• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

So is this a fair deal for London, or is it "rip-off London"? What is it?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Samantha Heath: I want to return to the subject of partners. I gathered from what you said that your principal partners in the "Fair Deal for London" campaign happen to be the ALG and the business community. When is Travers going to finish his work? The Mayor: Today. Samantha Heath: How are you going to sit down with the ALG and the business community so that they have full sight of what you will be saying on Monday, so that they can be full partners?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

One last question, on police funding, since you mention it. Are you aware that the Home Office has recently reconvened what I think they call the allocation formula working party; and that one of the decisions they are likely to take - literally in the next few weeks, before the summer break - is to implement the last stage of that formula which has shifted resources so much away from London; and that that one decision alone will cost the Metropolitan Police Service £20 million next year? What are you doing to tackle that specific issue?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

That is absolutely right. Nevertheless, we have the system we have at the moment, and as you will know very well, over the next few weeks - literally the next few weeks - Government Departments are working out the allocations of those substantial grants for the different parts of the country and different local authorities. What detailed work are we doing with the civil servants who are doing that so as to battle for a better share for London?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

When letters and literature go out in the name of the campaign "Fair Deal for London", how are you and your advisers going to make sure that the partners are properly and fully informed beforehand?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Would you agree that it is not so much competing with the other parts of the country for a greater share of Government handouts that matters, as actually working with other parts of the country to persuade Government to allow those areas to raise and retain more of their own money? Is that not the positive slant on this - to give you particularly greater power to raise revenue?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Have you, then, agreed a campaign strategy for how you are going to go about a "Fair Deal for London" campaign and share a platform with various members of the partnership you are talking about?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

So how are you going to sit down and agree the principal messages you will be discussing on Monday with the full partners?

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Listening to you, it sounds a bit as though you might fall into the trap of pitting one part of the country against another. I cannot believe that you are doing this, but I think that a "fair deal for London" case should be bound up with the case for a fair deal for the country. London is the United Kingdom's only chance of a world city. Especially in the global economy, it has massive opportunities for creating GDP for this country. We have just brought out together "Policy Directions for London", which shows that, if we go on as...

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

So why are you debating in Carlton, then, with the Scots?