Next time someone tells you they are conservative, in favour of a small state, of personal freedom, of liberty, ask them their views on Dale Farm

Two columns of riot police, shields in position, carrying ladders and armed with tasers, cresting a hill under cover of darkness. A single, stark, sandblasted house in the background; the inhabitants, one imagines, peering out of the windows in confusion and fear.

 

Hogan-Howe: for now, it's all about the PR

In this image he stakes out his role as a civic paterfamilias, sternly disapproving of his errant son (Boris, here representing the lawless city itself), but ultimately forgiving.

 

Occupy protest: some backlash

If Josh Hall articulated the case for wholeheartedly supporting for Occupy London, then Patrick at Shit London sets out what is probably a more widely held view.

 

Just for comparison

Annual salary of Gareth Daniel, Chief Executive of Brent Council: £194,550 [pdf link]

Annual cost of the now closed Kensal Rise library: £162,468 [pdf link]

 

Huzzah to Julian Barnes

The 2011 winner of the Booker Prize has just been announced and finally after three previous nominations, Julian Barnes is a winner.

 

Occupy London: It's not the beginning of the end, it is, perhaps, the beginning of the beginning

OccupyLSX is a remarkable, amorphous thing. In 72 hours it has passed through at least four distinct iterations.