Gunk-A-Sabb

The long-awaited (by this Observer at least) gunking of our Sabbs finally took place this afternoon. We were sent this video of the events as they went down:

The Sabbs deserve points for being good sports, but those trash bags and shower caps seem to lessen the blow, don’t they?

It’s also worth noting that the deliverer of the gunking got soiled himself, when Fadhil and Libby charged him and gave him a sloppy hug.

London Mayoral Election Hustings

Several candidates, and some surrogates, attended todays UGM and made their case to be elected mayor in the election this May. Green Party candidate Sian Berry and RESPECT candidate Lindsey German attended and received a polite and sometimes enthusiastic reception. Mayor Ken Livingstone sent assembly member John Biggs, while the Conservative candidate Boris Johnson sent Shadow Culture Minister Ed Vaizhey. The Lib-Dem candidate, Brian Paddick, failed to appear.

The speakers were given five minutes to make their case, before the meeting moved along to a question-and-answer session. Berry, speaking first, hammered away at her Green (both G and g) credentials and plans. She promised to cut fares on mass transit by 20p across the board, and continue to press for greater use of bicycles in the capital. She also pledged to shut down London City Airport, calling it unnecessary and a waste of public land, proposing instead to build a green industrial center in the area. Giving a nod to GenSec elect Aled Fisher, she also referred to the work that he has helped to lead on the Living Wage campaign and also informed students of Fisher’s standing for a seat on the London Assembly.

John Biggs, speaking for Ken Livingstone, did his best to steal the thunder from Berry. Broadly speaking, he said, his candidate agreed with most of her proposals. The sense that was given was that Ken is as Green as the Greens, but is also in a better position to win. Biggs pointed to Livingstone’s “record of success” in crime, transport, the economy, the environment and even for students. It was this last category that elicited the most interest from the audience, and Biggs said that “Ken has always opposed tuition fees.” He also promised to extend student discounts on mass transit to all forms of ticketing, which students have been clamoring for.

Coming out swinging, Ed Vaizhey attacked Ken Livingstone, suggesting that the mayor was reneging on a promise to bow out of the office after serving two terms. With the Olympics coming in 2012, Vaizhey said, he expected that Livingstone would want to hang on for two more terms to remain in office until after they had passed. “What Ken really wants,” he said, “is another eight years.” Extolling the virtues of his candidate, Boris Johnson, he went down the candidates CV and capped it off with what was apparently meant to be one of his strongest qualities: “he is the motoring correspondent for GQ.” Bringing this automotive expertise to bear, he said that Boris wanted to scrap the dreaded bendy buses and “bring back the Routemaster“. He even suggested that LSE students (and our non-existent engineering department) could have a hand in designing a Routemaster for the 21st century.

Last but not least Lindsey German, who began immediately by reminding the audience that she is an LSE alum (class of 1975) and an honorary lifetime member of the Students Union, earning her friendly applause. German then went into her policies, particularly her opposition to the third runway at Heathrow, the lack of affordable housing in London and the tragedy of the London mass transit system (“the worst and most expensive public transit system in the world”). Carrying on with this last theme, German earned the biggest round of cheers yet when she declared that students should be able to travel on the buses and tube for free. As a matter of strategy, she also asked voters to put her first on the ballot, and to choose Ken Livingstone as their second candidate.

So far, so staid. But in the Q+A things opened up significantly. On the question of crime, which had received conflicting answers from the Labour and Conservative representatives, Vaizhey took the opportunity to lay into Aled Fisher who had posed a question, inveighing: “the student convener is a Green stooge – typical!” The audience granted Boris’ representative credit for his audacity, if not his answer. Questions on cycling and the safety thereof were directed to the Green candidate, Berry. She said that London needed to reach a critical mass of cyclists, and set as a target Copenhagen’s 30% ridership. “We can do better than that”, she said.

Clarifying her earlier remarks on City Airport, Berry said that only small planes can use the short runway there, and that it ought to be scrapped. Ken’s man chimed in and said that the mayor had the same policy, however his allows City to disappear after its capacity is taken up by the controversial third runway at Heathrow. Finally, German suggested that London could do with fewer airports overall, and encouraged greater rail links to the continent to discourage short haul flights to France, Germany and Spain.

British, EU and Commonwealth citizens can register to vote in the Mayoral elections at LondonElects.org, but must do so by April 16. The election takes place on March 1st.