Monthly Archives: April 2008

The Green Party

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Going through Sian Berry’s campaign website made me feel that there is a real person behind the campaign. Well, of course, there is a person behind each one (d’oh!) but what I meant is that Sian’s proposed policies were presented in a way that ordinary people would understand. It even encourages participation by letting people leave comments and questions! And, the best part of it all, Sian’s replies actually sound like it was her behind that keyboard tapping away the answers! You also have the opportunity to make your own campaign for Sian with the help of tools that are provided on the website.

Well done to her and her party for that!

What I don’t get is why there are sections in the website that are in Polish? Is she of Polish origins? If not, then why the preference, why not include other languages spoken in the capital?

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And now from the UKIP

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It seems to me that Gerard Batten is running for the Mayor of London just to undo what Ken Livingstone had done. In his campaign website, all his policies where written like Ken-did-this-but-I-will-not-do-it-the-same-way or Ken-didn’t-do-as-promised-so-now-I’ll-deliver-it.

Reading through, I noticed one area that I believe would be good for London:

TRANSPORT — Timed tickets on single journeys, which means that if you are visiting London and you buy a single ticket, you won’t have to pay for another single ticket if you transfer from tube to bus within the hour. I’ve seen this scheme in other cities and towns in Europe and for a tourist, I believe it works out quite well.

As for the rest of his policies, it did put me off with the style that it was written and presented. There are some that I doubt would work or are just plain spite out of the current government:

  • “I believe that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner should be elected by Londoners. We currently have a politicised Commissioner who toadied to politicians to secure a knighthood: I say let’s have a Commissioner who is selected by the people.” — Waste money towards campaign for each candidate? Where would they get the money from?
  • On the London 2012 Olympics, “What I’d really like to do is surcharge Livingstone, Jowell, Coe, Tony Blair and the rest of the crew responsible for this fiasco but as I can’t do that, I shall insist that the bill is spread over all UK taxpayers, not just Londoners.” — Now, now… would you really expect someone from Manchester paying towards the cost of the London Olympics when they would gain nothing out of it?

(Note: Quotes taken verbatim from the Gerard Batten for London Mayor website)

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Richard Barnbrook, BNP

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This is to kick-off my analysis of the 10 candidates for the London Mayor elections as mentioned in my previous post.

The British National Party (BNP) is …

… committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948. (Source: Wikipedia, The British National Party)

Within a few minutes of reading what Richard Barnbrook is promising to bring to the London Mayor’s seat, I felt strongly that voting for him (and his party) would make me a hyprocrite. Why? Mainly because I represent (or am part) of those that his party is trying to eliminate — migrants.

In my opinion, immigration contributes a lot to the growth and economy of a country. I admit that I haven’t paid too much attention in my sociology classes in university so I am unable to present you with all the social theories and models of immigration but I have seen how migrants help in shaping a society. Most people, well, at least here in Britain, would associate immigration to boosting low-skilled workforce and how this brings all the negative aspects such as higher rate of crime. In very recent news, however, this thinking has been dispelled. According to the study made by the Association of of Chief Police Officers, the influx of people coming to settle in England and Wales has not driven the increase in the number of crimes. Mr Peter Fahy, one of the authors of the report, said that “immigrants are not criminals.” For more information on this report, click here and here.

But anyway, immigration has also brought many highly skilled workers into the British workforce. The high demand of IT professionals pre Y2K and dot-net are testament to this as well as the ever increasing “expatriation” of people in the medical industry. Without this, Britain and subsequently, London, wouldn’t have sustained.

On a lighter note, Richard Barnbrook has also promised to give FREE 24-hour travel passes to pensioners. Expect all-nighters from your nans and paps then!

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Choosing the next Mayor of London

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It’s 16 days to go till the 2008 elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. Campaigns are full on but I haven’t really paying much attention to the candidates or what they stand for. As I came out of my train station today, there were several people handing out flyers, which I can only assume are campaign leaflets for their respective candidates. It was then I decided that I better take some time now to get to know who are running.

Of course, I will not be able to do this in one sitting. In the next days, I will post about each of the candidate summarising what I think their manifesto on the different issues that affect Londoners and highlighting those that I am particularly interested in – safety and environment, primarily. What I write will be entirely my opinion and is not (and perhaps will never be) representative of the candidate or their party.

When you skim through the papers and overhear the news, you would think that there only 3 candidates — one for each of the major political parties. Actually there are 10 candidates and they are:

2008 Mayor of London Candidates
(Image source: Collage of the candidates’ profile image from London Elects – The Mayoral Candidates)

On the top row, L-R:
Richard Barnbrook (British National Party), Gerard Batten (UK Independence Party), Sian Berry (Green Party), Alan Craig (Christian Choice), Lindsay German (Left List)

On the bottom row, L-R:
Boris Johnson (Conservative Party), Ken Livingstone (Labour Party), Winston McKenzie (Independent), Matt O’Connor (English Democrats), Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats)

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Published

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Back in March, I received an email from the Managing Editor of Schmap Guides informing me that my photo of St Marks Basilica in Venice has been shortlisted for inclusion in their second edition of the Schmap Italy Guide. Last week, on my birthday, I got the confirmation that my photo has been selected!

This is the photo:

St Marks Basilica

And here is the link to the page in the Schmap Italy Guide Second Edition:

Italy – Churches & Temples

I feel honoured. And proud.

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