• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

May I pursue one point, Ken? You have made the point that the increase in the precept for the police - the two areas of expenditure which you hopefully outlined to the Budget Committee last week - amounts, by my calculation, to £10.61, rounding it up, which is not far off a 7% increase in the precept in its own terms. You may know that that was the level of increase in the precept that our group proposed last year, as it happens, for the policing.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

Does going up to people and calling them "dishonest" and "misrepresenters" and "liars" count as an overture towards them?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

The Chair: The question was about working with them on developing "The case for London", but I will leave it - The Mayor: On that we all agree. There is no problem on that. The Chair: Will you be making overtures to them about how you -

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

Ken, could you answer the point about working with the London boroughs on the case for London? You have made quite clear your irritation with the response to what happened last year, and have been urged in the Budget Committee to work with the London boroughs as closely as possible. We have already heard today about the need to work in partnership with the boroughs to implement strategies. So could you tell the Assembly how you are working with the boroughs on this issue?

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

Mr Mayor, I seem to have missed some point in this. I agree: I deplore any loss of Government grant, whichever Government takes it from London, and I will make the case and fight my corner on that. But why do we have to assume that every loss of Government grant has to be picked up by the precept? By your own admission, there are savings to be found in other organisations. Surely a debate needs to be had before we automatically assume that that is what we should do. Are you prepared to have that debate?

• Question by: Victor Anderson
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

And the boroughs? And the private sector?

• Question by: Victor Anderson
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

On the implementation of the environmental strategies, you have told us that you hope that it will be paid for by the boroughs or the private sector or the Government. Will you know what their replies are at the time that you publish your draft Budget?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

I am surprised that you show such a fascination with popularity: it makes you more new Labour than "Independent Ken", doesn't it? The Mayor: I would rather know I was up than down. [Laughter.] Andrew Pelling: Whatever your standing in the opinion polls, do you think, then, that Londoners can afford to pay double the precept?

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

Now we come to the real strategy, in terms of the Budget. If you are as successful with the case for London as you were over PPP, we cannot expect much, can we? Therefore, given that you said last year that the high precept - in fact, at 27% I think the highest precept ever charged in local or regional government in this country - was a one-off because of the start-up, can you guarantee that this year there will be no large precept?

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

So, finally, you are admitting that there will be a substantial increase on the precept, and that Londoners are going to have to pay for the failures of this Labour Government to restore the cuts you say other Governments made, or might even have to pay for further cuts to London grant as money is taken out of London to go elsewhere. And your campaign to get money back is an abject failure already. We have seen nothing for months about it. You started off with this great London debate between yourself, London business and the City Corporation; I have...