Greater London Authority Bill

This is one of many debates that we have had over the years on London government. Since the 19th century there have been numerous debates about the demand for semi-autonomous local government in London, but there is a continuum, a thread, running through all of our history: every stage of the development of a centralised form of government in London has been opposed by the Tory party. The Tories opposed the establishment of the Metropolitan board of works. They opposed the establishment of the London county council. They opposed the establishment of the Greater London council. They had an aberration when they abolished the GLC, and we sat through hours of debate in the House while they destroyed a good form of government in London, which had much to commend it and achieved much for the people of London. Then they opposed the establishment of the current system of the London authority and the mayoralty. It is quite nice that we are proposing an extension of the Mayor’s powers, but the Tories are unchanged in 130 years and are opposing still. We congratulate them on their consistency.