Afternoon:
10°c
A battle between Boris Johnson and Sir Alan Sugar is an idea to conjure with. Our poll today, at the start of the week marking Mr Johnson's first anniversary as Mayor, suggests that Sir Alan is one of the few people who would, in theory, have a lively chance of beating Mr Johnson - though that may have more to do with the limited appeal of the other suggested candidates, such as former mayor Ken Livingstone.
The poll's crucial finding, however, is that significantly more people approve of the Mayor - 46 per cent - than disapprove of him, at 21 per cent. This has much to do with Mr Johnson's sheer presence: he is a very visible, articulate Mayor. And he has made a good start. He has fought for London on issues like Crossrail - it remains to be seen whether he would have a more favourable reception from a Tory government - and he has made a real effort to engage with important issues including knife crime.
Yet his policies are not yet transformative. He is travelling in the right direction in cutting bureaucracy in City Hall and Transport for London, and he has reduced the claims of the Mayor's office on council-tax payers. But there is still more to be done in making cuts, freeing funds for jobs that matter.
On transport, he has yet to do away with bendy buses and introduce a new Routemaster; we shall hold him to that. As regards the Tube, TfL has absorbed the failed private consortium Metronet.
As for securing the funds to deliver significant upgrades to the system, which the Treasury still refuses to do, Mr Johnson is, like his predecessor, the victim of the PPP, the creation of Gordon Brown. He has significantly amended the congestion charge by abolishing the western extension; it may have to be modified again given the extent to which congestion is, still, a real problem.
On policing, his most visible contribution has been to replace the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, fatally damaged by the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, with Sir Paul Stephenson. Although that has attracted charges of politicising the police, there is a good case for entrusting an elected London Mayor rather than the Home Secretary with responsibility for policing the capital, even though the Commissioner's anti-terrorism brief extends beyond London.
Lastly, planning is an area where Mr Johnson has proved more erratic. His manifesto commitment was for a coherent policy on the London skyline, yet he has approved projects which do not square with the objective of central clusters of high-rise buildings in areas that do not impact on historic views.
Yet despite the caveats, Mr Johnson has succeeded in a crucial respect: he has shown that there is a different way of being Mayor than that the autocratic style adopted by Mr Livingstone. He has succeeded in imposing his own engaging stamp on the office, and won the respect of Londoners in doing so. That is a real achievement.
Two wheels good
The details today of the 400 docking stations for the Mayor's cycle-hire scheme bring this exciting project a step closer. Modelled on the Parisian Vélib' system, the scheme will put 6,000 rentable bikes on London's streets.
Boris Johnson is right to see it as potentially offering a "revolution" in cycling in the capital: in Paris, Vélib' has certainly helped transform the city's transport system.
However, it is disappointing that there are no docking stations planned at rail stations. Network Rail is said to have been unco-operative. To make a real impact on commuting habits, rail passengers need to be able to get off trains and on to bikes quickly and easily.
That will not happen unless Network Rail can find room for the bikes at stations. Meanwhile, it will limit the bikes' appeal unnecessarily if, as planned, they are not provided with locks.
Transport for London should rethink that decision. London's Vélib' scheme could have a huge impact when it is launched in May next year - but it has to make it easy for would-be cyclists.
