Draft Mayor's Housing Strategy
Well we might have a daft Mayor but its impossible to have a draft Mayor. Perhaps he'd had a few when he came up with the title. There's also an eleven minute video voiced accompanying the draft document. Mariella Frostrup (or a soundalike) is doing the voiceover. I wonder how much this cost London taxpayers. Perhaps the question should be asked by someone on the GLA.
I'm also told that at a recent meeting with the Mayor, The Federation of Small Businesses were stunned to be told that he didn't think small businesses contributed much to London's economy. Dear oh dear.
12 comments:
Are you sure it's not a "draught mare", which makes more sense?
And despite everything, they vote for him! In fact, all over the UK people vote for economically illiterate Labour politicians, even when the evidence of their incompetence stares them in the face, year after year, decade after decade.
Sometimes I think people get the [lousy] local government they deserve.
You know, Trumpeter, this has puzzled me, too. They looked around at the wreckage Tony Blair had caused the country - pillars of the law smashed to the ground and lying around in useless chunks; pillars of the Constitution toppled and smashed; civil society in sad little shreds blowing in the wind; illiterate and inumerate youths; a Sovietesque medical care system; native faces becoming increasingly rare in the capital city and non-existent in increasingly large areas of big cities; thousands of prisoners routinely released on the Alice-in-Wonderlandesque excuse that there's no room for them in prison - and they voted the architect of this devastation of their country, Blair, in for a third term.
I do not understand the psychology. Are they really that stupid? That unaware? Do they have a death wish? Rather than offering a robust response to thought fascism (aka by its frilly name 'political correctness') they agree to pay it hommage.
I just do not get it. In fact, it wasn't the attitude of Blair that I found so alarming. It was the acquiescence of my fellow citizens that caused me to decamp.
It's tribal, Verity. They vote in tribes, as in:
"I'm working class, therefore I vote Labour."
"I read the Guardian and work for the BBC. Therefore I hate George Bush and vote Labour."
"I am part of an ethnic community. Therefore I vote as directed by our community leaders."
The policitians are no better, and often worse, as in:
"I always vote as directed by the Whips' Office, even when I profoundly disagree with what I'm voting for."
But never despair! Just as Hollywood turns out scores of trash movies and (against all the odds) the occasional thoughtful work of art, so politics turns out scores of mediocrities and (against all the odds) the occasional statesman.
It's all we can hope for.
In the unlikely event Iain's being serious, the document is called the Mayor's Housing Strategy.
As this is a draft of the Mayor's Housing Strategy it's actually accurate to call it a Draft Mayor's Housing Strategy.
And if Iain wasn't being serious and I missed the joke, sorry!
Martin
English grammar dictates that it should be the Mayor's Draft Housing Strategy
Hmm, I disagree Iain but I'm most likely not as well educated as you ;-)
This is the Mayor's Housing Strategy in the same way as the Queen's Speech is the Queen's Speech.
Surely we'd say the Draft Queen's Speech, not the Queen's Draft Speech?
I didn;t do that degree in Linguistics for nothing! Well, actually I did....
Ah well I don;t think my inner London 'education' allows me to lock horns with you over this ;-) but it seems to a common description:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Draft+Mayor's+Housing+Strategy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
so I won't feel too silly :-)
Trumpeter Lanfried said...
"And despite everything, they vote for him!"
That's because they remember the incompetence, disloyalty and corruption of the last Tory government.
Iain Dale said...
"I didn;t do that degree in Linguistics for nothing! Well, actually I did...."
Obviously your syllabus didn't cover curret usage of English.#
Oops!. Mine didn't cover typing or punctuation. Obviously.
Anonymous. 9.14 PM
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