Friday, February 15, 2008
A pointless Livingstone promise
Apparently, Ken Livingstone has promised that by 2010 the Thames through the city of London will be the cleanest river through a capital city in the world and we'll all be swimming in it. Surely there can't be a single Londoner that could believe such a ludicrous and idiotic statement could there?
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13 comments:
He's just trying to make a splash!
Actually, when I was kid (about 150 years ago now, as I recall) my mum used to take me to that little beach by Tower Bridge for a paddle and to watch the cargo oats go by. I have not been that way for over 40 years now, so I have no idea whether it still exists (the beachy bit, not the bridge..). No elf n safety crap about not getting feet wet etc in those days either and pollution was a word unheard of.
I reckon the residents of Bern, Oslo, Reykjavík etc may disagree with red Ken
Very kind of Ken to invest billions in water treatment plants in Oxfordshire and Berkshire to ensure a cleaner Thames flowing through London.
I would like to see Ken jump in and have a swim to prove his point. More fool him.
Considering how cold and fast flowing the Thames can be - the proposal that people will be swiming in it has probably driven the local RNLI lifeboat centre into a state of near panic.
I suggest we start fund raising immediatly to pay for at least a dozen more lifeboats.
It's not the pollution that puts people off swimming in the Thames...
And yet Ken keeps on getting press coverage for the most benign statements. Boris really has got his work cut out.
Obviously Ken hasn't read Transport for London's advice.
On no account should you attempt to swim in the river. The Thames is notoriously dangerous with strong currents and undertows.
Thames Path
PS. Ken is the Chair of the TFL board and should know very well that it is NOT safe to swim in the Thames, so it seems he has made yet another serious gaffe.
About time they looked at trimming a few billion off the Olympic Budget. With a killer Pike on his tail even a British swimmer might have a chance of a medal.
"And yet Ken keeps on getting press coverage for the most benign statements.."
I wonder if little Kennie is enjoying the press coverage he's getting now he's been forced to suspend Lee Grasper...?
"A pointless Livingstone promise" ..... can you give examples of a Livingstone promise that wasn't pointless?
I was at the hustings in question, and commenters might like to know that Livingstone said neither that the Thames would be the cleanest capital city river nor that it was currently safe to swim in.
What he said was that it would become one of the cleanest and that it would at that time be safe to swim in.
He also acknowledged that there were parts of the river, including the reach closest to the venue of the hustings, where the currents made it unsuitable for swimming.
I'm voting for Siân Berry, but that doesn't mean I want other candidates misquoted.
Hell, I used to swim in the Thames 1979 near Battersea Church - off a beaten up houseboat I rented a room on - at high tide when the water was calm. Don't claim it was wise, but still alive.
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