The Humor of British City Politics

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

This morning we went to Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall. This meeting of the twenty-five members of the London General Assembly is held ten times a year, publicly, so that the members can ask questions of the mayor, newly elected Boris Johnson. I’ve never seen anything more hilarious. It was the least professional gathering of professionals I’ve ever heard of, in public, no less! There were a lot of personal attacks going on, usually across the room from one party member to someone of a different party. But even the Chair, who was listed as Labour but, I suppose, was supposed to act impartially, was making personal attacks at people who would not shut up or observe the rules of discussion. It was a madhouse at times, and certainly not politically correct. They discussed everything, from housing regulations, to market culture, to whether or not to restrict the minimum weight of models in London Fashion Week to avoid giving young girls a poor body image. The funniest instance I remember, though, was when it was the lone BNP member’s turn to ask a question.
The British National Party (described as the “anti-immigration party” by Prof. Rudalevige and the “Nazi Party” by Liberal Democrat Assembly Member John Biggs) was asking the mayor to suspend the Notting Hill Carnival (an immensely popular celebration of West Indian culture and diversity in general) because the “Notting Hill Riots,” as he called it, had been endlessly disruptive. He said he’d never seen chaos like that at any of the St. George’s Day Festivals he had ever been to (St. George, although probably Turkish in origin, is the patron saint of England and a symbol of British purity for the BNP). He threw out figures about how many people had been arrested, how many weapons were confiscated, how many police officers had been removed from their normal posts to cover the carnival. The numbers were high, but considering that the carnival is attended by over half a million people every year, I’d say it went pretty well. You can’t expect to put that many people in a single area, give them alcohol, and expect it to turn out without incident. In any case, the BNP member was a laughing stock. No one listened to him. The other members talked amongst themselves. The mayor didn’t look at the BNP member once. He sat with his head in his hands, shaking his head and once even making the “just shoot me” motion. The moment the BNP member had finished speaking, everyone in the room burst out laughing. It was really funny, and I’m glad to see that no one’s taking the racists seriously. I can’t help thinking, though, that if the same facts and figures had been presented by someone else, under different circumstances, that they might have actually been relevant. Perhaps there is a need for improved supervision at the carnival, or more regulations on how many people can attend. It’s amazing how much of a difference language. Had the BNP member phrased his request some other way, he might have had a different reception.

After watching Question Time, we had a brief meeting with John Biggs, a member from the East End for the Liberal Democrat Party and harsh critic of the Conservative Boris Johnson. He flat out admitted that he sees his primary objective as making sure that Johnson is never reelected. That doesn’t seem like the most constructive use of his time, especially with all the problems in the East End and planning the Olympics that will be held there.

We then went to the Tower of London. I forgot just how much I love the yeomen guards’ tours. They’re hilarious AND informative! I think it would fabulous to be a yeoman guard. You get to live in the Tower! What an address that would be. “Yes, I live at number 6, the Bloody Tower, Tower of London.” After the tour, I walked around a bit with Chad, saw the Bloody Tower. I think Richard III killed the princes. The evidence was convincing. We saw the Crown Jewels. They look the same as last time I was there. My favorite is still the massive golden punch bowl.

Chad was kind of enough to accompany me to Barbican to pick up my ticket from St. Giles, but it was closed by the time we got there around 5:30. We stopped at Sainsbury’s and I spent my last two pounds from my allotment of this week’s stipend. I put away forty pounds of the stipend at the beginning of the week and have been determined not to touch it. I just had to limit my costs today to two pounds, and I managed to do it. I would have had more of my personal allotment for the week, but I had to pay for the ticket to the Cabinet War Rooms and to Christ Church, so that was £13 I didn’t necessarily have to spend. I’ll get reimbursed for it, but it means I had less to spend during the week. Thank God tomorrow is stipend day. I’ve managed to save about £100 in the last few weeks, so either I’ll save it for travel later, or maybe I’ll splurge on a birthday present for myself. Lauren and I have plans to go birthday shopping before we leave for Norwich.

Chad and I returned to the Arran House, ate dinner, and talked for a while. I had intended to get some work done, but six people IMed me at the same time when I got on my computer, and then my mom called me on Skype. It was nice to talk to her, and to see my grandmother, with whom she is staying at the moment. Tomorrow I’ll spend the day working on Peter Pan stuff, and hopefully get my Milton ticket. I’d like to go out at night, too, since it’s been a while since I’ve had some fun.