• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

Ken, you briefly touched on the issue of public transport around Heathrow. Will the CrossRail fares be more affordable than the Heathrow express fares, which are high? Secondly, is TfL going to do something about the total lack of integrated transport around Heathrow? I recently flew back from Stockholm to Heathrow, and I did not have my car there, as I had left from Gatwick. It took me two hours to fly 888 miles from Stockholm; but it took me two hours on a Sunday to get from Heathrow to Surbiton, a distance of seven miles. Clearly people are going...

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

May I first welcome your comments, Mr Mayor, on the voles at Heathrow and the danger that they and other native species face across London - and, indeed, across the country - and your implied, if not expressed, support for hunting to eradicate wild mink, which no doubt the Greens and their compatriots have let loose. [Laughter.] Darren Johnson: We completely oppose the release of mink from those farms, and our statements are on record. Richard Barnes: Would you allow us to hunt them to get rid of them? I am not surprised by your comment, Mr Mayor, about tax...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

I will definitely find out. Just one final question. Obviously this topic of debate was tabled before the tragic events last week, so I do not want to dwell on them, but they show the terrible consequences of an air disaster over a very densely populated area. Is it time, do you think, to look at the number of flights over London and whether these are in safe boundaries, given the huge numbers involved and the fact that concerns have repeatedly been expressed about the safety of flights over London?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

Will you respond to the Government consultation on that on behalf of the GLA?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

With the commitment that you just gave Louise Bloom, Mr Mayor, could you identify how on earth you can square your commitment to integration with your abolition of the integration team at TfL? What assurances do we have that you will put that high on your list of priorities?

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

I will ask just one question, then. I am astonished that you suggest that we should have two new taxes on Heathrow - the congestion charge and a tax on aviation fuel - in the current circumstances, when Londoners are losing their jobs in the air industry, and bearing in mind that British Airways, in its submission to US authorities considering the BA/American Airlines link-up, made the point that London Heathrow was losing its status as the main hub in Europe, and we are losing business to other hubs. What are you going to do to boost Heathrow's competitive position?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 September 2001

We are seeing the negative impacts at all levels. I am told that the proposals to divert the flow of the rivers will result in the loss of a colony of water voles that have recently been discovered. There is a consultation on the diversion of the twin rivers. Will you, as Mayor, respond to that consultation to ensure that that habitat is not destroyed, should Terminal 5 go ahead?

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

So why doesn't he want to meet you?

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

Why are there so few visits to Paris? Don't the people in Paris want to meet you?

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

I appreciate that the Mayor of Moscow has more powers, and can aspire to more powers, than our Mayor, and indeed has the ability to stop privatisation of the Tube there. But don't you think that the number of visits is a little excessive? We have enough problems and issues here in London to deal with, without sending staff off to Moscow so frequently.