Bogus arguments against Boris

Alongside the hyperventilating of various B listers, today has seen two quite astonishing sets of arguments against Boris Johnson.

The first is canvassed by Zoe Williams but was also made earlier by Yasmin Alibhai Brown. It is best summarised by the pay off line of Williams's (incidentally brilliantly done) piece:

We know what London is. Boris is not London.

Who is this "we" that she refers to?

And how dare they assume that they know what London is. Their idea is that London is the terrain of people who frequent the Everyman Hampstead and have Jon Snow's mobile number.

And I have to say that being lectured by Polly Toynbee that Boris Johnson is too posh is, oh forget it.

The second astonishing idea is advanced by Steve Richards (of whom I am generally a big fan) in his eye popping column this morning.

He writes that this election is not a test of politicians but of voters. Yes he does. And he thinks quite a few of them might fail the test.  He adds:

The failure of voters to make connections is the only reason why Ken Livingstone might lose today.

I am surprised that someone with Steve's acuity doesn't appreciate that while there are good arguments for Livingstone - parts of his record - and decent arguments against Boris, there are strong reasons not to vote for Ken Livingstone.

Does he seriously believe, just for instance, that only a Jew who failed "to make connections", would be unlikely to be enthusiastic about Ken Livingstone?

And can't he understand that even if one was moderately impressed with Livingstone's first term one might not wish to have a third term, particularly after the Lee Jasper affair showed what is happening to the Mayor?

Comments

[Mark Trent]

Boris is a lazy, arrogant, buffoon. Plenty of Tories know this and some, if fewer than those who know, also care about it.

Stop sucking up Danny!

[liam]

I actually agree that boris winning would be a failure of voters to make connections.. or at least- be able to make connections with credible candidates. People clearly want a credible alternative to Ken and are so desperate for it they will literally vote for anything. No normal peron could ever elect someone to such high office without any track record in london, and some over hyped idea to scrap bendy buses?

Its so sad that more well rounded people aren't encouraged to stand in these election- it often feels like as a voter you are stuck between a rock and hard place through lack of choice! Unless, of course, you are a religious fanatic, or a total racist.

[David Boothroyd]

The problem with the conclusion to this piece is that the 'Lee Jasper affair' is a bogus scandal manufactured by a newspaper which is sore afraid it will lose a major contract presumed to be in the gift of the Mayor.

[r chaoman]

If you get in PLEASE get rid of the class tax, I mean "congestion" charge Boris. We already get stung in every which way to live in this dreary little country, this is just one more blasted tax!!!

[Eric]

I hope Londoners descern Johnsons egotistical mindgames and vote for a man with a far greater degree of sincerity .........Ken Livingstone

[Tom]

Errr...and of course Red Ken is not lazy, arrogant hippy? Mark Trent's class complex fails to recognise that Boris is a better Mayor for London. I fully agree with Danny on the substance of this article.

[Yani]

I agree with Mark. Danny, stop sucking up. Boris personify celebrity culture. Funny and energetic but little substance or consistency. He changes his (unpleasant) views to please audiences. And his luck of experience is monumental.Bring back politics to people's issues not celebrity style posturing. I am a Londoner who lives in Plaistow. Boris is not London.

[Mark LeBrock]

I agree with the author, how dare people refer "We" as all of london. I like Boris, hes a breath of fresh air compared to livingstone, who seems he and only he knows whats best for London and probabaly the world.

[Sebastian Guinness]

Dear Mr Trent must have been talking about Mr K. Livingston, not dear Boris, who works his knackers off as far as I can see.

[gavin]

Polly Toynbee's suggestion that Boris is too posh to be Mayor is outrageous. Would we ever say someone is to common or working class to be elected? I want to live in a meritocracy where it doesnt matter where you come from. I guess the Guardian lives in a different world.

[Harry]

It's about time people stopped this idiotic personalised attack on Boris. An idiot? I think not. He is in fact a highly inteligent classics scholar who simply chooses to be himself. What you see is not a slicked-up faked media creation like most politicians. Boris is just Boris, warts and all, and that is honest and refreshing. I wish all politicians were as genuine in the way they portray themselves.

It also irritates me that so much of the criticism seems to be dredged from outmoded leftist Class War - ie politics of envy and hatred - sentiment that is better left undisturbed in the wastebin of history, to which it was consigned several years ago.

Grow up, move on, be more constructive!

[Marianne]

do you have a point or are you just bitching?

[Lucy Marlley]

whatever your opinion - change is the word and there is not much you can do about it. no matter how much you seem to dislike B eheee I have voted for him already and my neighbour also did hurahhhh!

[David Boycott]

Who the hell is JOHN Snow?!

I am beginning to feel sorry for Ken. How will he cope, knowing he has been beaten by a "lazy, arrogant, (sic) buffoon"?

Tough break!

[Ashley Pomeroy]

"Boris is a lazy, arrogant, buffoon" - I'd rather have a lazy, arrogant buffoon in power than a hard-working, arrogant buffoon. The lazy buffoon is less likely to do damage.

