New Clause 31
Greater London Authority Bill
12:15 pm
Michael Gove (Shadow Minister (Housing), Communities and Local Government; Surrey Heath, Conservative)
As ever, my hon. Friend makes an admirable point. Once again, it underlines two of the qualities that he has shown throughout our proceedings: his absolute commitment to improving the quality of local democracy and a keen understanding of the balance of opinion within London politics when it comes to the Bill and the new clauses. His argument could not be clearer or more effective.
Those people who might want to shield the Mayor from his own extravagance do not have an ally in him. This Mayor is proud of his extravagance. He is in the proud old Labour tradition of big spenders who consider their level of expenditure to be a virtue. In that respect, the widespread support for the new clause—given that it favours transparency, is supported by London councils and that the Mayor wishes to endorse it—should recommend itself to the Minister.