I Intend To Escape ......................And Come Back

Boxing v Mixed Martial Arts

Last night saw an interesting clash for the armchair sports fan.

ITV had a night of boxing with two hours of domestic fights on ITV4, followed by Junior Witter's WBC Light-welterweight title fight against America's Tim Bradley. Over on Sky Sports 3 two hours of MMA was on offer, culminating in the Cage Rage GB Light-Heavyweight title fight between Ian Freeman and Paul Cahoon.

I chose the MMA. In part my decision was not taken on the nature of the sports themselves, but the fighters. Witter has the classic 'Sheffield Style" of most fighters from the Ingle stable - one you ever like to watch or you don't. And personally I don't - watching Witter, or for that matter compatriots like the former Cruiserweight Johnny Nelson, is like watching paint dry.

ITV's viewing figures will of course have trounced Sky's - boxing on terrestrial television is still a success story (unless like the BBC you choose to invest in Audley Harrison) but I suspect I was not alone in putting Cage Rage first, at least on this occasion.

Support The Jones Family - Sat 10 May 12 Noon - Stoke Newington Common

My day at the Love Music Hate Racism Carnival last month was not entirely wasted, as I was given a flyer advertising Saturday's "Don't Evict the Jones family" event in Stoke Newington.

Ricky Jones is the residential caretaker at Hackney's William Patten Primary School. Despite holding this post for 10 years, William Patten School and the Learning Trust have suddenly decided they don't need a residential caretaker at all - and will thus evict Ricky, his wife and 3 children.

Saturday's demonstration assembles at Stoke Newington Common, and will walk on to Clissold Park. E mails of protest can also be sent to the school itself - admin@williapatten.hackney.scho.uk

Good luck Ricky!

It Was Not Us - It Was All His Fault

I know it is cruel to mock the Socialist Workers Party, and I really should not do it as much as I actually do.

However (and that's a big however) I can't resist repeating this little cracker from the 21st April issue of London Student. It comes courtesy of walking stereotype Jennifer Jones, a 21 year old student at Goldsmiths College, who stood for the Left List in Lewisham and Greenwich.

"The Respect split was essentially George Galloway departing and taking a few councillors with him. I'm glad of the split in some ways as Galloway was always the negative aspect of Respect and the element people would criticise".

Jennifer - you really need to get out more if you think the only thing wrong with Respect was the gorgeous one - who it should be added, your party would have defended to the death just 12 months ago.

For the record, Miss Jones received 2045 votes, which was 1.39%.

The Falun Gong Debate Continues.......

Hello to readers from China visiting this blog, where it seems a lot of hits are coming from at the moment.

In January and March I reported that the Chinese cult Falun Gong has been rearing its ugly head in London. My comments have been reproduced on this Chinese website .

More importantly, the critical comments I made about both Falun Gong and the Chinese government have been reproduced, which is good to see.

Anyway, if you are reading this in Beijing, I hope all that smog clears in time for the Olympics!

There's No Fool Like A Group Of Old Fools

As Boris Johnson's victory over Ken Livingstone sinks in, we can no doubt expect great wailing and whining from those who saw Livingstone as some sort of North London version of Che Guevera.

Socialists can display a remarkable facility to self-delusion, something never better demonstrated than attitudes towards not-so Red Ken. It is hard to keep a straight face reading, with hindsight the editorial from the April 2008 Labour Briefing magazine:

"Socialists have expressed other concerns about Livingstone: a strike-breaking approach to the transport unions, support for the Metropolitan Police over the Menezes shooting, links to the Muslim cleric al-Qaradawi, his uncritical courting of the City - none of which should be minimised".

So far so good. Except for the fact that Labour Briefing then decided to ignore all of the above points, and call for an all-out push for Ken!

There was a time when the principles of trades union solidarity were sacrosanct not just throughout the working class, but on the left - any possibility of voting for Livingstone should have ended with his call on tube workers to scab during a dispute. Whilst it is no surprise Labour Briefing (and most of Livingstone's supporters) cannot see the dangerous waters his 'rainbow alliance' politics sailed into, 'red' Ken should have been seen for what he is many, many years ago.

