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• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

You talk about the huge burden that falls on the Mayor's sole shoulders and that you are important to him because you help him to carry that burden. Isn't the real problem that the Mayor has to do with his non-membership of any of the mainstream political parties? He's here as an independent and he cannot actually rely on any of the political groupings to help him shoulder the burden in the usual accountable, transparent way. He has to rely on people like you precisely because he has no relationship with any of the other political parties here.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

Why is it then that the Mayor does seem to have made it very clear that he'd actually rather like to go back inside the Labour Party? Clearly, he is finding it a strain to carry this entire burden without party machine support of any particular party.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

Let me put it this way to you. You talked about other mayors elsewhere. Actually, any mayor I can think of - whether they be in Paris where they are drawn from the successful party, or indeed New York where you have either a Republican or a Democrat - they are able to draw on their own party resources and loyalties which are transparent to the people who are then electing the parties. I put it to you that one of the reasons why he couldn't use the services of his Deputy in his absence was precisely because it would...

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

I strongly agree with Mr Fletcher's view that it is not appropriate and not our purpose to enquire into his personal life, but I can't understand either why he feels it necessary to be reticent about his political views when he is acting as the Mayor in the absence of the Mayor himself. Perhaps I can ask a question in a positive fashion. We don't want to be involved in some kind of McCarthyite enquiry about what your political connections are. With your links with Socialist Action, do you feel that the Mayor has benefited from having political advice from...

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

I will respectfully put it to you that if you're acting as the Mayor, it is a matter of interest to Londoners. If they were going to have Mr Livingstone running again in the future, they might like to know whether the person running the shop when he is away is somebody from the far left or from the political mainstream. People can then make their political judgement, whether they want to vote for somebody like that, can't they?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

Why are you so reticent in talking about the quality of the political advice that you're giving?