Sunday, September 09, 2007

Interviewing Boris

Tomorrow lunchtime I'm interviewing Boris Johnson for 18 Doughty Street. Any questions you'd like to suggest? We'll play a taster of it in Monday's Vox Politix and then transmit it in full on Tuesday evening. I'll let you know the exact time when it is fixed.

48 comments:

Daily Referendum said...

Boris- What's the first thing you are going to do WHEN you are the Mayor of London?

Sir Dando Tweakshafte said...

Having cut and run from Henley, does Bozza actually plan to serve a full term as Mayor?

Anonymous said...

Do you plan to reduce local taxation?

If so, how?

John Trenchard said...

Boris - you going to allow the mega-mosque in East London to go ahead?

Secondly, are you going to overturn the oil deal that Ken made with Chavez, which ensures that rich London gets cheap oil at the expense of the Venezualan people?

Thirdly, are you in favour of Gordon Brown's plans to turn London into a world centre for Islamic finance?

Tapestry said...

Boris - would you approve of moving London's main airport away from Heathrow?

Train links are so much faster (potentially) than when Heathrow was conceived. A fast train from St Pancras could be at Kent International in 20 minutes or so. Bags of space to develop there, no overflying of urban areas required.

Heathrow could become a high rise City - with shopping, leisure, sports, schools etc - a mini Hong Kong - in the perfect location to house a very large number of people.

Anonymous said...

Where's your favourite place in London and why?

Laurence Boyce said...

Please ask Boris whether there would now be a statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square, if he had been Mayor instead of Ken.

Anonymous said...

Boris-- what do you think about the proposed "Happy Clappy Planet Index" replacing the time proven GDP Index.

Scott Freeman said...

What will be the first three (local) government bodies or organisations that you will abolish as mayor?

Anonymous said...

Do you think it's sensible that Brussels dictates the style of buses that run in London?

Anonymous said...

Keep the questions simple and non controversial(tricky I know).

And for heavens sake don't let the twat catch on that the only reason we are voting for him is to get him off the benches in the house of commons so he can loose cannon to his hearts content in county hall(or whatever the current comic house is called).

Anonymous said...

Boff, Boris, Borwick and Warwick...

Please ask Boris about his ambitions. If he proves a successful Mayor of London, has he any interest in achieving higher office? Or is this position one he'd like to hold for the rest of his political career?

Arthurian Legend said...

1. How can you as an MP advocate membership of the EU when Parliament's responsibility to make the laws that govern this country have to a very great extent been torn up and tossed aside?

2. If the Conservatives get back into power and you are the elected London Mayor at the time, will you ask Cameron to try to change the law to bring back any old Routemasters that still exist, as well as bring in the new ones?

Chris Paul said...

Please ask him why - having never run anything in his life apart from (a) a Tory comic, badly and (b) various not quite clandestine affairs - he thinks he can run the greatest city in the world.

And ask him how he feels about Colemanballs in Private Eye being renamed Boris Balls.

The Hitch said...

Chris Paul what have you ever run apart from a bath? (And I bet that isnt very often)


"Boris ,how does it feel to be the only British politician that The Hitch has had a scrap of faith in since Lady Thatcher?"

Some Boris facts
1, He is honest
2, when he screws up he admits it
3, Brain the size of a planet
4, If he shagged your wife you could forgive him but not her.
5, A good egg.

Richard said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Please ask Boris how dirty he thinks Ken will get.

Anonymous said...

Oops forgot - also ask him what he thinks of the Mayor having offices in Mumbi, Beijing and Brussels.

Anonymous said...

Do you propose to visit Haringey? And how do you think we can increase the Tory vote here?

Justin Hinchcliffe
Chairman, Tottenham Conservatives

Anonymous said...

Well,there he is again - Chris Paul, the man voted "most likely to never ever win political blogger of the year" - coming out with his usual irrelevant and inane stuff again.

I stopped looking at his blog when I found myself asleep at the key board after the fifth comment from his main respondent - the "Slaughterhouse Lawyer" - and realised that I had slit my wrists and was enjoying the experience.

I don't recommend it as a life-changing experience.

Richard said...

Boris, assuming that Cameron forms the next national government, are you hoping to become the Conservative mayor of London because you believe that should Labour continue to control City Hall, the big northern cities and the majority of Scotland and Wales, a Cameron premiership would only have a mandate for change in the rural communities of England and this would lead to ineffective and largely unaccountable government?

Anonymous said...

You could ask him who threw the bread roll at him ?

It was mentioned in the updated end chapter of his election diary book thingy, "Friend, voters Countrymen". I'm sure he spun out the story so long that I dozed off without getting the answe. Otherwise, it was a great book!

I hope the tories choose him as their candidate because he has because he has an entertaining style which people will warm to far easier than the standard politician.

Anonymous said...

