Greater London Authority Bill

What the noble Baroness says is perfectly acceptable if we are arguing about the office and the authority, and not the named individual and the political complexion. If it is just the process, what she says is eminently right. Also, it is perfectly possible to envisage the scenario that has been mentioned. However, we have all been around the local government circuit for some time and in this place. We must recognise not just that you win some and you lose some but that sometimes you get into a bind and you cannot ever see yourself winning. But there is the hope that one day you will be in your tormentor’s position. So far as I am concerned, we are now looking at the powers of the Mayor. The provisions in the Bill are perfectly acceptable to me. They may not be acceptable to people in the current political divisions, but that is the way it is, and I am very pleased.