Lately a new abolitionist has been getting publicity in the British capital. Normally when you think of abolitionists you think of righteous people trying end slavery, capital & corporal punishment or some other social evil. Dr Lee Rotherham is an abolitionist of a vastly different type. He plans to get elected as mayor of London so that he can do away with the office and all its trappings.
The current mayor is anti-car and pro-bicycle; charging £8 a day to drive your car into Central London. He is proposing to charge SUV owners up to £40 a day merely to drive their vehicle in London. He has helped introduce so-called “bendy-buses” a bus that not only clogs the road with its length; it has the tendency to burst into flames. Normal buses have their own lanes, which only they can drive on or fines ensue, that force cars into more congestion on the roads. Same for bus lanes that are more than generous in width. The city is very keen to crack down on errant drivers but not so keen to crack down on cyclists who frequently run red lights, go the wrong way down a one way street and ride on the sidewalk. Dr Lee Rotherham has not exactly enamoured himself with his own party; the newly caring and sharing Conservative Party of David Cameron. The party went to so far as to extend their primary past their previous deadline as it had not attracted the right so sort of calibre they were expecting. Party loyalists are chasing Dr Lee all over the internet to express their distaste with his platform and ideas. Not that Dr Rotherham is a stranger to a fight having served in Iraq and currently a Sergeant in British Territorial Army. He has experience in political fights having served in various positions in the House of Commons working for various MPs during the Conservatives current extended time in the wilderness.
This does not bother Dr Lee in the slightest as he expects, along with his team, to tap into the angst that courses in the veins of every Londoner. He plans to free Londoners from the high taxation and constant meddling of the Office of the Mayor. He plans to increase the power of the people to govern themselves. Allow the police to get on with their jobs without the constant attention to political correctness and pandering to minority’s petty peeves. This angst has only been increased by the spiralling costs of the 2012 Olympics and the continuing threat of violence by Islamist terrorists.
This would be leader of a rebellion does not strike one as a firebrand politician out for his own stardom. His be-speckled researcher-esque face hides the mind of a seriously clued up and serious candidate for the office currently held by Ken Livingston. His opponents might be tempted to see him as a lightweight and a novelty candidate. Londoners with the means are abandoning it in droves. Ask any of them and the current mayor and his office is to blame. Can an abolitionist be elected mayor of one of the most important cities in the world? We will have to wait and see. Will Conservatives and then Londoners vote to free themselves from under the thumb of the office of mayor? Are Londoners wise enough to emancipate themselves?
CC Flight taxation hurts all but the elite...
Has the political establishment in the UK taken the wrong gamble over their climate change consensus? Has the Stern report that was supposed to convince all Britons of the dire straight fallen on deaf ears? Or is it just that Britons are wise to the cynical ways of politicians, especially those in government.
Central London (UK) exodus
Why are so many 30-somethings trying to leave the UK? Are we seeing arepeat of the England of the last Labour government where everyone who could, left the UK?Now comparing pre-Thatcher Britain to Tony Blair’s version might sound a bit daft at first. A mere partisan attack designed to evoke memories of the glory days of Conservative rule. In fact, it is no such thing as besides the rising taxes, you would think there is really not much in common with the late-70s UK.
