Greater London Authority Bill

No. As I said to the hon. Gentleman before, he has made many interventions and others want to speak. We in Bexley take recycling and waste management seriously. We are looking to do better. We had a household recycling target of 41.6 per cent., which we achieved. That is pretty good news. Bexley is doing that without the need for the Mayor to direct us or dictate to us to do it. We are a beacon—an example—of how that can be done by a local council. It does not need a diktat from above. As my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham said, there are parts of the Bill that we want to scrutinise and improve because we are trying to be constructive. We do not intend to be destructive. We want to get the best for London and for all the residents of London, and we want to be able to debate the Bill in a rational and reasonable way. We do not want partisan nonsense. That is why I endorse the comments of the hon. Member for Vauxhall. I shall not speak for too long, as others want to participate. The Mayor already has a considerable job to do on transport, crime, the Olympics—all subjects that should exercise his mind and occupy him more, perhaps, than they do. As we heard from colleagues, he tends to get distracted. In my area there is great concern about the Olympic levy. Pensioners, those on limited and fixed incomes, and those with young families are extremely worried. They are being asked to pay for an open-ended commitment, which the Mayor thinks will not be that much. He does not understand their concerns. Pensioners in particular are anxious and want the Mayor to reconsider. Giving the Mayor more power and responsibilities will deflect him from what we think he should be doing better. The Bill could make matters worse for people in my constituency. Centralising power and taking it away from good local councils like mine, will not serve the interests of good government. We must examine the Bill seriously and objectively. I am sure that in Committee it will be well scrutinised by my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), who is on the Front Bench, listening and taking in all our comments. I believe that it is a mistake to expand the roles of the Mayor and the GLA, as the Bill does, because the consequences will be detrimental to democracy and good governance of London.