• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Tony Arbour AM (Deputy Chairman): Yes. Like Nicky Gavron, I am afraid I am disappointed by what appears to be your change of tack. In effect you are making a point that the previous Minister made on this, who said effectively that homes were more important than jobs. There is no point in creating lots of homes if there are no local appropriate jobs for people to go to. Secondly, so far as this is concerned, and I know that it affects my Conservative colleagues and I would have thought it would affect you too, it has been a staple...

• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: Thank you. You mentioned earlier that there were measures you are bringing in, many of which may well be welcome, but I recommend the measures in our cross-party Future Proof report, and hopefully you will adopt all of our recommendations. I want to focus on passenger safety, which is absolutely paramount, but I have had it reported to me that there are drivers in London working for this Uber app who are licensed elsewhere; they are licensed in Birmingham and Manchester. They are not licensed by TfL. They do not have the roundel, but they are...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Roger Evans AM: Thank you, Chair. I, a couple of weeks ago, had a meeting with black cab drivers from Romford who came to City Hall to tell me about their personal experiences, and I ended up giving them a couple of hours because it was an absolutely shattering story, and it is absolutely terrible to see people who are seeing their livelihoods disappear in front of them feel powerless to be able to do anything about it. Next week I am going to go out with them to see enforcement taking place in the West End, such as it...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Roger Evans AM: Thank you, Chair. Are you aware, Mr Mayor, that the Labour Party has published a shortlist of people whom it wants to consider to stand to be Mayor of London next year? Boris Johnson MP (Mayor of London): Gosh. Roger Evans AM: That list includes David Lammy, who is the MP for Tottenham, Sadiq Khan, who is the MP for Tooting, and Diane Abbott, who is the MP for Hackney. If any of those people were to become Mayor next year, they would still have four years of their jobs in Parliament to run and so in...

• Question by: Andrew Boff
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Andrew Boff AM: Mr Mayor, the Labour Party during the general election campaign was willing to see the National Health Service (NHS) starved of the vital funds that it actually needed and that would really affect Londoners. Can I persuade you to stand up for Londoners for the best excesses of the Government and ensure that that £8 billion that the NHS so vitally needs is there, and perhaps also persuade you, Mr Mayor, that in your final year as Mayor you actually persuade the Labour group here of the value of the NHS to Londoners and that they need...

• Question by: Fiona Twycross
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Fiona Twycross AM: Thank you, yes. How are you planning to stand up for Londoners on zero-hours contracts, who suffer as a result of the Government’s anticipated £12 billion cuts in social security?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Roger Evans AM: Thank you, Chair. I was pleased to hear you refer to Abellio Greater Anglia services, which my constituents in Havering and Redbridge have to use to get home from Liverpool Street every evening. The service has been deteriorating quite badly for the last couple of years and this is largely down to poor standard of rolling stock, which is getting old, and poor maintenance. Will you urge MTR, which is now operating the route, to introduce the new rolling stock that is going to be available from Crossrail really as soon as possible so that they can...

• Question by: Tom Copley
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Tom Copley AM: Thank you. Mr Mayor, there is a reason why we have not heard an awful lot from the Government about this new extension of right to buy since the election and that is because it has absolutely no clue how it is going to implement it. This is one of the policies that your party was hoping to drop in coalition negotiations with Assembly Member Knight’s party. There is a good reason why it has not been talked about and that is because it is incredibly difficult to deliver. Of course, you have equivocated on this. On...

• Question by: Steve O'Connell
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Steve O’Connell AM: Mr Mayor, certainly you personally can be proud of your record on affordable homes over your tenure. Moving on, this has been a very good debate. This is an issue that is very, very important. I welcome it in principle and I do not think we should forget or lose sight of the benefit that right to buy has given to many working-class people over many years. I spent the first 24 years of my life in Bellingham Estate. Over that period of time, I saw some neighbours buying their homes ‑‑ Boris Johnson MP (Mayor of...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 21 May 2015

Darren Johnson AM: You, yourself, Mayor, have said that there are legitimate concerns about this right-to-buy policy. Assembly Member Knight and Assembly Member Copley have both raised a number of serious concerns and flaws. Will you ask your officers here at City Hall for an assessment of the impact that it is likely to have on your Affordable Homes Programme?