• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

Maybe information could be posted at points of entry, particularly the airports, and maybe Londoners could be encouraged not to be embarrassed to ask whose bag that is.

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

I do not know, but I suspect the reason for a drop in visitors from elsewhere in the United Kingdom (UK) to London is partly, of course, fear of possibly being caught in an incident, but much more of it is about perceptions of travel difficulties as a result. Indeed, we still experience travel difficulties. What can we do, do you think, to counteract that perception ' and indeed, that reality sometimes ' that travel in London and around London is not only safe, but is not as inconvenient as sometimes people imagine?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

In terms of the emergency services and the staff on the various different transport services, they have been working at full capacity and beyond capacity ' particularly the police and the other emergency services ' now for a considerable period of time. Many have been working overtime for more than is reasonable. How long will that continue, and what plans are there, then, to take on the actions that are required?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

The next practical thing I wanted to move onto was the relief fund, if I may. Now that it is up and running, how are we actually going to work out how that is going to operate, how one decides how the monies are to be disbursed, what criteria? Have we started to take legal advice as to how that can be operated, because it can be a bit of a difficult area?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

I echo your view that things could have been a lot worse, given the terrible atrocity that took place, but one of the reasons why it was not so bad was precisely because of ' Roger Evans (AM) has referred to it ' the power outage being seen to be the problem. That is why people on the Underground system did not panic, because they had seen and experienced those before. It may happen again, in which case panic may set in. What plans are there to try to combat that?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

Can I ask one final, somewhat unrelated question, then, which is about tourism? Graham Tope asked a question about the effects on tourism, and we have all had lots of messages and emails from across the Atlantic. A lot of Americans feel a sense of solidarity with us. It might be useful for you to give a message to Americans, in whose eyes you now appear as a solid figure ' a counter to George Galloway (MP, Bethnal Green and Bow), perhaps, I do not know ' to say that one of the greatest tributes that they can give to...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

If it turns out that more fire coverage is needed in central London to deal with the terrorist threat, you would support the funding for that?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

Could I just follow that up briefly? I welcome your comments. Interestingly, in London there have been a number of initiatives in the last few years, which almost pre-date the meeting yesterday in setting the ball rolling about disengagement, the aspirations of youth, and discrimination in the job markets, and so on. It seems to me that locally we have a job, because of London's nature. We also have the ability, uniquely, to be an international beacon, because we are such a relatively successful city, in terms of our multi-cultural and multi-racial nature, in pioneering and developing ways in which...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

I would share that with you, and I think the Assembly could distinguish itself, for a change, if it carried out such a piece of work. The second question I had is about the support we are giving to and the consultations and discussions we are having with Muslim Londoners in particular. I know that you have been involved in a number of meetings and initiatives ' and indeed, I have ' and I know that other Assembly Members have as well. I was wondering if you wanted to pass comment on the summit that took place yesterday in Downing...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 20 July 2005

Mayor, would you not say that, in fact, the preparations that LFEPA has made ' which have been supported by yourself and this Assembly ' in terms of providing new equipment ' and there were 10 specialist rescue units and specialist facilities to move along the tracks, for example ' has actually proven, in this instance, to have been accurately anticipated and that LFEPA was very, very well prepared? Would you join me in saying it is very unfortunate that the FBU ' which is entitled in a democratic society to question and challenge what its employers are doing '...