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• Reference: 2007/0270-1
• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

What proportion of TfL's budget is spent on roads and what are your priorities for road investment?

• Reference: 2007/0273-1
• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Are you concerned that the policy of excluding private cars from Olympic venues will create the same access problems experienced by the Athens Olympics and the Dome?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

I noted from the report on it that the short term impact on air quality, I quote, 'is expected to be small and the whole life impact is expected to be minimal.' That is what has been said about it by your own officials. Is that not simply the case that this is what it is about? It is about revenue raising and nothing to do with the environment at all?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Surely that itself is deeply unfair because that means people who have bought them and did not know, residents, are now facing having to pay what really amounts to penal taxation. It is; it is heavy taxation at the most extraordinary level for something like this and it also encourages them, surely, to change cars, to add yet more cars possibly to their stable?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Then surely you add yet more cars? If you work out even on your own figures, any outcome is going to make no difference to CO2 levels, etc. in London. It is only going to be tiny. The whole life impact is expected to be minimal. You are not really changing the environment; that is grandstanding, surely, on a major scale.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

Peter, I can pretty much assure you that no doubt the Dutch Government would do it as a matter of course, having not long been re-elected. If they had a referendum, they would not do it, just like in Edinburgh when it was put to a referendum. In spite of every single body, every single organisation going for it, they voted substantially against. It is the same with many other situations and that will happen more as a result of you bringing in this type of swingeing taxation. That will happen more in places like New York and in California...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

And what referendum did they have?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

If you do believe in this system, what proposals have you made regarding these inconsistencies about the type of car that will qualify or not? Have you made proposals to the Mayor on that to make it fairer?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

These were done through technology in consultation with industry's manufacturers. That is how that process was done. This is not. This is a sudden and swingeing tax to be imposed upon people who have a car, a five year old, possibly petrol-engined Mondeo, which all of a sudden they have to pay £25 for. Can I move to the second half of the question. I have to say I have looked at some of the newspapers in different cities and in different countries and I will just quote you one letter from a newspaper in Manchester: 'Just look what you...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 05 December 2007

That is not because of our Congestion Charge; that is what is happening anyway and it has been for some years, before we ever thought of doing this.