This evening I went along to huge hustings meeting for the Mayor of London candidates at the Methodist Central Hall. About 2,000 people turned up from an array of community groups mostly churches of one domination or another. (I was let in as a member of the congregation of St Andrews Fulham Fields.) There were also a few trade union branches included and their members ensured some hearty jeering when Boris stood up to speak. However this tailed off as the mood of the meeting was to give all candidates a fair hearing.
Two of the themes candidates were asked about chimed very much with Boris's campaign - tackling youth crime and making home ownership affordable. Livingstone was vulnerable on both. On youth crime he refused to back the return of bus conductors.
Livingstone was also criticised for breaking a pledge, undertaken at the equivalent meeting for years ago, for a pilot Community Land Trust to allow for low cost home ownership. He said there were legal difficulties and that the only scheme that existed in the country was in Boris's constituency of Henley. But why could the legal difficulties be overcome in Henley and not London? Furthermore given that candidates are given advance warning of the pledges they are being asked to sign up to, why did he make the promise if he couldn't fulfil it.
Livingstone also proposed using funding from President Chavez, Marxist dictator of Venezuela, to pay for free tube travel for asylum seekers.
"Don't knock him," Livingstone told the audience. "He's a good practising Christian."
Chavez has given money to some churches to bring them under state control but he has also driven out others such as New Tribes. He has talked about Jesus Christ as a historic figure but I think Chavez has described himself as a Christian of stated his belief that Christ is the son of God.
The admiration Chavez has professed for Christ is also laden with anti semitism. "Minorities, the descendants of those who crucified Christ, have taken over the riches of the world," he says.
Nice people the Mayor of London hangs out with.
