I know it’s not exactly fashionable nowadays for a Labour member like myself to welcome with open arms a policy of a Conservative Mayor of London. But I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway. The Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, launching next Friday (July 30th) has the potential to revolutionise the way we get around this great metropolis. How long have we looked on to cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam & Zurich with their fancy bicycles and cycle-friendly policies, while we put up with uncivilised busses & tubes?

That it took Boris Johnson, London’s somewhat entertaining, but according to some a serious thinking, Mayor to bring a London-wide cycle scheme which will be accessible to millions of people, is a shame. That doesn’t mean we should look down our noses on it though.

From next Friday, people all over London will have access to bicycles in many local neighbourhoods across town. I’ve already spotted two of them very close to where I live. For an annual membership of £45, users can take a bicycle from their local “docking station”, cycle to their place of work, a restaurant, the shops or a meeting with friends for up-to half an hour completely free. When you consider the amount of London that can be covered in 30 minutes by bicycle, it’s clear that this scheme has the potential to replace thousands of bus & tube journeys per year, and simultaneously improving the health and well-being of Londoners.

As the London Cycling Campaign points out here:

…cycling reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke and promotes good mental health.

Everybody recognises that London is oftentimes a grumpy, frosty city, home to millions of people in too much of a rush to smile, take a deep breath and enjoy the wonders that wandering through this amazing city can bring. If cycling improves the general demeanour of even a small percentage of our commuting population, it will be a great benefit to us all.

Ken Livingstone and Oona King, who are both running for Labour’s endorsement for 2012’s mayoral election should recognise the benefits that this cycle scheme should bring, regardless of the fact that Boris Johnson brought it into being.

This Londoner for one, can’t wait to give the new scheme a spin.

On Friday I finally, after many months of waiting, went to see Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghost’, his film based on the novel written by Robert Harris. Robert Harris’ fall out with the Blairs, after being friends with both of them for some years, was fuelled predominantly by the Iraq war, and he hasn’t been shy over the last few years in making clear his personal dislike for Cherie Blair. Despite the scandal surrounding Polanski, he’s always made great films and the mix of the potential quality of the film-making and the dramatic story involving Britain’s most intriguing political character made The Ghost an irresistible watch.

Polanski doesn’t let the viewers down with the quality of cinematography. Much of the film is set on a wind- and rain-swept island presumably in Massachusetts, USA, and the location provides a dramatic and moody backdrop which certainly helps create tension. Before moving to the States however, the film spends a little while in London, although the London scenes look like they were filmed in a studio – a shame considering Polanski’s stature and the overall high quality of the film.

The main gist of the plot surrounds Ewan McGregor’s character, who remains nameless throughout the film which I thought was clever, who has been hired by Adam Lang’s US lawyer (Lang representes Tony Blair) to assist in finishing off Lang’s memoirs.

The film really gets going when Lang’s character enters the frame, played expertly by one of my favourite actors, Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan plays Tony Blair incredibly well, the idiosyncrasies are all correct, although the fictional Lang is more aggressive than Blair – a sort of Blair on steroids! You really get a sense of former Prime Minister Lang as a very lonely, almost lost character, isolated completely from the world by menacing armed protection officers, motorcades, walls and private jets. One wonders exactly what Tony Blair’s life is like nowadays, and I suspect there are some close similarities.

Polanski and Harris went to lengths to show Lang’s character as an actor, which certainly alludes to the image of Tony Blair as the actor – not a real politician but somebody who could do a very good job of pretending. And there are scenes throughout the film where Lang faces the press or the public and you certainly see a different side of him to the behind-the-scenes Lang.

The plot is quite slow for a while, almost every scene involving a mixture of an erratic Ruth Lang (based on Cherie Blair), the rainy backdrop, glamorous Kim Cattrall who plays Lang’s assistant (which I thought was based on Ruth Turner, who has had aspersions cast on herself because of the nature of her close relationship with Blair – pure rumour I should say), and the ever-present menacing security guards which were used in the film as a tool to heighten tension and generally make McGregor’s character appear watched and surveilled the whole time.

