• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

Thank you. So when you say no, you think it is unacceptable for you to leave your coffee cup on a Tube when you have finished drinking it.

• Question by: Trevor Phillips
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

How else would you get to read Metro, for God's sake? Are you aware of the practice here at Westminster of having two people holding the plastic bags? Do you know why that is, and doesn't it seem like a massive waste of somebody's life to stand for hours holding a plastic bag for rubbish?

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

I am glad that you do not think it acceptable behaviour, and that you have apologised to London if indeed you did do that. The serious point is that the present situation is inadequate. You talk about having new receptacles and working groups looking at that. Are you aware of the bomb-proof bins that have been unveiled, and the amount of money that that could save the Underground when eventually it comes under Londoners' control? Are you also aware that London Underground managers say - in fact, we received evidence here - that it is unauthorised to have bags tied...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

It is worth clarifying that we were hosted by ALG leaders, obviously grateful for our work in checking the Mayor's inflationary Budget from its original 33% proposal to a far more reasonable 22.6% - most of which is going on valuable policing, which is welcomed by borough leaders in my area. It was a high-calorie, liquid dinner, at which we had a very enjoyable time. The Labour group members did not fete the ALG leaders at all.

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

I understand that, at the recent Labour spring conference in Glasgow, at a dinner which Labour GLA Members gave for borough leaders, Meg Hillier stood there welcoming them one by one with the words, "I'm dreadfully sorry; I'm very sorry; I am so sorry." [Laughter.] I understand also that one borough leader was heard to remark to Lord Harris over dessert, "Is that 22% or 33% fat-free, Toby?" Would the Mayor recognise that this has caused serious discord. In my borough, I am forced into the rather invidious position of defending the Mayor's honour in the face of the most...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

The points of principle that you accepted in the earlier exchanges on the PPP - that it is always better to discuss and negotiate, and to try to find points of consensus - is really a modus operandi that we need to try to establish across London. I hope that you will take the point that an annual punch-up with the boroughs about the Budget is not just a destructive and negative way of going about budget discussions: there is, as you say, a wider framework of co-operative working that we need to pursue with the boroughs - on housing...

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

Do, because I don't know of any.

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

I want to go back not simply on how the Budget bedded down at the end of the day, but on the concordat that you have with the boroughs and how things are carried out. We have been hearing rumours - things are coming up through the woodwork - that the concordat that has been agreed is not now being continued. It is that discussion. It is not simply that we have a jolly meal with the leaders of the ALG, because we try to have a good negotiation and good consultation with them. But that is not being carried...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

Can I return to the serious point, which relates to your relationship with the ALG? If you are serious about rebuilding bridges with the ALG in the light of the Budget process, and the presence of Sir Robin Wales - who I assume it is - in your Cabinet is to be more than a token, how do you reconcile his valued advice with the stance of members of your staff, who have described the ALG as "putting forward totally untenable and absurd figures from day one"; as having "lost all credibility with us"; and as indulging in "megaphone campaigning"...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 28 February 2001

I did not intend this to drag on as long as it obviously is going to. Can I suggest, Ken, that good negotiations require an accurate understanding of the other side's position? Both as a former council leader and as an active participant on the ALG Leader's Committees, I have to say that that was not an accurate representation of people's positions. The boroughs are broadly enthusiastic for the creation of a strategic London authority, because the boroughs alone cannot deliver certain services and developments. As boroughs, we were constantly banging our heads on a glass ceiling. The GLA is...