Why don't they just share the job? It's not like anyone else is really bothered.

Fun Online Polls: Cars and 'Illegal immigrants'

The results in last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Do some cars have a soul?

Yes - 46%
No - 14%
What on earth are you talking about? - 40%

It was a good turnout for such an off the wall question, so thanks to everybody who took part. I'm relieved to see that while I'm in a minority, it's a pretty big minority of 46%.

All I can say to those who voted 'No' or 'What on earth are you talking about?' is that you'll know it when you feel it. Not all cars have a soul anyway (and it's becoming less and less frequent with all the electronics nonsense they have nowadays) so perhaps you just haven't driven the right car.
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This week's Fun Online Poll goes back to a throwaway remark by Red Ken, that his successor as London mayor also proposed an amnesty for illegal immigrants. It's far beyond the remit of a London mayor to take such a step, but IHMO it would 'solve' nothing as you'd just get as many again coming in.

At the other extreme are people who reckon that it would be a good idea to round them all up and deport them, even though it is never quite clear to me how this is supposed to work on a practical level (let alone on a legal or moral level).

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll: "Which is the least insane policy on 'illegal immigrants' in the UK?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Michael Howard doesn't do logic either

At the Evening Standard's well-attended AV debate, Michael Howard managed to contradict himself completely at least twice during his ten-minute pitch:

Exhibit One

AV is bad, he said, because it leads to more coalitions. There wouldn't be 'strong government'.

Fair enough, I can see why Tories like large Tory majorities and why Labour like large Labour majorities, although I'm not sure what's in it for the rest of us (or why Tories like large Labour majorities and vice versa - what happens when they get in is they waste the first few years just reversing what the previous lot did). But hey, that's his opinion.

A minute or two later, he warned AV supporters that AV would not lead to more proportional outcomes; he made the wholly unsubstantiated claim that the Tory majority in 1987 would have been bigger; as would the Labour majority in 1997.

Could he make up his mind please - either he likes big majorities or he prefers small majorities/coalitions (I can see arguments for either, although I personally prefer the latter); and once he's made up his mind about that, could he then please make up his mind as to whether AV or FPTP is more likely to lead to that outcome?

Exhibit Two

He also did the time honoured thing by claiming that not only would candidates pander to those who give their first vote to an 'extremist' party (i.e. BNP or UKIP - I'm not sure why the Green Party don't count as 'extremist')." but they'd also be blander overall because they'd be trying to grab second votes from the other major parties.

Ho hum. If I were a candidate from a major party in a seat where the votes are split roughly three ways, I would rather try to grab second votes from the vast majority who are likely to vote for one of the other two major parties than try to grab second votes from the tiny minority who are likely to vote BNP*. But the same applies to an election held under FPTP so I'm not it's even relevant.

Either way, I'd find it helpful if he could make up his mind whether he prefers bland candidates or slightly wackier candidates; and then to decide whether he prefers AV or FPTP.

* Red Ken, who was also on the panel and who has won rather more elections that Michael Howard, pointed out that the BNP had advised its supporters to give Boris Johnson their second vote in the 2008 London mayoral election. Boris went out of his way to dissuade BNP voters from doing so, promptly won the election and then merrily proposed an amnesty for illegal immigrants living in London (a policy which Red Ken himself had proposed) and something which would be anathema to the BNP.

Red Ken also pointed out that any candidate who was daft enough to try and appeal to BNP voters was likely to lose more votes that he gained and that the BNP themselves oppose AV. All verifiable facts, y'see. I like a man who sticks to actual facts.

As an aside, I can't see any real difference between Red Ken and Boris, except that Boris banned drinking alcohol on the trains, so all in all I preferred Red Ken, to be honest.
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As a postscript, the reception the audience gave Stephen Woolfe (a UKIP spokesman on 'the City') when he asked a perfectly innocuous question was absolutely shameful, but he kept going anyway. Well done him.

Righteous vs Righteous

Glorious!

The BBC has been accused of political bias for allowing Boris Johnson to appear on EastEnders despite rejecting an idea from his predecessor Ken Livingstone...

Mr Livingstone approached the BBC during his last term as Mayor, hoping to highlight a recycling campaign on the show. He said: "They said it wouldn't be appropriate, that it was political. They've obviously changed their tune, but then they have always been quite keen on Boris." Labour Assembly member Murad Qureshi accused the BBC of giving Mr Johnson free publicity.

The BBC claimed that the office of Mayor was "politically neutral".

Ah well, seeing as Boris didn't dare show his face today ...

London's airport capacity - poll results

Thanks to everybody who voted.

The overall response to the question "Would you like to see an expansion of airport capacity in and around London?" was as follows:

Yes - 17 votes
No - 7 votes

Right! The four main candidates are going to have to share those 7 'No' votes, I wonder if any other candidate will be brave enough to try and grab the 17 'Yes' votes for him- or herself?

London airport - poll closes tomorrow morning

Thanks muchly to the people you have voted in this (see top of side bar), the results are most interesting so far!

Please make sure to cast your vote (if you haven't done so already). Would be much appreciated.

Heathrow expansion

It's time for another quiz, how many extra votes would a London Mayoral candidate get by simply saying he or she is in favour of increasing airport capacity in and around London? People like flying, don't they? I mean, they must do or else they wouldn't do it, would they?

Can somebody explain the joke?

Emma Thompson and assorted taxpayer-funded luvvies were out in force yesterday to launch "Green Screen London", an initiative to cut "CO₂ emissions by film-makers".

Alistair McGowan, referrred to as a comedian, said "As we live in a make-believe world, it's easy to forget that our CO₂ footprint is real".

I dunno, was this an inversion of the rather more correct statement "Even though we live in the real world, it's easy to forget that our CO₂ footprint is make-believe" or was his joke more subtle than that?

"Youth project joins fraud inquiry"

Will Lee Jasper, one of the 100 greatest Black Britons, get the all clear yet again, or will something come of these new enquiries?

* Lest ye wonder, Deshbangla is in fact a proper word, it seems to mean Bangladeshi.