• 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...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

Earlier you mentioned wanting a level of BTP on overland stations that we have the right to expect. I am very impressed with the work being done by Tim O'Toole (Managing Director, London Underground Limited) and London Underground in getting more BTP to respond to the needs of the Underground. Have you had any conversations with the BTP prior to the setting up of a BTP Authority? What work are you doing or do you plan to do to try to improve the performance of the BTP? I relate this particularly to Walthamstow Central, which is one of the stations...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

Those bigger issues aside for the moment, although I agree with you in principle, I do think that the Capital Standards' system that you have put in place to provide leadership for the boroughs in trying to raise the standards of litter and graffiti removal in London has been very good. I think there is a case for doing a similar initiative of trying to pull together the responsible organisations, the TOCs and so forth, to put together a project and try to get them to raise their own game in advance of what you might be suggesting. Certainly, I...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 25 February 2004

One of the things that is becoming apparent is the general security situation and environment of the Tube stations. You mentioned the Metro pilot stations which TfL is putting money into on the overground. They are getting better, but the poor standard of the overground stations in the rest of London becomes increasingly apparent. There are people living in the areas that are not well served by the Tube or the Metro pilots who are suffering much lower standards of safety and security of environment and it is becoming increasingly obvious. I recently did a survey of one ward in...