Why not treat him to the kind of harsh interrogation the BBC gives Brown.

i.e. Off air ask him what questions he would like you to ask. Then on air ask them whilst nodding.

Anonymous said...

spot the waste of space - Funny!

Re Boris - and all the ethnics, who aren't even British and those who booked mercy flights to Britain to plead "asylum" - they are going to appreciate Mr Johnson? Perhaps some of them speak English?

Haven't these individuals been engineered to be a majority in the capital city of Great Britain? Are they going to appreciate the wit and wisdom of Boris? And the real British, the one-worlder indigenes? They're going to vote for Boris?

London will never be Conservative again and will continue to sink to Third World status - well, that's the Trot plan.

I'd rather live in Delhi, but the Indian Government, with sublime sensibleness, doesn't allow foreigners to get a foothold in their wonderful country. As a foreigner, you cannot by property. By hook or by crook, you cannot own property in India as a foreigner.

Perhaps we should listen.

Anonymous said...

Dearest Boris,

Are you going to have an anti corruption drive and an inquiry into the theft of public money that has gone missing into the pockets of Livingstones mafia type gang?
Are you going to name and shame the crooks and thieves who infest Livingstone's office?
Are you going to press for the abolition of social housing apartheid where muslims are given special areas so they dont have to mix with "dirty infidels" and are you going to stop the special treatment of immigrants who are pushed to the front of the housing queue by the current cynical policies?
Are you going to let the Police do their job without the choking interference and PC meddling that is happening now and are you going to abolish the racist policy of turning down recruits because they are white and English?
The evil crooked Livingstone has been playing a dirty game and he WILL play dirty and he WILL cheat in his bid to retain power BUT the truth will out I am sure!

Alan Douglas said...

Could we have the address of his barber please ?

Alan Douglas

Chris Paul said...

Oh dear me:

Spot the waste of space says absolutely nothing, except perhaps:

"Spot-wos never tire of ad hominem attacks with no arguments whatsoever"

Ralph said...

Could you ask him which body makes his plan to return the Routemaster buses illegal?

Chris Paul said...

"When you launched your campaign website you claimed that you would be visiting the 32 boroughs and reporting back. In the five weeks between that and your full launch you reported two visits. Which if you don't mind me saying is a bit pathetic really. One to Shepherd's Bush and was in June apparently, before the promise was made, the other to California. Even less impressive. You have since DONE five boroughs in two days. Like a US tourist tour of Europe. Are you going to pull out and endorse Boff?"

Anonymous said...

Rachel said...
ask him what he thinks of the Mayor having offices in Mumbi, Beijing and Brussels.


What about Caracas?

Anonymous said...

Will he abolish the Congestion Charge? If not why not?

Has he ever been suspended from office for racial abuse, like Ken Livingstone?

Anonymous said...

Can you ask him what his secret is with the ladies?

Anonymous said...

You might ask whether he thinks the new Tory plan to charge (stealth tax?) the population to park in supermarket car parks and to use the receipts for public transport will be seen as more or less of an asault on motorists' freedom than the London congestion charge...

Anonymous said...

1. What was Petronella like in bed?

2. What do you really think of David Cameron?

3. Will your father contest your seat when you step down

4. What's your favourate Sandwich filler

5. Did you belong to the Bullington Club

6. Which drugs didn;t you do at University

7. Who is your favourate author

8. How soon after winning do you predict that you wil have to issue your first apology (or will you be issueing them in advance)

9. Do you like George Bush

10 where did you go on holiday this summer?

Mark said...

I wonder what Boris makes of the recent comparison made between himself and the redoubtable Miss Marple on Radio 4? Would Miss Marple have made a good Mayor?

Anonymous said...

What do you really think about Liverpool?

Anonymous said...

Boris, how on earth are you going to bring those council tax bills down? Ken Livingstone has taken more and more of our hard-earned money to pay for his outrageous and unnecessary spending at the GLA, so what are you going to do about it?

Newmania said...

Good for you Iain. I did this a while ago

"The Standard this eve carries the shocking news that Boris has been talking to Sheriff Lee Baca.Sheriff Baca is the"elected " Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California.(He was re-elected to a third term in 2006).Naturally the man who fights crime in LA could not possibly have anything to tell us about the ethnically diverse City of London where knifings and shootings are escalating out of control…oh no ..According to the Livingstone droogs the only thing that matters is some Hallo Magazine thing about Paris Hilton which shows that Boris is obsessed with celebrity.Pitiful.
I `ll tell you the things that interest B Johnson about this man . His experience and that magic word “ Elected”. Lee Baca is directly accountable to the people he serves and has to produce results . Boz is rolling up his sleeves and getting stuck into the problems that Londoners really care about and if anyone thinks the Met would not benefit by that sort of accountability they have not been watching the show. Whats more Boris is using ...his own money.
"

