• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

You need to factor in the economic costs of congestion. That's precisely the argument used with the congestion charge and you need to apply it to the North Circular as well. If you can do that and you can explain to Londoners how it's going to work, saving them money, they'll be delighted.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

Can I just conclude then? I'm taking it from what you're saying that if those sort of wicked boundary issues about the effects of rat running on boundary areas, on people with low incomes who have to travel across that boundary regularly to get their kids to school or whatever, if all of those issues can't be tackled and addressed properly and you can't demonstrate to London that they can be dealt with fairly, you would be minded not to proceed with this scheme. The other part of the question is about the more affluent Londoners, it's not people on...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

That's a somewhat worrying answer because I think the Labour position, as distinct from the Tory position, is that we have no problem whatsoever with the principle of the congestion charge and we think that it is probably an answer to the problems of congestion in central London, but you've got to get the details right. You've got to get them right in two regards. One is all those wicked issues about people on low incomes, about people who live on the edge of the zone, about rat-running, about the air quality effect of this. All that sort of detail...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

I think the first question here is somewhat separate from the others, which is that a lot of us in London are thinking that this project is bigger than you, and in particular Derek Turner, seem to think it is. Just because you could describe it on a fag packet or a beer mat doesn't mean that it's going to be easy to pull together because it requires all sorts of clever electronic systems to talk to one another. It requires retail outlets, like with the National Lottery, but cleverer, to issue tickets, it requires Mrs Bloggs to get a...

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

I want to congratulate you on this visionary scheme of course. It's clearly common sense and I'm very excited to see the congestion charge coming in. I think you're going to manage to get it in as well. I think that you'll do whatever it takes. But of course a lot of the problem though will be in the detail of this. I'm just wondering how much help you're getting from organisations like the DVLA because I think that they're going to play a very crucial part in the whole thing being effective.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

But fairness has to also be a driving force and if I could just finally ask you about a point I think was raised by Val Shawcross the last time we were all discussing congestion and that is on the problem faced by those people who need to take their vehicles to work because they work strange hours and at least one of their journeys, either in or out, will mean they cross a camera when it's on. A lot of those people aren't people who can easily afford £5 every time they make that journey. Of course I'd have...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

Isn't the whole problem of exemptions for you that in a sense there's a lot of pressure on you to give exemptions to all kinds of groups, often with good reasons? And perhaps you're minded to do so partly because you like the good headlines, but also partly because you're hoping to buy as much support for this whole project as you possibly can. Of course the more that you actually exempt, the less money you're going to make and, particularly in terms of residents in the central charging zone where you've given them a 90% exemption, or reduction I...

• Question by: Brian Coleman
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

So it is roughly right; it is just paraphrased. Does this not, though, take on the wider issue that you as Mayor have a habit of saying whatever seems to suit the ethnic community you are addressing at the time?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 18 July 2001

John, you said that you wanted to see the strategy published as soon as possible. The Mayor said previously that he wanted to avoid the construction of new incinerators in London. Do you think that the draft document in its present form makes the construction of new incinerators unnecessary, or do you believe that that is inevitable in London?

• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 18 July 2001

That is not the information I had, but I accept what you are saying. Will you now make sure that the boroughs are all fully aware of what is going on, and take their comments on board?