Are we electing a new Mayor?

was it not already pointed out that he didn't actually say that. It's not a direct Ken quote, it's a misquote of a Telegraph article.

I was so annoyed with the cronyism of ken's exec team I voted boris, but regret it. Not one thing boris has done that is positive wasn't already planned under ken. Boris has been utterly and dangerously in effectual. The abbey street junction for example. Having worked at city hall th I can definitely say, what you see is what you get. Boris is funny and a good laugh, gets lost for hours in car parks but ken gets the job done and lives breaths London. If only he would drop the cronies, stupid allegiances and comments he could storm it. And maybe the newt thing....

JonR wrote:

was it not already pointed out that he didn't actually say that. It's not a direct Ken quote, it's a misquote of a Telegraph article.

Yes

James Hatts wrote:

The phrase "beacon of Islam" is not a direct quote from Ken - it is a quote from the headline of an Andrew Gilligan blog post on the Telegraph website seeking to smear Ken.
In summary, Ken quoted a particular text by the prophet Mohammed and said he wanted London to be a beacon for the values expressed in that piece of writing. He said this in a speech at Finsbury Park mosque but I have heard him say the same thing on the radio in a completely different context.

From the way Gilligan & co are going on you would have thought Ken was proposing mass conversion to Islam.

Ken is an atheist in any case but if he thinks that Londoners should know more about each other's faiths and beliefs is that really a bad thing?

Rambling Phil wrote:

In previous elections, we've had leaflets from some public body (the GLA? the Electoral Commission?) describing the election process and giving each candidate a short opportunity to present their policies.
I've not seen one yet? Has anyone else? Or has mine vanished in the Mandela Way singularity?

It was the electoral commission. Probably either doesn't exist in previous form or no money

Having read the above since posting there is clearly a lot of smearing going on with the Tory brown nosing press!

I'm sure one of the adverts said the candidate booklet was on it's way. Possibly in the Mandellaverse, not had mine either.

jamesup wrote:

I'm sure one of the adverts said the candidate booklet was on it's way. Possibly in the Mandellaverse, not had mine either.

Mine came today.

Odd that an avowed atheist like Livingston should be quoting passages from a book (the quran) that he would consider to be mumbo-jumbo. I haven't seen any reports of him rocking up to other religion's main places of worship, telling worshippers that he will make London a beacon for Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism etc.
Also, great quote from Ken to the main Jewish body in London that he wouldn't expect Jewish people to vote for him because rich people don't vote for him, thus inferring that all Jews are rich. Nothing like a bit of racial stereotyping hey Ken? Goebbels would have loved you.

Oh look, it's ken in a christian chapel, and we know he met Jewish Rabbi's (cause he offended them again - apology and clarifications here).

I'm not aware that London is a center of violent christian, Jewish, Buddist or Hindu extremism. It has, since the mid-90s, been an important location of Islamic political thought. London has been 'a beacon of Islam' for a long time and frequently not in a good way. It's quite right that the Mayor should care about that.

So when Livingstone quotes Mohammed saying "An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; white has no superiority over black, nor does a black have any superiority over white; [none have superiority over another] except by piety and good action" I think he's trying to shine a light on an aspects of Islam that's very compatible with being a Londoner.

I think that's what he means about being 'a beacon of Islam' and I think he's a better man than most for doing it.

jamesup wrote:

Oh look, it's ken in a christian chapel, and we know he met Jewish Rabbi's (cause he offended them again - apology and clarifications here).
I'm not aware that London is a center of violent christian, Jewish, Buddist or Hindu extremism. It has, since the mid-90s, been an important location of Islamic political thought. London has been 'a beacon of Islam' for a long time and frequently not in a good way. It's quite right that the Mayor should care about that.

So when Livingstone quotes Mohammed saying "An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; white has no superiority over black, nor does a black have any superiority over white; [none have superiority over another] except by piety and good action" I think he's trying to shine a light on an aspects of Islam that's very compatible with being a Londoner.

I think that's what he means about being 'a beacon of Islam' and I think he's a better man than most for doing it.

Ken visits a minor Christian chapel and makes general chit chat. Not exactly the same thing is it? Why does he have to quote the quran to say that all people are equal? As an atheist, he shouldn't be using passages from a book that he views as a collection of fairy stories. When did London become a centre of Islamic political thought? What it has become is a magnet for every Islamic crackpot who have fled their own countries because their extreme religious views are not welcome (Abu Quatada is just one example). I would respect him more if he had said to the Muslim congregation that he would also be striving to ensure that Muslims learned and understood other religions