most of the BNP's candidates are nice people as well. As were most of those who loaded slaves into ships in West Africa and most of those who herdee Jews into gas chambers. They were simply products of the environment that spawned them.

Your cushy number is founded on the most exploitative industry in London, Bill. (So's mine at the minute, but I shall be back on the road shortly.) So let's cut the self-righteous, "Man of the People" bullshit, shall we? ,

I propose a jousting match. The Count and the Buff can sqaure their differences on Berwick st at high noon. 2 bikes and 2 long jousting sticks or sexual implements the weapons. May the best bullshitter win...

One day real life will come up and give you a nice solid kick in the balls. You can then ponder whether it is a post modern kick in the balls and its percieved socio-politico-economic repercussions, but ponder it quietly and on your own.

lol

"Go read a bit of fucking history. The reason we have things like universal suffrage, trade unions, employment laws etc etc etc is because the English have a long history of not doing what they are told."

+1

If you're referring to the comic, I know... XKCD rocks. http://www.xkcd.com

Proof of the comic genius:



(p.s. what tags do i use for posting images? i havent been able to get it working with img scr tags)

@ fromemory
Yes I was referring to the cartoon as opposed to the plura-syllabled arguments above, way above my head I'm afraid.

er, it wasn't actually by Miss Basie

That was quite funny too, I was actually referring to all the socio-political whatchamacallit arguments above, yep totally beyond me. In my opinion London is a fantastic city and, I would imagine, very very tricky to run, so good luck Boris you tory w**ker.

i dont think boris or ken will make any real changes, and they will not do the things i would do given any kind of power. the number of buses on londons roads is not really that big of a deal when you have council blocks falling down, the housing prices going out of control, armed police and an unarmed populace, and other things i find disturbing.

EDIT: if i was in power i would not change these things as it would not be in my interest, but as some one who struggles to pay rent, does not want to live on an estate, and hates police, i wouldn't mind them happening.

The mayor might not be able to make houses cheaper (although their policies might influence house prices indirectly), but the other stuff you mention is horseshit. Who does have an influence on 'council blocks falling down'? I doubt you'll go out and patch them up. As for guns and the popo, I'd much rather live in a country where people aren't armed, as I think are most people who live here. It doesn't really bother me that a few policemen have guns, I still feel it is not very likely that I will be shot in my daily life. Why do you say "if i was in power i would not change these things as it would not be in my interest". Do you mean if you were elected you would inevitably be the kind of person who is uninterested in these issues? This is just fukcing pathetic, if you'll firgive me, 'normal' people can get involved in the political process without losing their human perspectives, throwing your hands up and declaring how above it all you are, and how power inevitably corrupts etc is just wank. On a side note, why do you not want to live on an estate?

The Mayor has more of a direct impact on my life than millions of other people, certainly more than you. As such I feel it is important that the mayor is now a worrying buffoon, and am worried that my life, and the lives of millions of others, will be adversly affected by recent events.

He scares me until he proves otherwise.......and I really hope he proves otherwise.

I make Will right. Memories are short. Life under a tory government was not wonderful, the 'I'm allright Jack' society it promoted led to many people losing their homes, a lot of benefits being lost, a lowering of standards in national health and schools etc etc. Boris told potential voters what they wanted to hear, he had a very pro active marketing campaign set against a background of incessant Ken baiting (just blame Ken), I just hope he isn't the beginning of the rot setting in once again.

@sleepy, i used to work for creative, I am American, had to leave due to visa drama, but will be back, soon.

@jonty, I said that in his position i would not make those changes, as they would not be in my interest.

as for the armed comments, there are lots of countries that have higher guns per capita then the us and less shootings. as a member of the public, i see no problem with an armed populous, but if i was a member of the establishment, i would be against this.

no Jont, it means I, like all people, act in my own interest. Now my interests differ from Boris, or Ken, but if i was mayor i would probably be concerned with the same thing (keeping power).

I believe in the right to self defense, even against the state. I think the Black Panther Party makes some really good points, except I am exactly the kind of white boy they would shoot.

but we will probably never agree on either point...

@ Chris. No I doubt we will. I don't see how giving up on the whole notion of democratic government is beneficial to anyone, what would you propose to put in its place?

Guns are shit, they kill people far too easily. As for the benefits of an armed populace, I think it unlikely that the public could ever keep up in an arms race with the 'establishment'. If it really came down to it, no amount of pistols or rifles would be particularly useful against tanks and planes and nukes and shit at the disposal of the army. So I'd rather no one had any of them. Are you really pro gun ownership and all that?

at first it was business, but now it's strictly personal

@ chris crash

??? 'the right people' ????