• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

If you did not get the funding from central Government "and, after all, you do not always get what you ask for " we have calculated that you may well need to more than double the precept to fill that gap. Is that an option that you are considering?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I can understand that, but of course it is the role of this Assembly to ensure that you are managing your finances in a prudent fashion and that you have plans to deal with the situation if it should materialise. If you were not willing to raise the precept you would either have to increase bus fares, or we have calculated, cut more than a half of the bus routes in London. Have you considered those options?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

In the past four years, you have actually spent more on strengthening road bridges for 40-tonne trucks than you have on cycling and on safe routes to school. It sounds to me as though TfL's priorities are not designed for average Londoners. I am very curious about when you are going to put all the soft options for safe routes to school and cycling and walking into TfL's baseline budget, which it does not have at the moment. All these things are very vital to the quality of life but they are treated as just `top ups' that are desirable...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

Perhaps if you read some military history in your leisure time over the summer recess, you might become aware of the fact that all consistently successful generals are in fact those who plan for all eventualities. Against that background, what eventualities are you planning for to deal with the reality that TfL's own figures show that the bus division will be running at a deficit of about £0.75 billion in 2004/05, rising to £1 billion in 2009/10. If the Government does not give you a bail out, what are the alternatives? What plans do you have in view either to...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

With the same success as with Crossrail?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

Of course, the difference is that generals are not democratically accountable; the Mayor of London is, and it is public money that you are dealing with. So we are entitled to ask what your alternative is and how you would deal with it. Are you going to inform us as to what those alternatives are so that we can scrutinise the effectiveness of your lobbying on London's behalf?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

Then you would have a mandate to introduce it anywhere. Will we be seeing it in Bromley?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

`Some" might be regarded by people as an understatement because if you aggregate the figures for those parties in the west central constituency who were opposed to the extension of the Congestion Charge, nearly 61% of those who voted rejected your Congestion Charge. Angie Bray, who you said would lose her seat if she persisted in her opposition, actually had the largest swing in her favour of any sitting Member, and though I say it myself, now enjoys the largest share of the popular vote of any sitting Member of the Assembly. Do you not think that might just be...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

The majority of them did in West Central, that is precisely the point, and you want to ignore it.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

There is some very interesting selective thinking there. I notice you omit the fact that Steve Norris (Conservative Mayoral candidate) tripled his lead over you in the West Central constituency. I notice you forget your previous assertions that opinion polls did not count one way or the other and it was not a referendum. You might be interested to know that Angie Bray (AM) has carried out a survey in the constituency that shows your much-vaunted TfL consultation was not received by 42% of the residents that were contacted and something like 81% are opposed to the extension of the...