Boris Johnson's Blog, page 45

David Walliams's Thames swim: it will take a super-sewer to get London out of this mess

The sewers of London are already so full, and so much rainfall now sluices into them off the concrete and tarmac rather than sinking into the turf, that these Bazalgette interceptors are already exploding into the Thames about 50 times a year, and the...

Gaddafi: first we fete them, then we bomb them – but that's politics

Gaddafi thought he was quids in, and then what happens? A spot of bother with some rebels in Benghazi, a faint suggestion that his regime might be in trouble (and that he might no longer be the go-to man for oil contracts) and ka-booom! The very Brits who have been oiling up to him are [...]

Gaddafi: first we fete them, then we bomb them – but that's politics

Gaddafi thought he was quids in, and then what happens? A spot of bother with some rebels in Benghazi, a faint suggestion that his regime might be in trouble (and that he might no longer be the go-to man for oil contracts) and ka-booom! The very Brits...

The resurrection of English cricket can inspire us all

I don't think this complaint makes these parents bad people. They aren't crazed flagellants. They just feel angry (and a little bit ashamed) that adults have lost their authority, and they don't know how to get it back. They look wistfully at their own childhoods, and seem to think that children used to respect adults. [...]

The resurrection of English cricket can inspire us all

I don't think this complaint makes these parents bad people. They aren't crazed flagellants. They just feel angry (and a little bit ashamed) that adults have lost their authority, and they don't know how to get it back. They look wistfully at their ow...

London riots: this is no time to be squeamish

Some commentators of both Left and Right have said that the rioters were somehow impelled by a sense of moral equivalence with expense-diddling MPs and bonus-toting bankers. I am not sure that will quite do, either. Yes, it was wrong of MPs to cheat the spirit (if usually not the letter) of the system, and [...]

Anders Breivik: There is nothing to study in the mind of Norway's mass killer

It is certainly true that on the face of it he has much in common with some recent Islamic suicide bombers. He is disturbed by female emancipation, and thinks women would be better off in the home. He seems to be pretty down on homosexuality. Above all – and in this he strongly resembles an [...]

The Metropolitan Police has got too big for its boots

Gone are the days when the Metropolitan Police was led by men such as Sir Edward Bradford, whose qualifications were based on his service as a distinguished military officer – which included being half-eaten by a tiger while on colonial service in India. Modern-day Met commissioners more often resemble politicians in uniform than military men [...]

Boris Johnson avoids David Cameron resignation question

Follow live coverage of News of the World phone-hacking scandal The Mayor of London called a press conference to talk about the resignation of John Yates, the Met Police Assistant Commissioner, when he was asked whether the Prime Minister should resign over his appointment of the former editor of the News of the World. Johnson [...]

Boris Johnson defends not pursuing News of the World prosecution

The London Mayor also said he had no plans to call for the sacking of Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who yesterday expressed "regrets" over failures during the Scotland Yard inquiry. There was huge media interest in Mr Johnson's private life amid claims in 2004 that the then editor of the Spectator had an affair with [...]