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There is an old Cold War story about a Western visitor who asked a Muscovite what he thought of Brezhnev. The Russian looked warily about him, then led the visitor away down the street, on through miles of suburbs. Finally, reaching the countryside, he stopped behind a tree and whispered in the Westerner's ear: 'Actually, I don't mind him.'
Where I live, the same precautions would be necessary before saying anything polite about Ken Livingstone. The saloon-bar indictment is familiar: IRA. . . Chavez. . . loony left. . . waste. . . cronyism. . . bendy buses. . . kicking the middle class. If everything west London says about the capital's mayor were true, his re-election on May Day would relegate the revival of Lazarus to amateur status.
I must confess to a sneaking respect - not liking, never that - for Livingstone, which dates back to the night 27 years ago, when, as an Evening Standard reporter, I doorstepped the new leader of the Greater London Council at his north London pad and was invited in to meet his newts.
That he was far left was never in doubt. Much of what he did at the old GLC, and some of what he has done as mayor, provided precious little return to London's taxpayers. But nobody could accuse Livingstone of being a party tool, a Downing Street lackey.
Those of us who want to decentralise Britain and revive local government should acknowledge Ken as part of the price. Whatever else he is, he has always been his own man. The election victory which made him mayor in 2000, having defied Blair to stand, was a good outcome for democracy.
Though a loner with few friends in the Commons, he is a sinuous and skilful politician. Few men better understand how to manipulate ministers. The rulers of Britain's northern cities are awed by his achievements in screwing cash out of the Treasury, notably pounds 10bn for east London regeneration in advance of the Olympics. Tony Blair was obliged to accept this blackest sheep back into the Labour fold after the mayor ran rings around him, not least by making a success of traffic congestion charging.
I cannot mimic the Muscovite and say that...