Heads in the sand as Boris exposes Camerons Conservatives

Cowards. That's what I hate more than anything. Most of the problems of Great Britain today could be solved if our leaders had a little bit of backbone and were prepared to take tough decisions. In less than a year's time, we have an election. What choice will we have? Gordon Brown or David Cameron. We know plenty about Gordon Brown, but what do we know about David Cameron and his Conservatives? Well the most powerful Conservative in the Country is Boris Johnson. I'd like to say I'm shocked about the revelations of the last few days, which have exposed his regime as being completely incompetent and useless. The trouble is I'm not. Even worse than that, I happen to know that David Cameron is not shocked either. David Cameron always saw a Boris candidacy as extremely risky, Cameron always knew that sooner or later Boris would show himself to be unfit for office. Cameron's plan was to hope that Boris would fail after the next general election. Boris was a risk worth taking at the time. When he was selected, Cameron thought he stood no chance of beating Livingstone, so he was happy to let Boris have a go. As Gordon Brown's credibility waned, Cameron suddenly realised that Boris may actually get in. He was lumbered with him and he knew it. All he could do was cross his fingers and hope.

Well Boris has been in for just over a year. He's lost 3 deputy mayors and one senior advisor. The saga surrounding the latest casualty is the most appalling scandal I can recall in British Politics. It's not the fact that a Middle aged man started an affair with a girl young enough to be his daughter that bothers me, good luck to him. It is the fact that Boris knew that Ian Clement was unfit to have a corporate credit card in August 2008. I run a successful company and if one of my employees showed themselves as unfit to have a credit card, I would sack them. It is all about trust. How can Boris have thought that Clement was unfit to have a credit card, but fit to be a Deputy Mayor. Not only that, but it seems that knowing he had form for this, Boris still signed his expenses off. He didn't bother to even check. Sir Simon Milton admitted this today. In most firms, if you break the rules, you will be put under the microscope. Your expenses get special attention. If Boris had believe this to be a mistake, he should have let Clement know in no uncertain terms that he'd personally check and would sack him if he found he was lying or he broke the rules again. Clements actions expose Boris as a weak leader with no credibility.

During the Mayoral Campaign, Boris promised a cleaner, more transparent regime. He promised an end to cronyism and he promised that all unnecessary waste would be rooted out. I thought I'd check the rest of his team. This is what I found. If you are a Tory, look away now.

Alex Crowley

Political Adviser to the Mayor

Prior to being appointed, Alex led the team that developed policy and produced the manifestos for Boris Johnson's Mayoral campaign. He has also previously worked at the Greater London Authority, working for Conservative members of the London Assembly, advising on political matters and transport policy.

Appointed: 22 September 2008 to the end of the Mayor’s term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To provide advice to the Mayor on issues relating to his manifesto and to act as principle liaison between the Mayors office and key contacts in London.
Salary: £77,063

This is your money. Is this really the best way for Boris to be spending £77,063 per annum. Over his four year term, that is more than a quarter of a million pounds on someone to help him with his manifesto !!!!! If you don't believe me click here - http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/team/advisors.jsp

Lets examine a couple of his directors :-

Directors

Richard Blakeway

Director of Housing

Richard Blakeway spent seven years working in the House of Commons, including for the Conservative Party's policy review and then as housing advisor to Boris Johnson during his Mayoral campaign. In 2004 he helped launch and edit the International Development Magazine circulated to over 100 countries. Richard is a Young Ambassador for the Samaritans and Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts. He is also a member of the Homes and Communities Agency's London Board.

Appointed: 22 September 2008 to the end of the Mayor's term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To lead the political, strategic and operational framework for the development of the Mayor's statutory housing strategy and other housing and homelessness policies to help deliver the Mayor's housing responsibilities and plans.
Salary: £82,200

Anthony Browne

Policy Director

A former national journalist, Anthony Browne was Director of the leading think tank Policy Exchange, and has written reports on issues ranging from the NHS to housing, education, environment and welfare reform for several think tanks. Anthony has a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. He is married with two children and lives in north London.

Appointed: 6 October 2008 to the end of the Mayor’s term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To provide policy advice to the Mayor, and to research and develop new policies for London.
Salary: £127,784

Guto Harri

Director of Communications

Guto spent more than a decade as a political correspondent for BBC News. He was also posted by the Corporation to Rome and New York. He has presented some of the flagship programmes on Radio 4 and left the BBC to become senior Policy Advisor consultant for Fleishman Hillard before joining the Mayor's team.

Appointed: 12 May 2008 to the end of the Mayor's term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To advise the Mayor on matters relating to media and communications and to lead and direct media and communications strategy and policy development to support the priorities and objectives of the Mayor and GLA.
Salary: £127,784

There are a few more here, if you really wan't to check.

http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/team/directors.jsp

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I don't know about you, but I ask myself, what value do these people add to London? We are paying a fortune in salaries, but what are these people delivering? Why did Boris pick them? If you were planning to solve the problems of London, would you pick a highly paid team of journalists?

If I was picking a director of Housing would I pick someone who's main claim to fame is

In 2004 he helped launch and edit the International Development Magazine circulated to over 100 countries.

Which brings us back to David Cameron. He leads the Conservatives. He is trying to convince us that The Tories can fix all the problems Gordon Brown created. I ask you this. The evidence of what happens when the Tories get in is there. Boris is his flagship. Cameron knows that he has to keep quiet and hope that not too many people notice. This is why Cameron has said nothing about how Boris has dealt with it. That is why Tory bloggers such as Iain Dale have said nothing about Clement or his resignation.

It is because they are all too cowardly to admit that they campaigned for a man they knew was totally unsuitable for such an important job. Boris was elected fairly and squarely by London, so I accept that we have to put up with him. I can't accept that we have to pay for all his mates to lead the life of riley and I really think that if David Cameron is a proper leader he'll do something about it.