Bob Neill: That was an ingenious attempt to make a tackle, but it went wholly into the mud. The whole point of the question that I asked was to get the Mayor to give an account of the expenditure that had been incurred and the priorities that caused him to incur it. I imagine that it is not unknown for quotes to be read out in Hammersmith and Fulham council meetings, which seems to be the fount of most...
Bob Neill: If the hon. Gentleman wishes to reconsider his vote, we will be happy to table a more comprehensive new clause on Report to include all the appropriate Departments. Martin Linton rose—
Bob Neill: I shall give way in just a moment once I have finished my point. Having gone down that route, the Mayor was condemned in the Assembly. It would not be a bad idea to prevent future Mayors from getting themselves into that mess.
Bob Neill: It is interesting how sensitive Government Members are on this topic. The Committee has a timetable for a full day’s business, but given the promptness with which the Committee has dealt with the Bill, we should finish our proceedings well within that timetable. I am sorry that Government Members are so sensitive about the subject that we are discussing. I have one final point that it is...
Bob Neill: I shall be brief, Lady Winterton. I apologise for not having welcomed you back to the Chair when I spoke earlier. I wish to reinforce the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, Central. It has been a theme throughout our party that we do not oppose giving more power to the Mayor but seek to balance the power for the assembly to call in. When the matter was considered by the...
Bob Neill: Is not my hon. Friend's point reinforced, and our concerns about the Government's motivation and the risk of a wedge made even greater, by the fact that in the preface to the report the Attorney-General attempted to fly wholly in the face of the evidence Mr. Wooler had collected? The Attorney-General attempted to whitewash his position by suggesting that the evidence did not justify Mr....
Bob Neill: I strongly agree with my right hon. and learned Friend. Does he agree that his point about costs would be greatly reinforced if the Government —as appears will be the case—were to adopt the Carter recommendations in respect of legal aid and put a cap on expenditure in high-cost fraud cases that are subject to legal aid? That would put legally aided defendants in such cases in an invidious...
Bob Neill: rose—
Bob Neill: Will the Solicitor-General confirm that in the circumstances to which he has referred—summary trial by a district judge or magistrate—there is a limit on sentencing? Sentences of five, six, seven, eight, nine or 10 years cannot be passed as a result of trial by one person alone acting as a tribunal. If there is a problem with jury trials, why was it possible to deal with Enron, which was...
Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide for new rail franchise agreements to include a requirement for a maximum time a rail commuter should expect to stand without having access to a seat.
Bob Neill: That will be helpful.
Bob Neill: None of my constituents have ever told me that, I shall go down the public library and find out.
Bob Neill: Not within active memory.
Bob Neill: That is fair enough. I had the pleasure of being a member of a joint waste authority once.
Bob Neill: Given the LGA’s evidence that they are concerned about it, I hope that you are thinking positively about it.
Bob Neill: They did, yes.
Bob Neill: They will be?
Bob Neill: But what about the acute trusts?
Bob Neill: I would be grateful for that.
Bob Neill: Is my hon. Friend aware that her point is strongly reinforced by our experience in the London borough of Bromley, where, if anything, our greatest need in affordable housing is for family homes? However, the perverse result of the imposition of minimum density targets is a green light for developers to build small, flatted units, which is not what the demand is for. That, in turn, increases...