• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

Do you feel the Assembly should unite in condemning the practices of a council which spends TfL money to remove traffic calming and pedestrian crossings from a stretch of road, considering TfL and London taxpayers have spent money on calming and safety issues for local residents in the last two or three years?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

If I could develop Darren Johnson's question about what you are going to do about this, clearly the GLA works on the basis of partnership with the boroughs and each year each borough is meant to submit to you a strategy for transport spending within its boundaries. I believe that you have reserve powers you can exercise in respect of that. How close are you to exercising such powers in respect of Barnet?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

Following the principle of a satirical news programme, I wonder whether the Assembly should keep a statutory tub of lard available to be put in the seats of absentees on occasions like this. The question is about the adequacy of consultation in the case of Barnet Council. In asking this question, I think we should note that earlier Angie Bray held up, almost biblically, the TfL consultation strategy document as a model of good practice. Do you think that Barnet follows that model?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

In terms of dealing with off-the-wall comments about cyclists, in last week's budget debate the Labour group leader, Toby Harris, commenting on our budget proposals to increase the cycling budget mentioned that the Greens want to give an extra £8.5 million to `fascist cyclists'. Do you think those are appropriate comments for the Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority to be making?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

So are you saying you will stop their road maintenance grant if they do not come up with a sensible policy?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

It is not only an attack on cyclists, because they have illegally re-opened a road and got into trouble over that. That seems to have been ideology gone mad. They have been taking out traffic calming measures and putting drivers over pedestrians in new schemes that are coming forward. What are you going to do?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

So if Brian Coleman makes off-the-wall, offensive, totally way-out, ideologically mad comments about cyclists that is unacceptable, but if your Labour colleague Toby Harris makes equally off-the-wall remarks that is perfectly okay, is it?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

Remember you were taking it from the TfL budget.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

To follow your logic, if that were the case you should not have provided the 200. We are suggesting that you could have provided 500 for less cost to the Council Tax payer. Why not look at that again?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

I am grateful that you recognise the importance of ensuring personal security for people who depend upon the London suburban rail network, which is particularly important for those of us who represent constituencies in south London. And that you recognise that, to some extent, by the allocation of 200 extra transport police officers. Given the size of the network, would it not be logical to follow that through and adopt the proposal in the Conservative alternative budget to provide 500? And indeed in the Liberal Democrats' budget. The initial Conservative suggestion of 500 extra BTP officers specifically to patrol the...