One hundred days of Boris as Mayor of London
The Independent is remembering the first 100 days of Boris. Meanwhile, Boriswatch is on a repeat cycle with the same post four times running. To be fair, the first three occasions included the same set of links twice, and the last only once. A computer run amok, I suspect.
I’ll commemorate it with a quote from Ministry of Truth:
“I have to admit that, even as a Tory, I have quite a lot of time and no small degree of respect for Boris.
Do I agree with him? Not that often - having watched him operate its clear that it would be very unwise indeed to be taken in by the bumbling ‘upper class twit of the year’ routine that most people will associate with him from his appearances on ‘Have I Got News For You’. Look past the Bunter-ish public schoolboy act and watch him at work in a more serious political arena and it quick becomes apparent that he’s no fool and, pound for pound, possibly the sharpest political operator in the current Tory party. Certainly not an opponent to be taken lightly.”
In the meantime, the reason for Boris’s alleged U-Turn on the Sir Keith Park statue (which should be outside St Clement Danes anyway) is clear: the Fourth Plinth is for the Queen. Personally I can’t get excited about moving a not-yet-built statue a few yards, and I think that making a fuss about it smacks of desperation.
A statue of Queen Elizabeth on horseback would be an ideal use for the Fourth Plinth; she is the most distinguished political or historical figure in the UK for at least a century and for most of that century - nobody else even comes close.
I’d be looking for an alternative “empty plinth”, though - why not in front of the National Gallery?
Categories: All WW, Local Politics, Politics, Regions
Oh dear… I’m going to be accused of rampant Republicanism, but I don’t think we should put a statue up the Queen so quickly, For one thing, it seems slightly macabre to be publicly plotting HM’s remembrances when she is still alive; for another, part of me thinks its a good idea to let a few years go past before we start commemorating people.
Beyond that, I like the Fourth Plinth idea and I like it where it is. Using one of the original fittings for a modern (in the sense of contemporary) and changing piece of art does something to prevent the Square from becoming stale and it refocuses the public gaze on the Square every couple of years; no bad thing.
Is there room for an equestrian statue of E2R on Whitehall or the Mall?
xD,
Dave Coles last blog post..I’m ba-ack!
@Dave Cole: You could also view it as having E2R on the last plinth as a mark to the end of the Grand Royalist era, I suppose …