It's not the cuts, Ken...

Some things are cyclical. The planet warms up and cools down by itself; flares come back into fashion; a reality show winner will crash and burn and Ken Livingstone will pop up opportunistically to have a pop at the Tories.

There he was last night on Newsnight blaming the rioting in Tottenham, Hackney, Croydon et al on "the cuts". He bemoaned the "fact" that in Tottenham nine youth clubs have closed because of the Coalition government. Of course that's the reason Ken. It was obvious to anyone watching the rampaging mob that if they hadn't been setting fire to Carpetright or looting a Vodafone shop that they would have been down the local youth club enjoying a lemonade while playing a gentle game of Whist.

The fact is that, like Livingstone, much of what has gone on over the past three days is nothing more than opportunism. Opportunism to run amok. Opportunism to have a punch-up with the Old Bill. Opportunism to smash up a few shops and loot them while you can.

The people carrying out this mayhem are not doing it because of the cuts. They are not doing it because the police shot some gangster in the back of a taxi. They are doing it because they are greedy, stupid, feckless thieves who would prefer to live on money made by selling drugs or benefits or both, rather than get a proper job and improve the "community" they claim so passionately to care about.

As for Livingstone, well there's a mayoral election next year and there's nothing like going on television to defend "the people".

Bring on the water cannons - and if Ken Livingstone gets a bit wet, so much the better.

Gordon joins the sinking ship... again

The Evening Standard reports today that Boris Johnson's lead over his mayoral rival has been cut by half.

It also says that Gordon Brown- rated the worst Prime Minister since the 1930s - is campaigning alongside Labour mayor Ken Livingstone - that should put a few more votes Boris's way.

Ken the clown

Why do British politicians rush for the dressing up box the minute they go to a foreign country?

The latest to make himself look like a complete pranny is Ken Livingstone.

Visiting New Delhi, he is pictured clad in a fetching shiny green turban and cape (below). As far as I am aware this is not Livingstone's normal attire. He cannot claim that he is respecting cultural sensitivities because the man behind him - an Indian - is dressed in normal clothes.

Why do our politicians adopt such a patronising attitude?

In the name of God, go!

Sir Ian Blair's position as head of the Metropolitan Police Force is now completely untenable.

As I have said before, he cannot remain as Britain's most senior policeman. Yesterday his force was found guilty of 19 "catastrophic" failures over the shooting of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes. The force was fined £175,000.

PM Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith have both given Blair their backing - for now. The mayor Ken Livingstone has also said, "The idea that people farther up the food chain somehow bear... responsibility is nonsense."

It is not nonsense at all. The ultimate responsibility for any organisation always always rests with the head. If a building falls down, the architect is responsible not the brickie who worked on the site.

Why is it that this government and its acolytes can never take responsibility? Why is it always time to draw a line and move on?

The sooner Ian Blair is removed from his post and replaced with a policeman who sees his job as nicking villains and not being obsessed with diversity the better.

Blair is on the way out...

The incompetent head of the Metropolitan Police Force is in trouble again.

Sir Ian Blair's deputy and the man who hopes to succeed him, Paul Stephenson, has been forced to write a letter of support for his beleaguered boss after Blair wrote him a letter accusing him of disloyalty.

Stephenson had agreed to forgo his annual bonus forcing his boss to give up his own £25,000 payout.

Now London's mayor Ken Livingstone has come out in support of Ian Blair. He said: "Politicians are skulking around in plots against the Commissioner, and by extension the Met as a whole, while crime in London is falling and police numbers are at record levels."

Hmmm, wasn't Blair supposed to be New Labour's favourite policeman? Now he has the odious Livingstone on his side. I give him till Christmas...

When is Passover in the Square?

On the way into work this morning I saw advertisements on the tube for Eid in the Square which invited me to join Muslims in celebrating the end of Ramadan.

The event to be held in Trafalgar Square on 20 October 2007 is organised by the Muslim Council of Britain and supported by the Mayor of London.

Am I being naive in looking forward to similar celebrations for Passover and Easter? Can you imagine the odious Ken Livingstone welcoming London's Jews or Christians in the same way he prostrates himself before Muslims?