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Periodically, we shall be looking at events making the news to try to identify real heroes of the hour and - by way of contrast - the fools, the lampoons, and the villains... |
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Heroes and Villains
Thursday 14 July 2005 - London remembers the victims of tube and bus bombings one week on
Hero of the hour - my nomination goes to George Psaradakis, driver of the double-decker bus that was blown up a week ago by terrorists near Tavistock Square. Standing outside his bus depot, supported by a few of his colleagues who paused as they went to and from work, Mr Psaradakis marked the day with a short statement read out to reporters. He spoke briefly and simply of the sadness he experienced and described the responsibility that a driver feels towards his passengers. "I did what I could to help them," he said. Villain of the hour - this award goes to Ken Livingston, Mayor of London, for the spectacle of his condescending, contrite and stage-managed performance * on a specially constructed platform in front of the world's media in Trafalgar Square. This from the man whose policies of welcoming all to London, regardless of proclivity to violence, has helped get us into this mess. (Pity you didn't have anything to say when the hatred was being preached from Finsbury Park Mosque.) And, no Ken, you will never bear comparison with Rudolph Guiliani, no matter how much you might try.
* We won't excerpt from it here, if you need to read his speech, it can be found on the 'official website for the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority'
www.london.gov.uk
Though be warned, the site seems more about promoting the current mayor than anything else; in fact it's hard to get through today's front page without wondering how London would get by without him. |
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