• Question by: Susan Hall
• Meeting date: 15 October 2020

Susan Hall AM: Thank you. I hope that we are in agreement, Mr Mayor. That would be good. One of the simplest changes that you could make to protect the interests of disabled people in Streetspace schemes would be to ensure that wherever buses go, black cabs can go as well. I was really reassured when Andy Byford told me at the Budget and Performance [Committee] meeting that, I quote: “I consider black cabs to be part of the public transport offer and there is certainly no intention to treat them in some inferior way or degrade them in terms...

• Question by: Andrew Dismore
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Andrew Dismore AM: Thank you, Chair, yes. Mr Mayor, you may be aware that PHE is based in Colindale, in my constituency, and is a major local employer. Do you agree with me that the decision to scrap PHE is a political move by the Government in order to scapegoat them for its own poor response to the COVID crisis? Do you further agree that in the middle of a global health crisis is the worst possible time to scrap the body leading the national response to the virus? Given the high toll of coronavirus in London, the loss is...

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Len Duvall AM: I am very short on time. There are lots of things that have impacted on your Economic Development Strategy. I think Assembly Member Cooper outlined Brexit being one, and COVID and the international economic downturn. Two issues. I am not clear about the debates and whether they have happened. I should say when you are elected, but - for the doubters in the room - if you are elected in May 2021, will you be developing a new Economic Development Strategy and in that, if you are going to do that, what is your thinking about London...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Tony Arbour AM (Deputy Chairman): No, Chair, I have raised my hand on this matter. I have a simple question to the Mayor. Does he think it is the function of the Mayor when he has the power to keep London’s traffic moving by opening this bridge?

• Question by: Alison Moore
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Dr Alison Moore AM: Mr Mayor, Assembly Member Arbour is the one playing politics with this. I have seen figures this morning that talk about a minimum of nine months and a cost of £46 million to reopen the bridge to cyclists and pedestrians in two years and a cost of between £141 million and £163 million to get the bridge fully open. It is quite clear that neither TfL nor the Council could bear that full cost and it absolutely is a Government responsibility, Assembly Member Arbour. My question to the Mayor to follow this would be: what reasons...

• Question by: Tony Devenish
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Tony Devenish AM: Good morning, Mr Mayor. Will you look at the frequency of the 533 bus as one way to mitigate the issue we have just been discussing?

• Question by: Lord Bailey of Paddington
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Shaun Bailey AM: I just want to address the comments made earlier. I brought up the subject of people returning to work if at all possible because you said that empty offices in London are a problem for London. We all know the impact of these offices that we can see out the window being empty. All the support mechanisms in London, everything from retailers to coffee sellers, will be in great peril. Again, I want to ask. What extra can be done? In view of the fact of the slightly childish and personal comments that were made by another...

• Question by: Tony Devenish
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Tony Devenish AM: Mr Mayor, I would like to try to change the tone of this debate because I hope you agree with me that this has to be the most important subject for all of us. Yes, we have to protect ourselves from COVID, but this is about jobs. Would you agree with me that those who are not at the moment in work, the younger age groups aged 16 to 24 particularly, are why [The Rt Hon] Rishi Sunak [MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer] has launched Kickstart? How can you support Kickstart and how can you really look...

• Question by: Leonie Cooper
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Léonie Cooper AM: I noticed that Assembly Member Bailey referred to back to work again, which is something that he has been commenting on a lot. Firstly, I wondered if you would agree that that is a bit of an insult to those Londoners who have worked throughout the pandemic and actually forget the fact that so many Londoners are not going to work in the sense of travelling but are still working from home. I know very many people who are doing 10-hour days. The other thing, Mr Mayor, is that you have led by example. You were one...

• Question by: Onkar Sahota
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Dr Onkar Sahota AM: Mr Mayor, COVID-19 is a disruptive and transformational event in history and, of course, we must take a public health approach, as you have done in all areas of policy from housing, junk food advertising, air quality and crime prevention. We all must learn lessons from the events of history. The Government has made huge blunders in this because of COVID-19 and we are still going from crisis to crisis. I could talk about the utter failure of test and tracing or the lack of plans to protect the residents of residential and care homes, but...