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• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 07 September 2023

Emma Best AM: I think so. Thanks, Chair. Yes, I was just trying to work out Deputy Mayor [Tom] Copley’s political neutrality, which seemed a lot stronger when he was talking to Assembly Member [Tony] Devenish than Assembly Member [Unmesh] Desai.

• Question by: Zack Polanski
• Meeting date: 07 September 2023

Zack Polanski AM: Thank you very much, Chair. Good afternoon, panel. Enver, if I can begin with you, I have met recently also with the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants. I also went to a protest recently with Reclaim the Sea and spoke to lots of people with lived experience of the system. Something that came up over and over again that you have echoed today is the barrier of not speaking English. In fact, recent census data shows that 303,000 Londoners do not speak English well and 52,000 Londoners do not speak English at all. Page 32 You...

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 06 July 2023

Emma Best AM: Thank you. Good morning. I want to focus particularly on connectivity, and I found it really interesting this conversation on park-and-ride. We have been a pretty lone voice in supporting the Mayor of London’s park-and-rides. We already operate many of them across TfL station car parks. I use one most days and I am glad that it looks like we are not going to be the only ones who have concerns about building over them. Thank you and welcome to the team, Siân [Berry]! My first question probably best for you, Andy, if that is OK. I...

• Question by: Zack Polanski
• Meeting date: 08 June 2023

Zack Polanski AM: Thank you, Chair. If I can turn to Caroline Sheridan from Thames Water, Caroline, the design of homes viz the clever devices that can capture rainwater and use that water, whether it is flushing a loo or watering a garden, and that can really reduce water usage, especially at scale. When we come to an updated London Plan and a new Environment Strategy, can the Mayor do more to reduce the mains water that is used in Londoners’ homes?

• Question by: Zack Polanski
• Meeting date: 08 June 2023

Zack Polanski AM: Thank you very much, Chair. Good morning, panel. My questions are for Charlie Wood of the Environment Agency. As we are speaking, the news is reporting the horrendous wildfires that are happening in Canada and across North America. People are being asked to wear masks because of the air pollution. We have seen our own wildfires and floods in London, including last year the London Fire Brigade had their worst day in terms of callouts since World War II. Around flooding, you brought forward your own plans for a new Thames Barrier. That means you are going...

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 08 June 2023

Emma Best AM: Thank you. Good morning, panel. Firstly, before we start, I was surprised to hear we get three-plus hours with the Mayor every month, Seb. When does that happen?

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 16 March 2023

Emma Best AM: Thank you, Chair, and good morning, both. Liz, we were just hearing from [Lord] Peter Hendy [CBE] then that Mayoral Development Corporations (MDCs) “get things done”. According to the [Sir Bob] Kerslake Review [ of GLA Group Housing Delivery ], the OPDC “has not delivered any housing directly”. Is this something that you think is now a position that has changed and you feel more confident about delivery?

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Emma Best AM: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to pick up on that point earlier about the language used, and that applies to parliamentary parties as well. The opposition particularly has to be really careful not to dehumanise the Government and politicians of the party in charge on the day. I and many of my colleagues receive death threats. We walk out of this building and do not have security surrounding us. That comes when opposition politicians call us ‘scum,’ and when they incite and praise violence. I stand with the Mayor. I see your Twitter and that is...

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Emma Best AM: Thank you. Mr Mayor, to come back to the point I was making earlier - and I should have made this clearer at the time - I was speaking recently to someone and I had that conversation about professionals. I said: “Sometimes it is just easier to not say what you do.” They were a police officer and they said: “Yes, same for me.” It made me realise that it is that language problem, and police officers face that too, especially this new phrase coming in from America: ‘ACAB’. I hope I do not need to say...

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 17 November 2022

Emma Best AM: Thank you. I was really brought in by Assembly Member Baker’s line of questioning there, and Assembly Member Unmesh Desai, actually, let Assembly Member Keith Prince finish earlier, so perhaps I will expand all that for her, though I had not planned to. That is the really important point, those lost journeys. A lot of the emails I get are about “I go and visit my Dad or my Mum/I do the shopping for my uncle every week, and I am not going to be able to afford to make that journey.” How are you measuring that...