UKIP burn photo of Brian Paddick in Soho

Pink News reports that UKIP supporters burnt a picture of Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick in Soho this afternoon.

How did they find out? Because UKIP press officer Gawain Towler tweeted the picture.

If you look at his Twitter feed, Towler's attitude undergoes a significant shift.

From justifiying the photo at 3:46 pm

to saying it was all a big mistake and he hadn’t seen the lighter just 43 minutes later.

That might just be plausible if he hadn’t captioned the original photograph “Campaign on fire in Soho.”

When I put that to him, his reply was “Yes, thinking “Oh, it’s going well”

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions about that one.

Guardian hails Paddick proposals as "properly liberal", progressive and bold

We're not so used to the Guardian saying nice things about Liberal Democrats these days, but Dave Hill is full of praise for the London Liberal Democrat Manifesto for the Mayoral and Assembly elections which was launched yesterday, calling it liberal, progressive and bold. This is what he has to say about policing and transport proposals:

Mayor Paddick would give each London neighbourhood its own "plan for policing," with local residents and businesses having input into policing priorities in their areas. His "Paddick patrols" of community groups and residents associations would act as the "eyes and ears" of the police on the ground. He wants stop-and-search directed only at criminals and an end to the concentration on ethnic minority groups. It's a properly liberal and progressive agenda. Ken Livingstone has the best policy on serious youth crime I've yet read, but for me Brian still leads the field on policing as a whole.

I was quite surprised by his boldness on public transport fares. He and Pidgeon have been banging the drum for their one hour bus pass and "early bird" concession rates for a long time now, but the manifesto pledge not to increase fares overall above the inflation rate over a four-year Paddick term is quite striking by comparison with Boris's commitment to annual increases of RPI inflation plus two percent, though modest next to Ken's "Fare Deal," which the Lib Dems think over the top.

You can read the article in full here.  If you want to read the manifesto in full, you can do so here and to help Brian's campaign, sign up here. 

Boris and Ken - The Crime File

Thanks to Mary Reid for sharing this one - a beautifully produced, down to the coffee stains, crime sheet listing assorted horrors and gaffes committed by Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone.

Just as well there's someone better......



If you live in London,and you want to help London elect a credible Mayor with fresh ideas for London, here's how to help Brian Paddick's campaign. 

Brian Paddick applies for judicial review over phone hacking

Former Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick is one of up to 5 people asking for a judicial review of the Metropolitan Police's handling of the News of the World phone hacking allegations.

Brian is understandably concerned that his privacy had been compromised and presumably wants to know what the Police knew and when about his case and wants a ruling on whether the Police had a legal obligation to tell him what they suspected.

Everyone has the right to expect that if they're having a private conversation, then the only people who know what is said are those who are party to it. It's none of the state's business, unless under very exceptional circumstances, and it sure as hell is nothing to do with the press. I can't imagine how I'd feel if, for example, the chat I had with Stephen last night had been listened to, or my voicemail messages had been intercepted.

If Brian or anyone else had been on a list of people who, for example, violence was planned against, they would surely have been contacted so that they could take extra precautions to increase their security. The same principle should apply for phone hacking - they should have known because they could then have changed their number or pass codes or whatever it is you do in these circumstances.

The outcome of that judicial review is awaited eagerly.....