http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/

http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830


The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi - the lickspittle jackals daring to stand against the great
leader as Mayor, disclosed that the extension of the ELL Phase 2 from
Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction has been authorised by the DfT. That
news was supposed to be a secret under the “We can’t tell what is
going on because there is an election about to happen regulations”.
This rare species should not be confused with the “We are not going to
tell you what is going on because there is an election going on.”
However, since nobody watches ITV these days – Ken’s breach of the
rules will probably not be noticed – until some babbling bloggermouth
comes along. Well done U.

On Apr 23, 6:35 am, Mwmbwls wrote:
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/

http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi -

Brian Thingumi ?

"TimB" wrote in message
...
On Apr 23, 6:35 am, Mwmbwls wrote:
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/

http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi -

Brian Thingumi ?

Veering OT a bit is media coverage about the concept of elected mayors
legitimate at this time?

The headline, picture and caption could be seen as an endorsement of the
encumbent perhaps...

Paul

"Paul Scott" wrote in message
...

"TimB" wrote in message
...
On Apr 23, 6:35 am, Mwmbwls wrote:
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/

http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi -

Brian Thingumi ?

Veering OT a bit is media coverage about the concept of elected mayors
legitimate at this time?

The headline, picture and caption could be seen as an endorsement of the
encumbent perhaps...

Er... including link this time:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7362110.stm

Paul

On 23 Apr, 06:35, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/

http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi - the lickspittle jackals daring to stand against the great
leader as Mayor, disclosed that the extension of the ELL Phase 2 from
Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction has been authorised by the DfT. That
news was supposed to be a secret under the “We can’t tell what is
going on because there is an election about to happen regulations”.
This rare species should not be confused with the “We are not going to
tell you what is going on because there is an election going on.”
However, since nobody watches ITV these days – Ken’s breach of the
rules will probably not be noticed – until some babbling bloggermouth
comes along. Well done U.


I wouldn't say that Livingstone was being forced into a corner there
but that's another matter.

The relevant entry on Mr Thant's blog (and I believe I'm right in
saying that it's either Mr Thant or U Thant, not Mr U Thant which
would translate as Mr Mr Thant!) is he
http://londonconnections.blogspot.co...-junction.html


I'm pretty sure Mayor Ken's off-the-cuff comment accurately reflects
the fact that DfT/ central government have decided to fund ELLX phase
2 as 'enabling works' for the Thameslink Programme. In the comments
under the above blog entry I speculate as to whether the DfT had
basically already made this decision, having reviewed the draft South
London RUS, but were waiting for the final version to be published by
Network Rail, and thus whether there was ever perhaps some hope that
this could be officially announced before 18 March when the pre-
election 'purdah' rules kicked-in. In the event Network Rail published
the RUS on 31 March, which was two weeks too late for such an
announcement. Network Rail, of course, isn't really a political animal
- or perhaps that should read 'isn't a really political animal'.

On 23 Apr, 09:57, "Paul Scott" wrote:

"Paul Scott" wrote:

"TimB" wrote:

On Apr 23, 6:35 am, Mwmbwls wrote:
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/

http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi -

Brian Thingumi ?

Veering OT a bit is media coverage about the concept of elected mayors
legitimate at this time?

The headline, picture and caption could be seen as an endorsement of the
encumbent perhaps...

Er... including link this time:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7362110.stm



It's not a public body making that announcement so of course they're
not covered by 'purdah'. And the Beeb is just reporting what the IPPR
are saying - in actual fact what appears in a paper in the IPPR's
quarterly journal:
http://www.ippr.org/pressreleases/?id=3103

Given the attention that the London Mayoral election is getting
nationally at the moment, it's perhaps as good a time as any for the
IPPR to come out with this to get maximum attention.

I don't think the headline, picture or caption on the BBC story is
really anything other than illustrative of the story itself. It's
certainly not an endorsement. Obviously, as a broadcaster the BBC
needs to take care to ensure that their reportage is balanced and
impartial, but these concerns shouldn't mean they are completely
hidebound from reporting what's going on.

