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Film-maker Franny Armstrong, who was rescued by Mayor Boris Johnson |
Mayor rides to rescue
Boris steps in to save film director from teens – but fails to win her vote!
HE may have saved her from a mugging, but film director Franny Armstrong would still not vote for London Mayor Boris Johnson.
The floppy-haired Tory was riding his bike through the backstreets of Camden Town on Monday night when Franny, whose eco film Age of Stupid starring Pete Posthlewaite has become a worldwide smash hit, flagged him down as she was being harassed by three youngsters carrying an iron bar. The Old Etonian shouted at the trio, forcing them to flee, and then chased them down the street on his bicycle.
Franny, who lives in Camden Town, told the New Journal she was very grateful to the mayor for stepping in – but added that he still wouldn’t get her support at the polls.
She said: “I campaigned for Ken Livingstone and despite Boris Johnson coming to my aid, it still hasn’t changed how I feel about his policies.
“I think he’d make a much better Police Community Support Officer than mayor. I trust Ken much more on things like climate change.”
The director, who is also behind the 10:10 campaign urging individuals and companies to pledge to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent, explained how she was walking down Georgiana Street at around 9pm when the incident happened.
“I was minding my own business, sending a text, when I heard three boys shouting swear words,” she said.
Reports elsewhere said her attackers were girls but Franny insists they were boys. “They looked like something straight out of central casting. I ignored them and then suddenly they pushed me against a car and pulled out an iron bar. It happened very quickly, but only went on for about 10 seconds.
“Then I saw this big figure coming up the street on a bike so I said ‘excuse me, can you help me please?’ Then I realised it was Boris Johnson.”
The mayor saw off the attackers with some choice words, according to Franny. She added: “He said something quite typical of the man, along the lines of ‘away with you, you whippersnappers!’ I pointed out to the boys that it was the Mayor of London and they looked really scared.”
After checking Franny was in one piece, Mr Johnson insisted on walking her home – giving her 20 minutes to argue her point on climate change with a senior Tory.
Franny said: “I told him all about 10:10 and asked him if he could sign the Tube up to it. I also asked him what he could do to pedestrianise Camden Town and he said he wanted to do this right across London.”
And Mr Johnson did not walk away empty-handed: Franny gave him a badge made out of a scrapped airliner to celebrate the launch of the 10:10 campaign in the summer, and a free copy of Age of Stupid. |
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