Instead, so far have the likes of Labour Briefing fallen, they saw things in Livingstone that were never there. The only thing that really matters to Ken Livingstone is - Ken Livingstone.

Goodbye Ken - and good riddance.

The Politics Of Fear

"Most of all, she hated the fear she'd always felt, which had never let her live the life she wanted to live and held her paralysed and quaking beneath the bed even now, despite the self-loathing it provoked."

From p.221 of V For Vendetta, a novelisation by Steve Moore.

Con.....fidence

Watching Boris Johnson's first press conferences as London Mayor, I was struck by the value of his public school education.

It gives people like Johnson, and for that matter Tony Blair and David Cameron the most important thing of all - confidence.

All three appear in control because that is what they were brought up to be from the age of at least five - in control. And that means in control of people like you and me. That control also requires the support of people who did not go to Eton - the first words Johnson spoke after the results were announced were to thank the Metropolitan Police.

Many people watching would have wondered why this was necessary - they were not told that specialist police squads had earlier cleared the area around City Hall of Anarchists protesting about the pisspoor nature of the Mayoral candidates. There were three arrests.

This process - of toffs and lackeys - will continue until the end of time - unless we do something about it.

Sky Pilots Return To Old Trafford

At last I can reveal the truth behind Manchester United's win over Barcelona on Tuesday.

Obviously the efforts of Scholes, Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Van der Saar and co pale into insignificance when you have this bloke on your side!

The god-botherers were once a regular feature on Sir Matt Busby Way, certainly up to the early 90s, then they seemed to just leave Old Trafford alone. Perhaps in the Sky era we were no longer considered worth saving.

Now they are back. At this rate we will have the return of the people selling Newsline and the Morning Star!

Happy May Day

And no, I will not be voting today.

Has London ever had such a poor choice in a major election?

A crook (Livingstone) a Toff (Johnson) an Oxford educated cop (Paddick) and a Fascist (Barnbrook). The Greens are too middle class to really make an impact in much of London, whilst the decline of the Independent Working Class Association means they are not even standing a candidate this time round in the mayoral elections, and they seem to have little going on elsewhere. Lindsay German heads the inappropriately named 'Left List' - a terrible misnomer for a group of 'Socialists' who only a few months ago were sucking up to some of the more unpleasant Muslim figures in the East End, and I can't even be bothered going further down the political food chain.

Given the paucity of choice on offer, Anarchists can hardly argue they have been 'squeezed out' of the picture this time round. Lets see how tomorrow evenings demonstration at City Hall goes (6pm!) but in the meantime, here's a graphic that perhaps sums up how so many people feel.

Another Good Hackney Pub Bites The Dust

So, farewell then to the Old Ship, one of E8's best pubs.

A few weeks back I received an e mail out of the blue from someone called Hasnai Bhagani of Gosh PR. I'm guessing that if you have read this blog before, you will know already the effect on my temper the words "Gosh PR" would stimulate, but the image is clearly fixed in my mind of lots of clever 30 somethings in dark-rimmed glasses drinking Perrier water somewhere in EC2. As Bill Hicks said of people in marketing, there is really just one possible message to such individuals - go kill yourselves.

Sadly, however, they don't.

What is being killed today is a great Hackney boozer, where I spent many a good evening in the mid-90s, and even as recently as the 2004 European Championships. The night when England blew it against France will be etched in my mind for ever!
Legend has it if you stumbled into the Old Ship in the early 70s Angry Brigade members were observed plotting in dark corners whilst police officers furtively hid behind copies of The Sun, hanging on their every word.

From the publicity I received, an event of true horror is being unveiled on Mare Street this evening:

The Old Ship would like to invite you to celebrate its transformation into an ‘Urban Inn’. Sample some of our new, best of British menu and check out the contemporary and comfortable rooms at our launch event. Join us for canapés and drinks, and to find out how we can work together in the future.

I have no idea what an Urban Inn is, but I get the impression the atmosphere will in fact be distinctly shallow, suburban and middle class.

As the saying goes - count me out!