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| Boris Johnson says tube strike is 'nakedly political gesture' London mayor tells Tory conference MPs should make it more difficult for unions to take industrial actionBoris Johnson today accused striking tube unions in London of making a "nakedly and blatantly political gesture" on behalf of Labour as he urged David Cameron's coalition government to strengthen anti-strike laws to "defeat the union militants".The capital's mayor launched his attack as thousands of members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) took part in a 24-hour walkout on the underground in a row over the cutting of 800 station jobs and fears over the consequent threat to safety on the network.Johnson used his conference address and his column in today's Telegraph to insist the tube walkout had nothing to do with cuts, health and safety concerns or terms and conditions but was a"political gesture" against the Tories, both in government and in City Hall.Warning that the tube strike was an "omen for the entire country as we struggle to come out of recession", he urged ministers to "consider a law insisting on a minimum 50% participation in a strike ballot".In a swipe at the new Labour leader, Ed Miliband, Johnson suggested unions were doing the bidding of a party leadership opposed to government cuts, despite the fact that the RMT is not affiliated to Labour.Miliband refused to be drawn into the row, and a spokesperson said he had not yet decided whether he would attend a rally being organised by unions for the eve of the comprehensive spending review later this month.But when London Underground was hit by strikes last month, Miliband described the action as "regrettable" and said there was "probably fault on both sides"."I'm not going to get into megaphone diplomacy of shouting from the rooftops, but I do say that both sides need to get round the table to avoid more disruption to Londoners," he said.Johnson, who chairs Transport for London, is under fire over plans to cut the hours of ticket offices at 278 tube stations despite making a commitment during the 2008 mayoral election to "halting the proposed Tube ticket office closures, and ensuring there is always a manned ticket office at every station".To loud applause at the conference, the mayor apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused by the strike.He told delegates: "It cannot be right that 3,000 people should be able to hold the city to ransom, stop people getting to work and jeopardise the economic recovery when the measures we are taking to reform ticket offices are an inevitable consequence of the success of the automatic Oyster [smart card] system ... and when we are able to make these changes with no compulsory redundancies, with no loss of earnings and with no station unstaffed at any time."So I must tell the union leaders that the time has come now to ignore their lackeys in the Labour party who seek to foment unrest for their own dismal political ends. It is time to come to the negotiating table and sort this thing out."Johnson's demand for a legal ballot threshold provoked anger from unions, who pointed out that the simple majority system is exactly the same principle as that for electing MPs to parliament.The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) claimed only 33% of those balloted supported the tube strike, with the organisation proposing legislation that would require 40% of balloted union members to be in favour of a strike.Chris Keates, of the NASUWT teaching union, pointed out that Johnson was elected with less than 50% of the vote – turnout in 2008 was 45%, with Johnson gaining 53.17% of that only after second preference votes were taken into account."The key question is why a higher bar is required for union ballots than, for example, electing the mayor of London or an MP," she said.Johnson, who has been criticised by unions for "union bashing" in Birmingham rather than opting to stay in the capital during in strike, has previously made it clear that he is relying on the coalition government to deliver his manifesto promise of a no-strike deal with tube unions after failing to negotiate with union leaders more than two years into his tenure.As the mayor stepped up the war of words with unions, tube union leaders wrote to David Cameron to urge him to convene an urgent meeting to resolve the dispute and avert further strikes, which have been planned for 2 and 28 November.The RMT leader, Bob Crow, and Gerry Doherty, of the TSSA, told Cameron: "This strike is not about 'irresponsible militants' taking on the coalition – it is about London Underground staff giving up a day's pay to put safety first."Indeed, if the mayor simply kept to his election promises regarding adequate staffing on London Underground, there would be no dispute."Boris JohnsonConservative conferenceConservativesTrade unionsLondon politicsLondonConfederation of British Industry (CBI)Hélène Mulhollandguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
How Doctor Who nearly became the Time Lady The creator of Doctor Who urged the BBC to give the character a sex change in a desperate bid to prevent the series from being cancelled, it can be revealed. telegraph.co.uk |
Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey by Rachel Hewitt - review Ian Pindar on the creation of the Ordnance SurveyThe "cubist jigsaw of overlapping sheets" that is the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain is a national treasure, cherished by ramblers and right-to-roamers, but in Map of a Nation Rachel Hewitt reminds us that its origins are military and that it is, in fact, part of "a long history of British military efforts to subdue neighbouring territories through cartography".The OS began with the idea of a "military survey of Scotland", which would facilitate the occupation of the Scottish Highlands. Redcoats trying to root out Jacobite rebels in the most inaccessible Highland regions were hampered by inaccurate intelligence. "This place is not marked on any of our maps," Captain Frederick Scott objected in a letter to his commander in 1746, a month after the battle of Culloden. The rugged landscape was, quite literally, "unreadable" and the rebels were getting away.Employed by the Board of Ordnance, William Roy began mapping the Highlands in 1747, pushing a surveyor's wheel and using a simple kind of theodolite called a circumferentor. Later he was joined by a "ragtag bunch of young surveyors" and they finished mapping the entire Scottish mainland in 1755. The Military Survey of Scotland, drawn in pen and ink with watercolour washes, offered "a vast, gorgeous bird's-eye view of mid 18th-century Scotland". But Roy didn't stop there. His dream was a complete map of Britain.The French had begun their own mapping project more than a century before, and the Carte de France (1756), a complete national map of unprecedented accuracy and scope, was a model for the OS. It was, Hewitt argues, "the highest ideal of the Enlightenment: perfect measurement of the ground beneath our feet". However, war with France changed all that. The survey, begun in 1791, quickly became part of Britain's defence strategy, as England's south coast and the far south-west corner of Wales were mapped to assess their vulnerability to French invasion.Before it had finished mapping England and Wales, however, the OS turned its attentions to Ireland. The Irish Ordnance Survey, begun in 1825, is easily caricatured as a "tool of English imperialism", Hewitt says, but in fact it was an attempt by Irish-speaking Catholics to salvage Ireland's ancient cultural heritage. Place names were always "a mighty headache to early mapmakers". Some surveyors wrote down the first name they heard; others were more conscientious. Some of the mistakes are worthy of Finnegans Wake: the ancient name of Queen Taillteann, for instance, was transcribed by one mapmaker as Telltown, while Monaster O'Lynn (O'Lynn's Monastery) became "Moneysterlin".This is a solid account of how Britain's national mapping agency came into being, though it lacks a certain pizzazz. Hewitt works hard to bring the story to life, but it is perhaps inherently undramatic. Nevertheless, she is good on the military, scientific and ideological impulses behind the OS and on its enormous appeal to the general public. The first map (Kent and part of Essex) was made available in 1801 and not long afterwards surveyors were being pestered by tourists in search of the sublime or picturesque. One director of the Ordnance Survey objected to these "swarms of idle holiday visitors" and fantasised about working in "almost inaccessible positions", free from "disagreeable intrusions". Paradoxically, the very men who had opened up the landscape to the people still dreamed of getting far from the madding crowd.Ordnance SurveyIan Pindarguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
End 'pocket money' alcohol call Alcohol Concern Cymru has called for an end to the "pocket money" price of shop-bought booze which it says is fuelling under-age drinking. bbc.co.uk |
British Nuclear Sub Is Freed After 10 Hours The mishap was a deep embarrassment for the Royal Navy, which has spent recent months fighting to limit the impact of government cuts. nytimes.com |