Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

That is why I very much support MAAs. I hate taking Essex as an example all the time, but it must work with London and the London boroughs, particularly those that were part of Essex such as Havering, Redbridge and even Enfield. It must also work with the ring road authorities around the M25, so we have to work with Buckinghamshire and Surrey because of the expansion of the M25. As I said earlier, there is also the Thames Gateway, which means Kent and London, and the Haven gateway, which means Suffolk. We also have the M11 corridor, which means Hertfordshire. As much as I love them, we do not need to work with North Norfolk or Cambridgeshire. It is just ridiculous. To a certain extent, the RDA has been slightly dominated by Norfolk, so it has been totally alien to us. I have nothing against it—no doubt they are all very good people—but it would have been much better to work with the people with whom we have a day-to-day existence. As leader, I have to talk about London and the Thames Gateway; I do not have to talk about what has happened in North Norfolk or the fen district in Cambridgeshire. It would be much better if we could talk about housing strategies, economic strategies and highways with the people with whom we have a day-to-day existence.