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What Boris didn’t tell you in his speech today

October 9, 2012 11:54 am

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As soon as Boris Johnson left the Tory conference stage in Birmingham today, Labour’s leader in the London Assembly Len Duvall put out this statement:

“Boris failed to mention that he has cut over 1,700 police officers and 1,800 PCSOs in the past two years. He is closing police stations across London and has lost two London Borough police commanders in the past three weeks. He has run down the Safer Neighbourhood Teams and is now merging borough police forces.
 
“He claimed that crime has fallen by 12%, in fact between 2008 and 2012 it fell by 5.6%. This decrease is welcome, but Boris needs to be straight with Londoners and get his facts right. We desperately need to protect police numbers as GBH, Rape and muggings have all increased since 2008 in the capital. In addition to cutting the police, Boris is presiding over huge budget cuts to the London Fire Brigade. Up to 30 stations and appliances are at risk, which will hit the front line hard leading to a loss of fire cover for Londoners. The emergency services are not safe in Boris’ hands.
 
“At City Hall Boris has presided over huge salary increases for his political appointees. Last year one of his advisers got a 55% pay rise to £127,784 whilst all other employees had their pay frozen. This just shows how out of touch he is with ordinary Londoners who are struggling. He thinks he can get away with this kind of behaviour by hiding behind his personality. He is not the cuddly everyman’s politician that some people think he is.”

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  3. That’s where Boris is!
  4. Home office figures confirm Boris has cut police
  5. Ken calls on Boris to rethink police cuts
  • http://twitter.com/youngian67 Ian Young

    Boris Johnson might make a reasonably suitable junior foreign office minister but is hopelessly out of depth as municipal leader,  a post which requires tackling issues he cares little about beyond bread and circuses.

    And as an ambitous windbag with an eye on the top job, he even comes across as a disloyal backstabber when he is praising Cameron.

    • AlanGiles

      David Cameron having to rely on Boris Johnson to pull his chestnuts out of the fire looks as desperate as Gordon Brown was when he resurrected Peter Mandelson.

      But I am sure it is a comfort for Cameron to know that he has Johnson’s support – I’m sure he will wear it always…

    • Jeremy_Preece

      Yes the praise of DC was enough to make me reach for the sick bag.

      To be honest, I thought that the way BJ yet again upstaged Cameron reminded me of the famous moment in the early 90′s when Margret Thatcher came onto the stage and took a bow. The response was like a rock star had walked on. And John Major the new PM and leader looked rather pathetic.

  • AnotherOldBoy

    The last chance to vote for Mr Johnson as a candidate for Mayor of London was in May this year.  He won.  Time to move on.

  • Jeremy_Preece

    Boris Johnson did win the London Mayor election and only just. That was largely our fault for choosing a candidate who had passed his own sell-by date.

    However, it is very clear that it is not a matter that is closed. He is clearly angling for the top job and the press are already wanting him to replace “call me Dave”.

    It is a very seriuos matter that this real opportunist is allowed to develop the role as something of a rock star and is not being looked at objectively. His record as set out above is damming.

    One thing that he did say in the conference is that he is a big fan of Gove. The truth is that both men are politically very close, very rigth wing, and very nasty.

    It is time that BJ is held to account. and it is time that the public get to see that he is not the lovable buffoon that he likes to pretend that he is. All in all he is bad news.

  • aracataca

    ‘Borismania’ is mostly an invention by a desperate Tory press, who know that their man, Dodgy Dave, is utterly discredited along with Osborne (who’s only chancellor because he’s Dave’s best friend) and the rest of their shambolic government.

    I doubt whether Johnson will challenge Cameron’s leadership, not this side of a General Election anyway.  Johnson knows this government is a horrible failure and will not want to bog himself down in that failure.  He plans to present himself as the great white hope after Cameron is deposed by his party.  

    Johnson’s record, as Len Duvall points out, is dire, but the image the media feeds the public is Boris the lovable buffoon.  However, despite that, I think he’s being found out.

    • http://twitter.com/waterwards dave stone

      I get the feeling that the Tories like to play-up Johnson’s prospects because he provides the disillusioned with an own-side alternative to Farage/UKIP.

      But I’d guess that Johnson considers the government to be a qualified success. In his speech he advocated low taxes and deregulation and that’s what we’re getting. Sure, windbag Johnson would like to go further, and faster, but the government are not so far off target when it comes to intensifying the inequalities that have characterised the last 30 years of neoliberalism. No doubt the champagne corks will be popping at conference tonight.

      • Jeremy_Preece

        … and BJ said how much he is a fan of Gove. That says it all really.

  • Jeremy_Preece

    Did anyone else see the BBC London News (6:30pm today)?

    We saw a reporter at Croydon Conservative club sitting down with about 4 white males from the club watching Johnson’s speech. One of the members was a bus driver and we didn’t get to hear about the others.
    After the speech one of them commented that they really liked BJ because he was “so much more down to earth than the others”. Apart from reeling as I pondered the irony, I realised that his press image seems to be that of the anti-politician. In reality it is hard to imagine anyone less down to earth or less upper class blue Tory.

    Much is said about the state of British politics, but for me the fact that BJ is not on the lunitic fringe, but actually been considered as a future party leader shows just how bad things have got.

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