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• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Personal abuse tends to suggest I am winning the argument, by the way. I was always taught that. I will put it to you one more time: is it not a good opportunity for you to show how you can flex your muscles as Mayor of London, and at the very least press for some kind of guarantee that whatever the overspend is ' and I am hoping it is not going to be great; let us hope it is the most efficiently-delivered bid of all ' that would be fantastic ' but let us also have a belt and...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Why are you not using the review to do that?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

£625 million overall ' yes, exactly.

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

I just wanted to delve into the funding arrangements with the IOC and television revenues. It is clear to me, after Beijing we will probably see huge expansion in the world television market ' almost by 30%. I was wondering whether we should try to get a percentage of the television revenue, rather than a total amount.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

It says that Londoners and the lottery will split any over-costs between them, so that is how you are happy to leave it, are you, Mayor?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

I was interested to hear you say that should the overrun exist or be bigger than you expect, you will go to Government and ask for a refund of taxes which they have levied on the Games and income generated by the Games. Why do you not now join our campaign to see that the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown) remits the VAT which is going to be levied on the lottery? That would be a very substantial sum of money up front, which will show the strength of the Government's contribution to funding the Olympics. You have already...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

The review was written into the understanding.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

That is absolutely fine, but Mr Mayor, apart from the fact that you may not be Mayor in 2012 ' roll on the day ' you may well be leaving a legacy for somebody else who will then have to deal with the situation at the time which you could, if you took action today, at least try to amend. What is wrong with you throwing your considerable weight and influence behind a campaign ' whether it is inside this review meeting which should happen, or whether it is not ' to ensure that somewhere during the passage of the...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Well, that is commendably brief. Thank you very much. Can I ask you why not? It was, after all, something that was promised in this Memorandum of Understanding, so if it is to have any creditability at all ' that is something in there that said that this review was going to take place. Why are you so determined not to have this review? Apart from the fact that it should be happening anyway, because it was promised by the Government, why are you so determined not to have this review of what is a very, very important spending aspect...

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Does that mean, if that had to happen, that something would be done about implementing the Thameslink box effectively, so that access to the cross-channel shuttle at King's Cross can be properly integrated, rather than a very difficult, 500-metre walk across King's Cross?