[Martin Fletcher]

So much nonsense. We're entitled to vote for whoever appeals to us.
I am a responsible non Conservative and why I should 'connect' to Livingstone is beyond me.
He reminds me of a weasel.

[Wilfred]

Steve's point, which deserves consideration, was that the voters have responsibilities as well as rights. Which is true. Granted, if a politician said that, he/she could be branded an elitist, blaming the electorate for not voting correctly. But a commentator has the right to say it if he believes it. And Steve's correct: we need to participate fully and intelligently for democracy to work.

[Stephen White]

All true, but forget Yasmin Alibhai Brown (easily done) the best bogus stuff of the lot was from Peregrine Worsthorne who did a little rant about Boris. I was talking to my mother (93 yrs old) on the phone this morning, "Perry who" she said, so I explained, "goodness I didn't know he was still about" she said. Well done Mum, he is but who cares?

[Chris]

Daniel,
your paper is so right wing it's unbelievable, boris is a walking joke, ken is the only sensiable and worthy candiadate.

[Dwarf]

Spot on - Livingstone is a power hungry megolomaniac. The Guardian is a disgrace. Ken has done nothing but line his pockets and those of his cronies. Whilst Boris may occasionally have made stupid remarks (later blown up way out of all proportion) - at least he's a good man - a man with faults, of course, but at least he's not a fraudulent toad like Ken.

[Mauramia]

Boris is a charming, lovely and smart man, and Londoners ought to be happy to have someone of his calibre to choose as mayor, as opposed to that ghastly, grey, tedious and corrupt little nobody, Livingstone. Red is dead Kenny, take the hint but don't worry, you'll still get all the perks you have become so accustomed to, as that train never stops for people like you.

[Matthew Blott]

Hmm, fair enough Danny but you don't address any of the points his critics make of him which are pretty fair. I was chatting to someone just two days ago who used to work with him and she said her general impression was the guy is an idiot. Probably a bit harsh but nevertheless there have been plenty of your conservative colleagues who don't think too much of him also.

[joe c]

Boris may be an uncertain element but London really only had one mayor to date, one we know fully well now.

i will take my chances!

[Alex Swanson]

Boris is a lazy, arrogant, buffoon.

In which case he will have run a poor campaign, and will lose, right?

[Stephen]

Mark Trent, your less than innovative comment that Boris is a "lazy, arrogant, buffoon", in its patent innacuracy, perhaps tells us that you are are a lazy, arrogant, buffoon?

[MickGJ]

"this election is not a test of politicians but of voters"

Yes,of our patience.This election has been consistently misrepresented by commentators as if there was some rational way for voters to pick the lesser of a heterogenous range of evils. Sleaze, incompetence, inexperience: where on the ballot box was an option that would not inevitably lead to serious harm to the capital? It's not Boris v Ken it's Londoners versus the political system (again) and we're taking a drubbing whatever the outcome.

[MickGJ]

"this election is not a test of politicians but of voters"

Yes, our patience. I'm stunned by the number of commentators who write as if their was a rational way for voters to pick the lesser of a range of heterogenous evils. Incompetence, sleaze, inexperience--there's no option on the ballot papers that won't lead to serious harm for the capital. It's not Boris v Ken but Londoners versus the political system and once again we're going to take a drubbing.

[nobby]

whatseatingmetoday.blog.com

say no more...

[R Mason]

If Boris is lazy, that is a good thing. Politicians try to do too much that is beyond their competence. Almost no politician has any managerial experience let alone success - Just David Davies comes to mind. Politicians, at best, are good at choosing winners, articulating peoples concerns and running committees. I cannot think of anything I woud trust a politician to actually do.

[v.jay]

Having lived in London for 54 years as did my parents I too 'know' London-and yes,the bits that the Everyman doesn't reach are often higly unpleasant. But what is Livingstone doing? schlepping off to Cuba and somewhere else in South America arranging oil deals.What's all that about? The sooner he emigrates to Cuba the better,as far as I'm concerned. Oh, and given the London of today where vast swathes seem to be populated by the cast of Little Britain, I think I'll go for 'posh' thanks.

[CD Morrish]

I couldn't agree more. Zoe William's piece masqueraded as comment but uncharacteristically for the Guardian had no space for the reader to 'comment'.
It was wrong, partisan and yes, I understand the Guardian is left leaning, but, it's not the Mirror (yet).

[Anne Evans]

I voted Alan Craig 1st Choice and Boris as 2nd choice, since Boris is most likely to unseat Livingstone. Boris is not a buffoon, and the other slur about his supposed racism is bogus as well. Livingstone, as we all know, is an anti-semite who courts radical Islamists. Right thinking Londoners would rather have Boris since we're scared of the prospect of Londonistan.

[DisgustedDorothy]

I have watched with interest as journalist after journalist attempted to denigrate Boris .
I do hope he takes legal advice on what has been printed in the press and on television,in the immediate run up to the elections.
Polly Tonbee et al should be a little worried with their attempts to alter voters minds.
I love these champagne socialists who try to convince others that they are one of the people.
Private schools for their children , villas in Italy etc etc etc!
None of them are struggling with food bills, mortgages ,road tax, council tax.

