Johnson’s deputy mayor resigns

First,  it was senior advisor James McGrath who quit due to racist comments and now Ray Lewis, deputy mayor to Boris Johnson has resigned this evening. And Johnson has only been mayor for 2 months yet there’s an acceleration of cronyism and duplicity.

As reported in today’s Guardian there will be an inquiry into the allegations of “financial irregularities and inappropriate behaviour” against Lewis.

Liberal Conspiracy  has a list of the endless gaffes and controversies committed by Johnson. And it’s early days as well…some of these rightwingers will have severe difficulty keeping their fingers out of the till.

Dr Who: tomorrow’s finale

So it will come to pass that one of the Dr Who’s assistants will be bumped off in tomorrow’s finale.

Well, that’s according to the rumours doing the rounds. Unfortunately, there are no sneak previews to the press so no leaks.

Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), on breakfast telly this morning, was rather coy and wouldn’t throw us any juicy morsels about what might happen. Therefore the proverbial moggie stayed firmly in the bag.

Who might it be? Who might sacrifice themselves for the greater good and kick the collective ass of the Daleks and Davros (honestly, like all good villians from the hall of villainy you think they’re dead but up they spring)?   

It has been prophetised throughout the series that Donna’s life remains uncertain. Poor old Sarah-Jane was last seen covering her face shouting at the Daleks not to shoot. Rose was sobbing her eyes out watching the Dr regenerate. Martha Jones was with her mum. And Cap’n Jack was being Cap’n Jack and left the other two from Torchwood to fight the Daleks by themselves (oh, well, like any good manager he sells out the workers….They need a union!).

And who knew Sarah-Jane had a son. Oh, it was good to see Harriet Jones who redeemed herself after she gave orders to shoot down a spacecraft that was retreating in a previous series and where the Dr started a whispering campaign about how tired she looked. Oh, and it was good to see Bernard Cribbins taking on the Daleks reminiscent of his younger days.

Will tomorrow’s episode be a roller coaster of thrills and spills, the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs and the sumptuous creamy middles? Ok, I have a touch of the hyperbole. But we can be sure that the Dr will save the day, as, here comes the science fiction, it is all about and please do pay attention, temporal shifts, spatio-temporal rifts in Cardiff, and desynchronised time. I am sure a trusty sonic screwdriver can fix it all.

Finally, interesting that tomorrow’s finale is called Journey’s End which may refer to the offing of one of the assistants but it is also the swan song of Russell T Davies who is handing the executive producer baton to Steven Moffat.

British Museum staff to strike at 2pm today…..

Staff at the British Museum who are members of the PCS and Prospect will go on strike at 2pm today over pay. They are demanding an increase to the pathetic 1.6% pay offer. The strike is to last 4 hours. Staff at the Science Museum in London and the National Railway Museum have taken similar action.

Mark Serwotka: “This action is a direct result of the government’s shameful policy of attacking the living standards of public sector workers by capping pay rises to 2%.”