• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

I would like to follow up Len's last question, if that's agreeable with my colleagues, in a number of ways. I think Londoners will, by and large, strongly support all of these transport initiatives and improvements and they will welcome the growth in bus services, the plans for new infrastructure and so on and so on. But they will ask themselves whether Mr Livingstone has really sweated the assets and has really grappled with the prioritisation that is needed to make sure that they don't get hit in their wallets unless it's really necessary. Government grant has increased by £5.5...

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

We've heard from Bob Kiley this morning about some of the internal disciplines. Can you just outline to us about the board's involvement in budget preparation and are they overseeing the finances of TfL?

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

Can we then move on to some of the balances? Moving on from Sally's point of view and cover the issues between inner London and outer London and about some of the policies that you'd like to see on the allocation of these CSOs in terms of the visible policing. Where is the allocation likely to go in terms of the outcome of this budget? What discussions have you had with the MPS around that deployment?

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

If we agree with the consensus about improvements in terms of managing the budgets within the police, can you tell us how you intend to work with the MPA or give guidance on future investment in police services, of (1) making sure that the MPS sticks to what they say they're going to do with the money and don't get diverted by short-time crises, i.e. the civilianisation policy; (2) what is your thinking about MPA hold back of sums of money as well? Can you just give us some of your thinking around that?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 26 March 2003

You made the point that Londoners can judge. Well that judgment depends on who they believe, does it not? KEN LIVINGSTONE: Yes. GRAHAM TOPE: And we are not, as is observed, in a position or are equipped to make that judgment. We are agreed about that. Given the gravity of the behaviour by the Evening Standard that you suggest -- it cannot really get much more serious can it - your allegations about the paper? And you agree too that if the allegation were well founded you could not continue in office could you? Against that background do you still...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 26 March 2003

I understand that because it is common ground between all of us, not just the behaviour, which would be disgraceful, but the suggestion of putting pressure on someone to change a statement and put out something false, would be disgraceful and misleading the Assembly, which was implicit. You have made your position clear as far as that is concerned. Can you just help me about this: given that Mr Hedges, I think you were quoted in the press, was in a vulnerable situation, would he have been better perhaps to have got some third party to have dealt with the...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 26 March 2003

: What you are making quite clear to the Assembly is that this is not one of those incidents where there is scope for confusion or misunderstanding. These are outright lies, there is no argument about that. Allegations which if true, and I appreciate what you have said, would clearly be allegations of disgraceful conduct.

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 26 March 2003

Can I just thank the Mayor for that very long and detailed explanation. I am extremely grateful for it. I have only got one question, really, Ken. Are you going to sue the Standard?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 26 March 2003

Can I thank you Mr Mayor for being so frank with us today. I understand why you do not want to sue, for libel presumably, the Evening Standard. Have you considered referring it to the Press Complaints Commission?

• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 26 March 2003

TOBY HARRIS: I hope it was of reasonable quality. KEN LIVINGSTONE: It was, it was. TOBY HARRIS: Clearly the last few weeks have been enormously diverting in terms of your time and energy, in terms certainly of distraction. This has been a period when you have been launching the draft Spatial Development Strategy. Can you give us some indication of the extent to which have you have been occupied in dealing with these matters when perhaps you might have been dealing with the business of London?