Clause 13
Greater London Authority Bill
4:00 pm
Dawn Butler (Brent South, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman mentions the sad murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce in my constituency. As the Member of Parliament who campaigned strongly for safer stations, I can assure you that the Mayor was fundamental in ensuring not only that we had extra British Transport police on the stations but that the Metropolitan police and the rail companies took the issue very seriously.
It is beneficial to have a Mayor of London with the total responsibilities that he has now, so that he can make decisions in the way that he does—sometimes quickly. As you know, he will take over responsibility for Silverlink at the end of the year. I am not quite sure how you are relating that to your argument, because I found the current structure to be extremely beneficial, as did Tom ap Rhys Pryce’s family.