Clause 57 - Orders of the Greater London Authority changing what are strategic roads
Traffic Management Bill
5:15 pm
Mr Greg Knight (East Yorkshire, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 199, in
page 31, line 15, leave out subsection (6).
The reason for the amendment is simple. We believe in the widest possible democratic accountability. The effect of the amendment would be to remove subsection (6), which states:
''The functions of the Greater London Authority under this section are functions exercisable by the Mayor acting on its behalf.''
When we are framing law, we need to take account of all eventualities. Some of us take the view that the present Mayor of London is not as even handed or fair minded as we might hope when it comes to transport issues in London. Indeed, I think that, if he had his way, the Mayor would pave over the whole of the capital apart from rail lines and bus lanes. Therefore, we believe that the Greater London authority, rather than the Mayor acting alone, should be able to exercise the functions.