2 posts tagged “london”
Soon London will be at the polls to elect our next mayor. The problem is, Boris Johnson is running.
Now, I think Boris is a brilliant, funny man. He makes a great TV presenter and while I may not agree with his views, a good editor. His unique style in politics is refreshing.
However, he's not capable of running a city like London.
Take his idea for the Routemaster buses. He hasn't got a plan – he's going to run a competition if he gets elected. That's the first problem. Secondly, for the designer to be able to make them wheelchair and buggy friendly, the design will have to be radically different. They will not be the classic Routemaster buses that we all know and love. A modern version will not be a Routemaster, just an imitation. They won't be as good and we may as well kept our bendy buses, rather than spending £100 million. Or, as Ken is planning, spending on hybrid buses to make our city cleaner.
One of Boris' main objections is the new £25 Congestion charge. This will apply to so few people it really doens't matter, but, he claims that it effects many family-sized cars and they cannot afford to pay. First of all, if you have to drive into the congestion zone, then you can afford it. Secondly, if my father's 2.2 litre Alfa Romeo doesn't have to pay, then I can think of a great deal many other cars you could buy that are perfectly suitable. If you insist of driving a 4.2 litre Range Rover, then you can afford £25 a day. And you should pay.
Boris says that he will run a proper consoltation over the western extention of the congestion charge zone and if any residents veto it, it will be remove. Of course somebody will! If we ran consoltations where one person objected, the congestion zone would shrink to one house.
Yes Boris is a great guy and I can think of nobody better to do my wedding speech, present Have I Got News For You or have dinner with – but don't let him run a great city.
The original bid for the London 2012 Olympics said the budget would be about £2.4 billion ($4.5bn). Now they've admitted they forgot to include VAT (sales tax) and a few other things, such as higher security risk and a much higher price of steel, the culture sectary admited it may cost £3.3 billion ($6.3bn).
I looked into this. It's still waaaay off. The 2004 Olympics in Athens eventually cost £9.35 billion ($18bn). There is no way that London can be cheaper than that. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and if Athens had to spend that sum, then London will easily beat it.
So on that basis, and after the cock-up of the Wembley stadium in west London, I am going to set a realistic budget for the games so that in 2013 when they're looking back, they can see how right I was.
My estimated budget for the London 2012 Olympic games: £11 billion ($20bn)
