So Ken is not a leftist icon after all.

I kind of agree with Cohen about the congestion charge. It does mean that those forced off the road are the poorest, leaving the roads free for the rich gas guzzlers. If the object was to get traffic off the roads, Livingstone could have followed the Italians. In Florence, if memory serves, they have a system based on car reg numbers, with odd days and even days. The problem with that, of course, is that it doesn't generate revenue, which a cynic might say is the primary purpose of Ken's exercise.

Ken's cosying to big business, talking radical and acting conservative, is what we have come to expect these days. Business rules the world, and the only definition of political success is how well it can live your policies. We are witnessing the slow death of the mainstream left. We can only wait and see what takes it's place.