[Mabon Dane]

I have always viewed Boris Johnson as a public school comedian hardly suited for a role as Mayor of one of the most challenging cities in the world. If he gets in then he may surprise me, but I doubt it.

[Richard]

London is a lot like Ecuador, where a corrupt populist can win by pretending to pander to the uneducated while robbing them blind and blaming his 'enemies' and 'the press' when conditions go down the drain.

[Frank Upton]

The main thrust of Polly Toynbee's argument was that Boris is a worse liar that most politicians and she gave examples of this. He appears to be kind of chap who smiles and jokes while stealing your money or your wife. He is not actually as nasty as Ken but he is another bad'n.

[Matt]

Hmmm, man gives name and address of journalist to old school friend so said friend can beat him to a pulp because he knows too much about some dodgy dealings. This man may well now be London mayor, is this why you support him Daniel? You dont want Guppy coming round with a baseball bat?

[Robyn]

I applaud the attitude of this article. This campaign has been a dirty one, but the allegations against Ken have far more grounding than the pathetic suggestion that we shouldn't vote for Boris because he is "too posh". What sort of a desperate, classist, biased case is that? How can you, in all faith, accuse someone of being "too posh" and then spit feathers when someone accuses you of being "too common"?

The people who claim that Ken is the only "sensible choice" with nothing to back up their argument smack of pre-determined, outmoded, blinkered pigheadedness. These people have been brainwashed from birth into believe that labour is "the party of the people" whereas in fact it is nothing of the sort. Just because they have fabulous PR and have led you to believe that everything they do, they do for the common man, doesn't mean it's actually true. The 10p tax row is only the latest in an endless line of similar blunders. Ok, so that wasn't Ken, but the insufferable Gordon, but the fact is that the people who eulogise Ken are not doing so because of him, but because of his party . . . and I'm not sure which is worse.

What London needs is a breath of fresh air from someone with different ideas and an enthusiasm for change. Boris isn't your typical Conservative and that's what I like about him; he doesn't embody the stuffiness and lack of awareness that the Tories frequently do. People say that Boris's wit and humour are irrelevant to a Mayoral election, but I disagree. Londoners are famed for their dry humour and caustic wit, so if Boris has these, then he surely is a man of the people. There is no "we should" in an election; that's the whole point. This is democracy, people. There will always be opposition and disappointment. The only people who deserve to be berated and pitied are those who had the opportunity to vote and forfeited it. These are the people who stop London from showing its true feeling, who sway the vote, who change the outcome, and not from opinion or belief, but from laziness. Vote for Ken, vote for Boris, vote for the BNP if you feel so inclined; but as long as you vote, you have a right to live in this city, whether governed by your chosen leader or not.

[Mark Rauul]

Jon Snow is a journalist and broadcaster.

John Snow discovered that cholera was spread by water in 1849 and saved hundreds of lives closing off the broad street pump.

Jon Snow undoubtedly has a mobile phone. John snow probably did not have one, instead relying more on the long distance method of mobile communication known as shouting... so you see the listed name is correct.

It shouldn't matter if Boris is posh, and London is such a diverse community that it is ridiculous to assume any individual can be "London". Regaurdless you cannot argue that Boris does not have celebrity status, and one cannot help but question whether an electorial win would be hinged upon this rather than any concrete policies of his. Let's hope not eh?

[James Thurston]

As someone who takes an interest in LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) issues, as well as having lived in London myself, in Harrow and Tooting, I have been taking a close interest in the elction campaign for the Major of London.

I feel that those who criticise Ken Livingstone totally miss the point. Ken Livingstone does not have a confrontational style, and his politics are not about splitting communities up. Instesd this opitomises the style of politics Boris Johnson has represented in the Mayoral campaign.

Ken has done a great job for London as Mayor - it is now the best city in the world. A standing that would be jeopardised if Johnson wins the election this afternoon.

By categorising the Gay, Muslim etc... communities, Ken celebrated the value and importance of them. That each contribute to the vibrancy, prosperity and multi-culturalism of the city.

Added to this Ken's politics represents social inclusion, and a progressive approach to policy which is conducive to creating an improved London.

Although much progress has been made over the past 8 years London needs more a the same. To change to Boris would be an unmitigated disaster.

Boris Johnson represents a politics which runs counter to that of Ken's. It includes a "carefree individualism" approach to policy along with a divisive attitude.
This will ultimately destroy all that Ken has achieved.

[Andy]

Well, James, it's nice that you're glad to be assigned to a "categorised community". I hope you're being a good boy and doing whatever your "community leaders" tell you, after all Ken doesn't give them all that money for nothing does he?

[USpace]

Boris may be a buffoon, but at least he's not a communist one.

Bloody good news! Praise the Lord! Thank God! There is hope for Londonistan. What will Red Ken do next?

:)

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
elect a communist

someone who will work full-time
to destroy your country

.
http://haltterrorism.com

http://lulu.com/uspace
.