Greater London Authority Bill

My impression is that the present administration in the City and successive Lord Mayors have had little difficulty in drawing the attention of their hosts and guests to the difference. The Lord Mayor’s office has existed for 700 years. There is a great deal of pomp and ceremony, which is enormously appreciated by those who enjoy the Lord Mayor’s hospitality. It is an entirely different role from that of the elected Mayor of London, for whom statutory provisions were carefully spelt out in the 1999 Act that we are amending. I raise the matter as an opportunity to point out that the amendment has nothing to do with the Lord Mayor, whose foreign travels and hosting of foreign visitors here in London do enormous benefit to this country. I hope that that point may be taken on board.