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 Words in the News
INTRO 
 This story is about the campaign to become London's Mayor. Elections took place in May 2000. Two of the main Labour Party candidates were Frank Dobson and Ken Livingstone.
IN FULL 
 AudioListen to Paul Boateng and Ken Livingston
News image

21st October 1999

Mayor of London

NEWS 1 Frank Dobson is his own man. Anyone that knows Frank knows that the notion that he is somehow a sort of political puppet whose strings are pulled from any other location - it’s a nonsense quite frankly. Frank runs his own campaign, he is his own man, he enjoys a bedrock of support." from Paul Boateng
WORDS 
 

his own man: not likely to be influenced by the views of other people

political puppet : somebody who will voice opinions that come from someone else

strings are pulled: a puppet dances when the puppeteer pulls the strings

bedrock : a firm foundation

NEWS 2 They have one big problem. They’re attacking me on... I’m incompetent and a dreadful plotterand all that. What they won’t discuss is policies. The one key policy which will dog this selection is the question: 'Is the government is going to transfer a third of our underground network to the control of Railtrack?' Now, there’s not one person in a thousand in London who supports that. Frank’s committed to that - the government policy of the partial privatisation of the tube - and I’m saying, this selection is the chance for London Labour Party members and trade unionists to have effectively a referendum on whether we want to keep the tube as one system in public hands, and they will never discuss the policies so it’s all personal abuse.
WORDS  

incompetent : an incompetent person is unable to do a job successfully

dreadful plotter: someone who makes plans against other people

key policy: a very important plan they hope to implement

dog: if something dogs you, it keeps causing problems for you

Railtrack: the private sector firm in charge of railway infrastructure

partial privatisation: some parts of the Underground would be transferred to the private sector

effectively: it would be as good as a referendum

personal abuse: severe criticism of him personally - rather than of his policies

  Read about the background in BBC News Online
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