• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

But you probably know as well as I do, Mr Mayor, that the Treasury is telling the Home Office to contain its increases in grants to about 2.5%, roughly the level of inflation. I can see what you are doing is building up a campaign to identify what the costs are and say "Yes, this is what I want to do" and then come March, just before the vote, saying "But we cannot do it now" and putting it off and putting it off. I think you are trying to hoodwink Londoners, Mr Mayor.

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

It is interesting that you should raise policing again, Mr Mayor, because it is clearly an issue that exercises all of us and you talk quite happily about the step change. If you do not get Government grant for step change, which will cost about £750 million over the period, are you prepared to put that onto the precept, raising what Londoners pay per head from £50 to nearly £200 per head?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

But however short of money you are, you are going to persevere with this bridge, which is going to soak up hundreds of millions of pounds of money, is going to lead to huge traffic increases in the area, is going to make people ill and it going to do absolutely nothing to regenerate the local economies there or create jobs.

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

If you do not get the money you want from Central Government, will you abandon plans for the Thames Gateway Bridge?

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

The gamble then is an extra increase in Government grant whatever happens and you have not denied that there are going to be Council Tax increases if you get back, so that is fine. What if the Government in general election year " the year after the election for mayor " cannot cough up this extra money because of commitments it may have in other parts of the world, let us say for instance, and therefore you do not get this grant? Does that mean we are going to get the cuts that already seem to be going ahead or...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

I must say, Chair, I do not know how long this is going to go on but I am quite happy to spend two and a half hours duelling on this. I must say that the Mayor has clearly had a much more sheltered and naïve electoral life than, I suspect, anyone else in this chamber if he has never experienced any of this before. Certainly, I have experienced it time and time again from the Conservative and Labour parties over the last 30 years. Chair, I have a list here of false claims made by the Labour candidate. I...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

Well, I am sorry to hear that, Chair, because there were four claims made where it was proved that Labour have made misleading statements. I think the Mayor is right in one thing: this does presage the campaign for next year, which, as with tomorrow, will again result in a Liberal Democrat victory next June. That clearly is what is really bothering the Mayor today.

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

I think, Chair, all I need to say is thank you very much to the Mayor. He has now given the headline for today and tomorrow: London Mayor predicts Liberal Democrat victory in Brent East. Otherwise, why would the Mayor, who happens to live in Brent East and probably knows what the result is going to be tomorrow, use his oral update solely to speak about a by-election campaign in one constituency? Perhaps, as this is Question Time, I should ask the Mayor whether he saw Newsnight last night and would like to comment on Michael Crick's report on the...

• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

I was waiting for the Mayor to respond to Eric Ollerenshaw's question. My question follows on from Eric's because I think Eric raises a very interesting point about the nature of local in the context of London politics. Obviously, London is a mixture of villages and different localities and I would welcome the Mayor's views on the importance of local links and local relationships of people who stand for public office. In particular, obviously he is aware of the long record of Robert Evans's links with Northwest London as a former MEP and the untiring work that he has done...

• Question by: Noel Lynch
• Meeting date: 17 September 2003

Will you sign the international petition calling for a truly independent scientific panel to look into this?