I am in the slightly strange position of having tried to be the Mayor but none the less representing City hall and all who work in it because they are in my constituency. My hon. Friend is right that there is a strategic case for more powers coming from the Government to London, but there are genuine fears in my borough, as in hers, that a partisan Mayor makes partisan decisions and punishes people who do not support him in borough X or borough Y. That is the first problem. Secondly, if one overrides local decisions about the location of the required housing, what would motivate people to be councillors and active citizens when, at the end of the day, all the activity simply results in someone saying, ““I’m sorry but we’re going to overturn the decision and the housing will go where we want it, not where you as a community decide that you have to put it to meet your needs.””
Greater London Authority Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Simon Hughes
(Liberal Democrat)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 12 December 2006.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Greater London Authority Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
454 c811 
Session
2006-07
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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Timestamp
2023-12-15 11:43:07 +0000
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