Last round on the underground

Having lived in the UK for awhile now, I've become pretty accustomed to scenes of mass public drunkenness. But nothing compares to the insanity of Saturday night's tube drinking party, when an estimated 50,000 people descended on London's circle line underground stations and trains to hold a booze fest the night before the new London mayor's public transport drinking ban was to go into effect.

The chaos and destruction that followed shouldn't have been surprising to anyone familiar with British drinking culture. But the complete ineptitude with which the new mayor handled the drinking ban roll-out may be just a preview of the new London.

BoJo, the Tories and Europe

It's been an intense couple of weeks in British politics. Following the devastating blow dealt to the Labour party in the May 1 local elections, the government seems to be in a full panic.

On Wednesday, Gordon Brown unveiled a preview of the Queen's speech (the British equivalent of the US State of the Union), which contained a hodgepodge of drastic new bills designed to rescue Brown's seemingly doomed government. All except the most blatantly pro-Labour media outlets are skeptical about whether the initiatives, which increasingly seem to be going after the votes of Middle England (the more conservative ‘heartland’ of the country), will work. A perfect storm seems to have gathered over Westminster, and the buzzards are already circling. In order for Labour to stay in power, does Brown have to go?

London election: more than just a mayor

The big London mayor election is less than a week away now, and the whole of the UK seems to be  focused on the event. But the race between the current Labour mayor Ken Livingstone and his Conservative challenger Boris Johnson is receiving so much attention not only because polls show them neck-in-neck, but also because the result will be a harbinger of what may come when prime minister Gordon Brown finally has to call a general election.

It is quite different to be in a country that essentially only has one major global city. It would be hard to imagine any city’s mayoral election in the US attracting national attention, even New York’s. In fact the Mayorship of the US capital, Washington DC, is one of the more irrelevant positions because DC is technically run by congress.

But the London Mayor is without a doubt the most powerful directly elected position in the UK (since the prime minister is not directly elected but rather chosen by his or her party). Amazingly, the position was just created in 2000, and Ken Livingstone has held the title since its creation, and he has largely shaped its definitions and parameters.