• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

I am not going to elevate the discussion by getting into the details. It is absolutely fine for Assembly Members to deal with press enquiries. But on the issue of people who have approached me and other Assembly Members with concerns about preferred bidders and on tendering, there are organisations that have done that and that is important information that we need to act on. Other Assembly Members have acted on it.

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

You have meetings with officers and developers in private that are not open to the public, and that does not happen in local authority planning meetings.

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

For someone who was initially opposed to the whole concept of directly elected Mayors, Londoners are asked to put a huge amount of trust in you: your ability to waive the procurement procedures; the private meetings you have with developers, and you make planning decisions in private meetings. Londoners are asked to put an awful amount of trust in you.

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

Can we just then return to value for money? Do you understand why those procedures are there in terms of value for money? Because I am not sure on one of the unanswered questions that we chose not to. If you read the report closely, it was a technical report rather than a political report aimed directly at your office and your role. It is about process if you read it properly. Do you understand that part of the back?up in moving towards a single contractor is about establishing the value for money case?

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

And there lies the problem. It is not about asking for the Hindu Times or the Jewish Chronicle to undertake this work, and it is not about Smurfit's ability to raise sponsorship that is in question, because one of the other issues that came to light is that once Smurfit entered into this joint venture they then subcontracted most of the organisation work to non?Irish groups it seems, I might be wrong on that. However, we were told by officers that one of the reasons was because of their unique position about sponsorship, but also their ability to carry out...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

But your planning decision meetings are held in private and the public does not have access to those. Of course, Londoners have to trust you as an individual as Mayor, that is why they elected you, but they also must be able to trust the procedures that you follow. I have a concern that whilst Londoners may trust you as an individual, they have some genuine concerns about the procedures.

• Question by: Brian Coleman
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

It is not fitting for the Mayor to insult members of the Assembly in a personal manner, whatever party they come from. I am sorry, I do think you should intervene and call the Mayor to order, because it is not fitting that he should start casting aspersions about Members of this Assembly. This is question time; it is for the Assembly to quiz the Mayor on his actions and not to cast personal aspersions about any behaviour of Assembly Members.

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

Sometimes people want to approach you on something and they do not want it going through the system in that way, because they feel it would mark their card "

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

So you tear up a very clear and unambiguous commitment you gave and, obviously, you are now seeking re?election. Can I try and move us on? The reason that the Assembly unanimously, and all the parties in the Assembly's Budget Committee endorsed the report at our last meeting without any comment or equivocation, is that we are all united in expressing very serious concerns about certain aspects of the procurement policies. This is about protecting you from yourself. It is about having a robust system so that nobody can lay accusations of the sort of corruption in America. Why will...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 18 June 2003

Chair, that is ridiculous and offensive.