As the story got more exciting, it became more laughable. The story line itself didn’t focus as much on war crimes as I had thought it would, which did make me happy! I didn’t want to watch two hours of pontificating by Polanski about international law, and thankfully war crimes only made a cameo appearance. The real story line is hidden until you get at least half way through, and it doesn’t fully emerge until the very last scene, despite Polanski’s attempts to mislead the audience with one or two serious plot twists. There was one particular twist which I certainly didn’t like but it seemed completely possible in real life and would be shocking if it did happen – I’ll let you watch the film and find out for yourself.

In conclusion, I’d say The Ghost is a good film. Polanski shot and edited it beautifully, both in terms of cinematography and by keeping the storyline full of suspense. But there are some very silly plot turns which I felt came about because of the fall-out between Robert Harris and the Blairs – petty rather than substantive. It is quite a way to get revenge on old friends who you’ve fallen out with to write a novel and have that novel turned into a movie. But I guess it does make an interesting work of fiction – a fiction which some people might find it hard to resist believing is true. I’m managing to resist though!

Go and watch The Ghost, it won’t blow your mind, but it will certainly entertain the political junky in you. The connection with Tony Blair is also fascinating, although more amusing through Polanski’s and Harris’ eyes, and through Brosnan’s acting.

If this film has only one affect, it will be to improve sales of Tony Blair’s memoirs which are to be released worldwide this September!

Easy answer: when Starbucks or Costa Coffee are making it…

What’s a flat white you ask? I discovered it around 18 months ago, but it’s an Australian classic in the coffee world. The perfect bridge between a double espresso macchiato and a really strong latte, which, done well is the perfect coffee for someone who wants a strong coffee kick and a bit, but not too much, milk on the top. The milk is always full fat, and very silky. The coffee base is usually three shots of “ristretto”, the first bit of espresso that comes out of the machine.

The two big coffee chains I mentioned have recently jumped on a bandwagon that in the UK at least started in coffee houses in Soho and Bloomsbury. Stores such as Monmouth, Flat White, Fernandez & Wells and Lantana have been serving the drink for a few years, and it’s become popular with the crowd of coffee connoisseurs who frequent this rash of independent, antipodean-inspired coffee stores in central London. I’m not sure of the mass appeal of the drink in the UK, because it is quite strong, but it’s certainly an improvement on the popular “latte” or jug of milk with a hint of coffee which people in this country seem to love so much.

Starbucks was first, and it was initially only available in the fancy new concept store just off Regents Street. When I saw the ad I was intrigued and I tried it straight away. Verdict? Starbucks’ bitter coffee isn’t the right base, and the milk they use is semi-skimmed I believe. The new cup they introduced is nice, and the barista tried to achieve the typical flat white pattern on top, but it wasn’t a flat white. It was bitter.

When I landed at Heathrow last Saturday from my trip to Lebanon, I noticed that Costa was making quite a fuss about its version of the flat white. I tried it. Apparently the company has spent upwards of £1million to train staff on how to make this new drink perfectly. What a waste of money! The poor barista, who I truly felt sorry for, couldn’t achieve the pattern which Costa had captured so perfectly in the poster for the new drink. He tried, but explained to me that the one in the poster was the “Picasso version”. The drink itself wasn’t too bad – the coffee an improvement on Starbucks, but there was too much milk as the cup was too big.

If these two coffee monsters are betting that their versions of the flat white are going to make up for falling revenues, I think they’ve bet on the wrong horse. Well actually, maybe the masses will take up the drink and enjoy it. But for a stuck-up, snob of a coffee purist like me, these two versions of a coffee favourite don’t cut the mustard.

If you want to experience the true flat white, get in touch and I’ll take you to Fernandez & Wells!