Questions will also be asked as to how, if he's too busy to chair the MPA, he is able to write a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph - at a salary of £250,000
Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to explain precisely why he has stepped down as chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) – just 15 months into the role and less than two years after being elected on a manifesto which pledged to “provide strong leadership” by “taking responsibility and chairing” the MPA.
It was one of five pledges made by the Mayor, the failed fulfilment of which calls into question his ability to meet the other four promises he made, to make public transport safer, tackle gun and knife crime, help the victims of sexual violence ,and provide an accountable police service.
Questions will also be asked as to how, if he’s too busy to chair the MPA, he is able to write a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph – at a salary of £250,000 – a point made by Liberal Conspiracy and in a comment on The Guardian:
“Isn’t the important point that Boris spouted on about how he would chair the MPA in his manifesto and has now gone back on that promise? Not enough time indeed? He manages to find the time to write his chicken feed Telegraph columns doesn’t he?”
Last week, the Mayor’s ‘island airport’ idea was slapped down by David Cameron, who said it was “not our policy”, adding:
“Building airports is not his responsibility”
And yesterday he refused a Freedom of Information Act request to release secret correspondence between himself and Prince Charles regarding “hugely sensitive planning decisions and major financial and political deals”, with today’s Standard asking:
“What’s to hide?”
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15 Responses to “If Boris is too busy for the police, where does he find time to write his £250k Telegraph column?”
Mr. Sensible
‘Fony Blair,’ leaving to the professionals?
What, like having Sir Ian Blair sacked?
On Conservative Home they’ve listed that as one of his acheavements; ever heard of clutching at straws?
Roger
a) Have you actually read Boris’s DT columns? – if they take him much more than an hour to write or dictate to an underling I’d be surprised.
In fact you could probably easily write a Boris-bot programme to autogenerate columns around whatever the issue of the week is likely to be.
b) Having direct responsibility for every police foul-up as chair of the MPA is clearly a poisoned chalice and you can’t blame him for dropping it.
c) Mr Sensible – does your browser have a spell checker?
Fony Blair
Mr Sensible – Ian Blair was hardly a distinguished public servant after the demenezes affair!!
Mr. Sensible
Fony Blair, whatever you think of him it should not be for a politician to decide on a police commissioner’s posission; that should be for the police authority.
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[…] the headlines, who this week was revealed to have broken his pledge to donate a fraction of the £250,000 annual fee he receives for writing his Telegraph column – a fee described as “chicken […]