Steve Norris takes the money. And runs. For mayor.

One thing you have to love about the Conservative party is their unfailing ability at present to shoot themselves in the foot. London Mayoral candidate Steve Norris has taken on the role of chairman of Jarvis. This is the firm you will recall who have pulled out of National Rail network maintenance after being implicated in the Potters Bar crash. And the same Jarvis who are a part-owner of "Tube Lines", maintaining track for the London Underground. And not being funny here, if you follow that link you'll see that "Tube Lines" are a private company to maintain the track on the London Underground who think they have to have a website with a very intricate flash-splash intro. So a company who make a good use of resources.

Now, given that Ken Livingston is still outside the major party campaigning machinery, and that the C-Charge is deeply unpopular with the car-owning classes and the Evening Standard, you would have thought that a charismatic Conservative candidate may have a chance of snatching the Mayoralty from a split left-wing vote. So, Norris then goes and associates himself with rail privatisation - widely acknowledged as a failure given the evidence of the rail infrastructure today. And joins a company that potentially should have been held corporately responsible for the deaths of people. That now owns the London Underground infrastructure for the next 30 years. Nice move.

In the event of him becoming mayor, how can he possibly argue that having worked for them, even in an "interim" capacity, there would be no conflict of interest after he took office.

Astonishing...

Posted by Martin Belam, November 26, 2003
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