Boris johnson

G4S' security arrangements for the Olympic games are turning into the story that keeps on giving, which is a good thing for journalists only, given the opening ceremony is just weeks away. The headlines this morning aren't just about the 'Olympic chaos' that Theresa May tried to address when she made a statement to the Commons yesterday, but contain more revelations: staff failing to notice dummy explosives during test exercises, 18 and 19-year-old 'yobs' being recruited to fill the spaces, and the firm not being penalised for failing to recruit enough staff. That last revelation is awkward for May, as she implied yesterday that there was a chance G4S could face penalties.

The coalition’s plan for House of Lords reform will go to Cabinet on Tuesday. It could have a trickier time there than expected: some Tory Cabinet ministers who favour an elected Lords are deeply unhappy about the idea of using regional lists. But, even before Cabinet, one active Tory big beast has come out against the proposals. Boris Johnson savages the idea in his Telegraph column, declaring it to be ‘a bunch of tidy-minded Lib Dem nonsense.’ He makes the standard Tory arguments against it: the Lords works as it is, two elected chambers would inevitably clash and reform will just expand the numbers — and cost — of the political class.   The column is a reminder of the price that Cameron will pay with his own side for pressing on with Lords reform.

Apparently, 'it wouldn't be the same' for the 25th anniversary of the Hay-on-Wye literary festival without the sideways rain and mist. The weather couldn't dampen the spirits of the thousands of Guardianistas who have converged on the tiny welsh village this weekend. Neither could the facts that the Telegraph is the festival’s sponsor, and that the star-turn on Saturday was undoubtedly the Mayor of London. Arriving on Friday night, hours late, Boris kept his dinner companions at the home of GQ editor Dylan Jones stewing while he was stuck in transit. He was quick to play catch-up though, and in refusing to be outdone by a leftie pledged to dive into the freezing river the next morning, purely because Alan Yentob was doing so.

The 2012 London mayoral election may barely have finished, but already there’s speculation as to who might run — and win — in 2016. The current favourite is Boris — despite suggestions that he’ll be back in Parliament with his sights set on the Tory leadership by then. And the second favourite? It was David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham who was tipped as a potential 2012 candidate and has hinted that he might be interested next time. But today he’s been overtaken — in the eyes of bookies Paddy Power at least — by another Johnson who’s hosted Have I Got News for You: Labour’s Alan Johnson. This has been prompted by an interview with the former Home Secretary in the House magazine.

Not since Michael Heseltine has there been a politician who is so adept at finding the g-spot of the Tory faithful as Boris Johnson. His column today in the Telegraph is a classic example of this. There’s some witty and perceptive BBC bashing, mockery of the Lib Dems and their priorities, and a demand that the Tories get what they need out of the coalition. His line ‘If we are really going ahead with Lords reform (why?)’ sums up Tory feelings on the subject far better than more earnest tracts have done. ConservativeHome is certainly impressed, saying that the Mayor of London is ‘real and raw in an age when few politicians are.’ Boris is also being used by others as a stick with which to beat David Cameron.

We haven't done enough to prevent the riots of last summer happening again, says Simon Marcus in this week’s cover feature. And in the latest episode of our The View From 22 podcast he expands on this, discussing his personal experiences with the Boxing Academy in Tottenham and Hackney: ‘What enabled us to engage in strong debate during the whole process was what I saw on the front line at the Boxing Academy for many years. But what I was being asked, in many ways, to accept was wrong. When you're being told that your eyes and ears have deceived you for five years, that's something I can't accept.’ James Forsyth also discusses why an EU referendum is becoming more likely — thanks to a combination of UKIP, Boris Johnson and public opinion.

Boris Johnson’s victory in London is a remarkable achievement. He has won re-election in a Labour-inclined city against the backdrop of a Tory-led government making cuts and a country in recession. He has defied the national trend and, indeed, the trend in the capital itself given the results in the assembly elections. This triumph proves his vote-winning credentials in a way that his victory four years ago, secured in very favourable circumstances (Labour was in a poor state as Gordon Brown stumbled from disaster to disaster), did not. In Downing Street, there’s relief that Boris made it over the line; a Labour victory in London would have made this undeniably Ed Miliband’s night. But Boris will now be a force in the land.

During the government’s recent troubles, Cameroons have talked about the ‘window’ for action that David Cameron will have if Boris does win the mayoralty. But that window got a lot smaller with the news that Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks are appearing at the Leveson Inquiry on Thursday and Friday next week. Their appearances means that, next week, the media won’t be dominated by discussion of the Queen’s speech but by one of Cameron’s biggest misjudgments: his decision to get so close to News International. If there are anywhere near as many text messages between Cameron and Brooks as Peter Oborne alleges then it will be, at best, horribly embarrassing for the Prime Minister.