City of London

I praise Crossrail to a certain extent, although there are no votes in it for me. Most of my residents, particularly those in Mayfair and the Barbican, are not particularly happy with the idea. The hon. Gentleman will know that the Crossrail Act 2008 is now in force, and that it would be relatively straightforward now that the planning consents and so on are in place. Indeed, more than £1.2 billion has already been spent on compulsory purchase and demolition. Should the hon. Gentleman regularly visit the bookshops at the top of Shaftesbury avenue, towards Tottenham Court Road tube station, he will know that the area is already the site of some Crossrail works. I hope that it is not necessarily either/or. However, insofar as there are plans to limit the amount of investment in the area, Crossrail is now well ahead of the game, and it will make an enormous difference to the whole of the United Kingdom and not only that part of central London in which it is located.