Politricks: Boris takes the win

On Question Time last night, Jacqui Smith (Home Secretary) tried to play party politics with the resignation of Sir Ian Blair. Her claim was that Boris Johnson should not have requested his resignation and that he made Sir Ian Blair's position untenable. What's amazing is that Jacqui Smith could claim this as a negative move by Boris Johnson, as the panel watched on smirking, Jacqui claimed that she had no choice but to accept his resignation in some sort stance of defiance against the London Mayor who believes that if he's to be held accountable for London's crime rate then he should have a role in deciding who his Metropolitan Police Chief is. Now let's get this straight, the all powerful Mayor of London roll was invented by this government and for anybody within it to dismiss Boris' claim out of pocket is stupid and hypocritical (this is Gordon Brown's government I know but still). I believe that if we're going to have an all powerful mayor (I personally did not, but now we have one) then he should be held accountable for our City's crime, at the moment he can not be. How do we make him accountable? That's something for the politicians to decide. Should we vote for our Met Chief? Or does the fact that we voted for Boris count enough that we trust him to make that decision? Should we have mayoral campaigns with potential Met Chief's attached to the ticket? That could get confusing. But the main point here, is that Boris said he had no faith in Sir Ian Blair and the majority of Londoners agreed. His ineptitude travels further back than his disgraceful handling of the shooting in Stockwell. Boris said he'd do everything in his power to remove Sir Ian Blair from his position and he did it. London voted for that policy, why does Jacqui Smith think she can laud this move over the Conservatives as some kind of moral victory? It makes no sense. I am personally delighted that Sir Ian Blair is no longer in charge of the Metropolitan Police. I punched the air when I heard the news. Genuinely.

I awake to the news that Peter Mandelson is back in the cabinet. Do I need to comment? There was a conversation on 5Live last night, before there was even a hint that Mandelson may be brought back and the consensus was that "The only way Gordon Brown could truly mess up a reshuffle that small would be if he appointed Satan or worse still Peter Mandelson". Completely said in jest, I actually laughed. The announcement this morning made me laugh a lot harder. Don't Gordon and Peter hate each other? Doesn't Britain absolutely despise Peter? Is Gordon so desperate for high profile Cabinet members that he'd actually swallow the poison marked "Tony Blair" to achieve it? His arsenal has now extended to Jacqui Smith (dead woman walking), Hazel Blears (politics machine, I think she could be the next Labour leader, she can not be phased), Alistair Darling (the best lightning rod in history, he just stands there absorbing Gordon's legacy), David Milliband (a worthless excuse for a human being by all accounts) and now Peter Mandelson. What good is he? Will he take hits for Gordon? Expect him and Mr Milliband to meet regularly over the next few months.