Questions arising are
1 What has he learnt that he feels we might apply to London`s gang crime problem from the US
2 What is his feeling about the Lefts determination to misrepresent him
3 How would he increase Police accountability in theory and in practice as Mayor
4 How does he feel two weeks as school teacher qualifies ken Livingstone to run an ice cream van.
5 Will he please give that lovely Mel that works for him a pay rise. She deserves it for being about hottest posh totty in London...and being very good at her job and all that
6 Which of the many contenders would he say was Ken`s most wasteful use of tax payers money is it perhaps signing the blank cheque for the Olympics ?
7 How does he feel about the neglect of the Suburbs by KL ?
8 How would he deal with the government and its plans to impose socila housing targets on Londons already warped population using the Town and Country act via the GLA.
10 Could he use his position to turn around and represnt London against the government ?
11 What interesting anecdotes does he have about David Cameron . Did he ever beat a fag ? That sort of thing


Would he lend me some money ?

Alex said...

Would he insist that the Pirbight Foot in Mouth Laboratory should be moved to central London, on the basis that since the virus is bound to leak out through the drains, there is little chance that civil servants will be able to infect any livestock in the centre of a city?

Anonymous said...

I've received two ballot forms for the candidate selection. Does Boris think I should vote twice? And how many other people have received two ballot forms?

Anonymous said...

Since bringing back Routemasters is blocked by EU regulations, will you advocate leaving the EU in order to get them back?

Anonymous said...

What steps will you take to counter the terrorist threat in London?

What parts of the congestion charge system are the least effective and might need to be changed.

jailhouselawyer said...

Chris Paul: London the greatest city in the world? You have obviously forgotten about Leeds and Hull.

Hughes Views said...

Too late now, you'll have put your clipboard down no doubt. A pity because I'd like to know:

- if he's ever ridden on a Routemaster bus other than when in leisure and/or publicity mode

- what other aspects of early 1960s London life he plans to re-introduce. Coal fires, smog, the docks, steam trains, life expectancy of 56 for adult males, keg beer, gaslights, did I mention smog?

I think we should be told.

Newmania said...

what other aspects of early 1960s London life he plans to re-introduce. Coal fires, smog, the docks, steam trains, life expectancy of 56 for adult males, keg beer, gaslights, did I mention smog?


Mini skirts , winning the worldcup good music and E Type jags . YEEAAAAH BABY !!

Anonymous said...

If you care for London, if you care for England, isn't it about time you jettisoned the worthless Conservatives and took up the lance for UKIP?

Scipio said...

Newmania - with you all the way dude!

Wild hair cuts, loud shirts, free sex, Woodstock, policemen that said 'evening all' and actualy stopped crime, mods and rockers, getting a thrashing for going scrumping without the ability to say 'I'm reporting you to social services', thinking 'gay' meant happy, the stones, the beatles.....that's it Boris. Campaign on a 'bring back the 60's ticket' and you'll romp it!

Except the signs on guest house doors which said "no dogs, blacks or Irish'!

Anonymous said...

Questions Boris Johnson must answer

When it has been put to Boris that his articles has offended black communities, he claims everything has been taken out of context and that it is all a plot by his opponents.

A lot of people have read his journalism and are still offended. The truth is – Boris just doesn’t understand race. He just doesn’t realise why people are upset?

These are some key questions that Boris must answer:

Is it acceptable under any circumstances to say Africans have “watermelon smiles” and call black children “piccanninies”? Isn’t this further evidence of a colonial mindset?

Boris reserves the right to make jokes, but when those jokes play on the kind of colonial stereotypes used in tandem with oppression of other countries, can such jokes ever be acceptable?

Boris has recently reaffirmed your belief that colonial rule would be better for Africa. Does he really think Africans are incapable of governing themselves?

Does he recognise that Muslims revere the Prophet Mohammad to such an extent they are unlikely to roll in the isles at “Life of Mohammad?”

Boris wrote that Nelson Mandela was replacing the tyranny of white rule with the “tyranny of black rule”? Boris also wrote that Mandela was taking South Africa towards “banana republic poverty”? Does he understand why this could be seen as sympathising with apartheid?

What is Boris’s views on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry? He penned a whole series of articles criticising various recommendations, and does not seem to have had a good word to say about the inquiry. He says it was a “witchhunt” against the police and has whipped up “hysteria.” It sounds like he was against the inquiry.

He wrote: “Chinese cultural influence is virtually nil.” Was this another ‘joke’, or does he really believe that?

His prescription for dealing with racism appears to be to “axe large chunks of the anti-racism industry.” How will this help tackle racism in London?

Does he believe Eleanor Bland, the Conservative former parliamentary candidate, should have had her membership suspended for allegedly circulating an email rhyme about immigrants… the same one that was posted on his website?