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh Thingumi
- the lickspittle jackals daring to stand against the great leader as
Mayor, disclosed that the extension of the ELL Phase 2 from Surrey Quays
to Clapham Junction has been authorised by the DfT.

Didn't we already know this at least as far back as the South London RUS?
They're going to withdraw some existing NR services into London Bridge
along that corridor, so they need to bring the ELL forward to maintain the
level of service (FSVO 'service' where a train to Whitechapel counts the
same as a train to London Bridge).

tom

--
YOU CANT TAKE AWAY HATGUYS HAT. THEN HE IS JUST GUY -- The_Toad

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
On Tue, 22 Apr 2008, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi - the lickspittle jackals daring to stand against the great
leader as Mayor, disclosed that the extension of the ELL Phase 2 from
Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction has been authorised by the DfT.

Didn't we already know this at least as far back as the South London RUS?
They're going to withdraw some existing NR services into London Bridge
along that corridor, so they need to bring the ELL forward to maintain the
level of service (FSVO 'service' where a train to Whitechapel counts the
same as a train to London Bridge).

Only in so far as NR were recommending this as a solution - it would still
need DfT to potentiallly earmark Thameslink funding to support TfL's
project. An RUS proposal doesn't guarantee funds are forthcoming
unfortunately...

Paul S

On 23 Apr, 12:32, "Paul Scott" wrote:

"Tom Anderson" wrote:

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi - the lickspittle jackals daring to stand against the great
leader as Mayor, disclosed that the extension of the ELL Phase 2 from
Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction has been authorised by the DfT.

Didn't we already know this at least as far back as the South London RUS?
They're going to withdraw some existing NR services into London Bridge
along that corridor, so they need to bring the ELL forward to maintain the
level of service (FSVO 'service' where a train to Whitechapel counts the
same as a train to London Bridge).

Only in so far as NR were recommending this as a solution - it would still
need DfT to potentiallly earmark Thameslink funding to support TfL's
project. An RUS proposal doesn't guarantee funds are forthcoming
unfortunately...


Indeed, the plan as outlined in the RUS was only a recommendation -
and when Tom says "as far back as the South London RUS" he should bear
in mind that the final version of the South London RUS (as opposed to
the draft for consultation) was only published on 31 March.

The DfT could have turned round and said 'balls to that', but it would
appear they haven't, and have in fact endorsed the plan outlined in
the RUS.

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:

On 23 Apr, 12:32, "Paul Scott" wrote:

"Tom Anderson" wrote:

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008, Mwmbwls wrote:

http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
http://www.itvlocal.com/london/mayor/?void=178830

The ever-assiduous Mr U Thant has a scoop in that Ken Livingstone when
being forced into a corner over the Stockwell shooting by the running
dogs of the ITV News clique, aided by Boris Wothisname and Hugh
Thingumi - the lickspittle jackals daring to stand against the great
leader as Mayor, disclosed that the extension of the ELL Phase 2 from
Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction has been authorised by the DfT.

Didn't we already know this at least as far back as the South London RUS?
They're going to withdraw some existing NR services into London Bridge
along that corridor, so they need to bring the ELL forward to maintain the
level of service (FSVO 'service' where a train to Whitechapel counts the
same as a train to London Bridge).

Only in so far as NR were recommending this as a solution - it would still
need DfT to potentiallly earmark Thameslink funding to support TfL's
project. An RUS proposal doesn't guarantee funds are forthcoming
unfortunately...

Indeed, the plan as outlined in the RUS was only a recommendation -
and when Tom says "as far back as the South London RUS" he should bear
in mind that the final version of the South London RUS (as opposed to
the draft for consultation) was only published on 31 March.

Exactly - *weeks* ago!

Anyway, thanks, i stand corrected. I had this idea that it had already
been confirmed; maybe it was just that it was sort of obviously the right
option. Not that this would stop the DfT from not taking it.

tom

--
YOU CANT TAKE AWAY HATGUYS HAT. THEN HE IS JUST GUY -- The_Toad