• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 21 June 2006

With regard to the Assembly's report on affordable housing, I am the Vice-Chair of that committee and the comments and the analysis in the Evening Standard, I felt, were completely in the opposite direction to the findings of the report, which was a sensible all-party report. One of the criticisms that was made and that I would ask you if you would like to have an opportunity rebut, was that it accused the Mayor of failing to define what `affordable' means. The report calls for a tighter definition of affordable housing, while the analysis in the report suggests that what...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 21 June 2006

Thank you. It is useful to know that you will in fact be taking the report seriously, and will not be put off by the inaccurate spin that was put on the coverage.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

Do you think therefore that the tram was nothing to do with Labour's defeat?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

Which ones did you save?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

The Deputy Prime Minister, and Charles Clarke, and indeed Tessa Jowell (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport), and (Peter) Mandelson (former Cabinet Minister), Formula 1 racing. None of these issues came up on the doorstep, Mayor. However, there is an old saying that `Greater love hath no man than he lays down the life of his friends for his own.' Do you have any form of guilt over laying down the lives of the Labour councillors in Ealing in the route of your tram?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

If you look at the wards along the route of the tram, Mayor, I think of places in Ealing such as Hobbayne and Elthorne, where we have never held Conservative councillor seats, which we took, and Acton Central where there were clear issues around the tram and it was there. I would have thought you would have appeared just once, either carrying a red flag or a white one.

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

That was without your presence. I wonder why, Mayor, you did not visit any of those three boroughs during the course of the local elections to indeed argue in favour for your tram?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

Your faith in opinion polls is most touching, Mayor.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

It worked though, did it not?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

The fact is that nobody apart from Richard Barnes predicted that Ealing would fall to the Conservatives. The predictions I saw were that Labour would squeak in or that they would get no overall control. In fact, the Conservatives got a resounding majority.