Author: Phil

The Mayor has been quick to follow up on one of his election promises to make life easier for Black Cab drivers by removing the half-yearly inspection which only came in October last year.

I anticipate more Black Cab friendly measures from this Mayor as long as he keeps on cycling in to work. It is simple self-preservation. The Sunday Mirror pictures not only showed him breaking the rules but also chatting to two cab drivers. God help him if he crosses the cabbies they will knock him into the gutter double quick. It is not as if he is not easy to spot on his bike.

Seriously though all good red-tape slashing stuff.

A week since the election and Boris is still going strong with more frantic new broom type sweeping from the new mayor. Today we hear he is sending in the heavies to both the GLA and the LDA to find out where our money is going.

It is striking how he is using the expertise of the Tory borough leaders. He has hired two from Westminster and Bexley and now two more are lending a hand from Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth.

Stephen Greenhalgh, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham is famous for cutting their council tax by 3% two years running since his gung ho young group were elected in May 2006. Edward Lister has 15 years experience as leader of Wandsworth grinding out efficiencies. The A Team are on the job.

The Evening Standard is also reporting that the Chief Executive of the LDA, Manny Lewis, has been given six months pay to go quietly. He will be replaced by Westminster council chief executive Peter Rogers. I suspect we will be seeing a lot more bang for the LDA buck very shortly.

The Mayor today outlined his plans to outlaw alcohol on public transport in London – everything except the trains.

This is great news. My elderly neighbour called it “wonderful”. Some people have criticised it on libertarian grounds, for instance Guido Fawkes, and predictably Bob Crowe of RMT thinks it is all too hard.

People forget that London Underground banned smoking on the Tube about 20 years before the smoking ban and it was entirely uncontroversial. When I first came to work in London in 1984 I remember the cigarette butts lying in rows in the grooves of the wooden floors of tube trains. First they banned smoking on the trains and then after the Kings Cross fire disaster in all LU premises.

The smoking ban itself passed hardly the slightest incident of disobedience last year. By the end of June public transport will be dry and everyone will have forgotten there was ever a time when you would drink on public transport.

Ray Lewis supported Boris at both his initial policing launch and at his last push event.

Good to see the Mayor hitting the ground running.

Lewis’ CV is pretty inspirational and he is a very engaging speaker. He says:

We see no shortage of young black males in the courtrooms, so my vision is to seek to prepare as many as possible for the boardrooms.

Good start.