The Isle of Dogs became independent officially at midnight last night.
Imagine then the disappointment of Mr Ted Johns,
whose political handiwork this was,
to find on waking this morning, a group of islanders
who were less than delighted with their newly won independence.
When did you first hear the island was going independent?
Half past seven this morning.
I heard it last night on the news.
Well I heard it half past seven this morning.
Did anybody approach you to vote about this?
No! No, no.
No, there's been nothing around.
All we heard last week
was a demonstration up the bridge and that's all we heard.
Do you think there's any sense in his plan?
No, we don't!
None at all, it’s rubbish.
Who did they affect with the hold up?
When they stopped the bridges?
They only stopped the islanders!
My husband went to work,
he couldn't get home and have his meal!
You wouldn't say that everything is all right on the island, though?
Everything is alright!
All bar the schools and the buses,
That's all we’re grumbling about!
Can I just ask you one last thing?
How many people think like you, do you imagine
and how many people like Ted Johns?
All of us, we all do.
Because he’s a washout, up there, he don’t know what he’s talking about, he don’t.
He’s a what?
He’s a washout!
He don’t know what he’s talking about!
Shall I try and get him down here?
You want to get him down here, we’ll show him.
[Inaudible] down there ‘cause I’m waiting to do my washing!
[Laughter]
Government House, the home of President Ted Johns.
Hello, is Mr Johns there?
Mr Johns, there’s a bunch of women downstairs
and other tenants who want to speak to you, want to know what it is
you're trying to do and why they haven't been told more about it.
Oh, you know, they've only... if they care to...
a couple of them care to come up here and sit down and chat,
sure, they can...
I'm quite prepared to do it.
If I bring two up, you’ll talk to them?
Sure I will, yeah, sure.
But you won't get down to them?
I can't go down, as I said, you know, I'm...
I'm...
been under some pressure and I am subject to bronchial attacks.
So, hotfoot with messages from the president to his people...
Mr Johns says that he can't come and speak to you because he's got a bad chest...
but if you'd like to go and speak to him, he's quite welcome to see you–
Definitely not, no. If he wants us, let him come down to us
and we will talk to him then, but we're not going up there.
All right, I'll put that to him.
Thank you very much.
Anything in the name of democracy...
I've been down to talk to these women
and they say since
you've taken this decision on their behalf,
you should really go down and talk to them.
Now, can I ask you once again, will you?
No, I can't go down there quite honestly...
Because of your bronchitis?
Yeah, I'm not... I'm not prepared to...
you know...
in this process, apart from the...
the factor of trying to get the things done.
But you have declared independence in a way that affects
the 10–11,000 people living here and now you’re not prepared to talk to them.
Not at this stage.
I said, you know, I'm quite available to
if they want to talk to me, you know?
Rarely can the forces of counter-revolution have moved so fast.
Only eight hours after independence, the angry nation was signing petitions
and calling for help from Bob Searle,
agent of Ian Mikardo, who represents Poplar.
I think in fact that, with the way people are feeling now,
it may well come to blows between the various factions.
I think there's a real possibility,
one of the lads down here who's certainly not one of my lads,
was almost set about this morning in his own block of flats.
If a coup d'etat is to be successful, you must have powerful forces behind you.
To discover that you have a nation who has learned to live with and love
its local borough council makes the whole thing virtually impossible,
and the people who live on the Isle of Dogs
have every reason to feel affection for Tower Hamlets.
Only tomorrow, the council are going to reveal a plan for development in the area
which should answer all the points of criticism raised by Mr Johns.
This makes him a bit late in the day
and only goes to show
that revolution, rather like comedy,
is a matter of timing.