Cesspool on the Potomac: Thames Edition
Boris Johnson's emails hacked, says Boris Johnson
No-one was expecting a good clean fight, but the London mayoral election race between Livingstone and BoJo appears to be stepping up the filth stakes. The Boris Johnson camp is claiming that their leader has been subject to computer hacking, and that some unscrupulous soul has been having a jolly old gander at the contents of Boris's emails.
Boris is, of course, fuming over this, ranting that he is the victim of a "ruthless dirty tricks campaign" and essentially implying that the cyber break-in may have something to do with a certain rival of his. After all, he's convinced that Livingstone's people "are literally going round houses knocking on the door and lying. There's been lots of sub-radar stuff, really abusive". Sounds like the gloves are off. Or at least loosened slightly. In a rakish manner.
Livingstone - presuambly adhering to the old "give 'em enough rope" credo - has stayed silent about all of this, either because he a) doesn't want to get dragged into such paranoid jibbering fantasy, or b) is busy crafting a new memory laser that, when activated, will eliminate the words 'Boris', 'Johnson', 'Tory' or 'imbecile' from the brain of every voter in London.
The most telling thing? Even if that did happen, Boris would still be in with more of a chance than underexposed rivals Brian Paddick and Sian Berry, peddling their wares for the Lib Dems and the Green Party respectively. One has to feel sorry for them. They're like a couple of people running around in Halloween costumes, trying frantically to get attention while - ten feet ahead - two Godzilla monsters are duking it out and trampling over vehicles.
One of them doesn't seem too keen on the bendy buses.
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3 Comments
All well and good, except ...
Can we remember that Johnson did not get the boot from Michael Howard's Shadow Cabinet because he was screwing Petronella?
He was offed because he repeatedly lied about his relationship with her. He also, apparently, serially lied to Petronella that he was ditching his wife.
Howard's memorable contribution to the state of British morals was the gem:
If my count is right, that means the Seventh Commandment is void, but not the Ninth.It also transpired that such great intellects have not grasped the mechanics of extra-marital contraception. So much for discretion. Yet we are invited to entrust the workings of a great city to one defeated by the attaching a condom.
Since then we have had Johnson's Anna Fazackerley involvement. Is any woman safe?
Why would I not want a promise, a second-hand car or recycled girl-friend from this man?
Malcolm - do you want to give us your views on Livingstone's private life as well?
Danvers:
Sure: I wouldn't want him at my dinner-table or near any of mine.
The only differences with Livingstone are:
(as far as we are told) he consorted with consenting unmarried adults;
he seems to have maintained contact with his various children;
he did not have an affronted society lady complaining that he's made false promises, got her daughter in the family way, and then applied pressure for an abortion.
To digress from matters sexual, why does nobody want to answer the Polly Toynbee question?
But then, I'm leaning toward Paddick as first preference.