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• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

I just want to briefly return to this business of definitions, because some mathematicians have calculated that one of the reasons why there are so many variations in different countries about what is defined on the 60% median of people in poverty is because, quite simply, if you change your tax structure slightly, if in Britain the Government were simply to tax slightly more heavily those just above the poverty level, you could, at a stroke, to use an old phrase, remove half a million people from poverty. Now, even if we accept these definitions, and I appreciate, Kate (Kate...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

Would you all support the idea, then, of removing from tax, the poor, as other countries are gradually doing? We should stop taking money away from the ones we are defining as poor, which leaves them poor, and creates dependency upon the state, while still worrying about the number of and the percentage of people in poverty. Surely, we should strip out their tax, get rid of their taxation, remove it. Many of them will then immediately not be poor. Surely we would all agree with that.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

Do any of you know how our Structural Fund for Objective Two or Three, in London has been used to deal with things like poverty? Anything you could point to: that is a marvellous idea, or that is a very bad idea?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

Obviously you all know my opinions on the EU and Structural Funds. It is a very bureaucratic, arthritic way of getting back a tiny proportion of the money that we have to give to the EU. Would it not be nice to have all of that money here to be able to do the things we would like to do with poverty, with unemployment, and so on? It's not an ideal way, and are we not going to lose a lot of that in the next aspects of funding, because a lot of the accession countries are going to take...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Damian Hockney (AM): Elements of this argument, to me, I am sorry to say, appear to be completely weird. Mayor, you mentioned the point that Olympics have broken even or made a profit since Montreal, but the reality is the Greek finance minister only two weeks ago blamed the Greek deficit, in part, upon the losses made at the Olympic Games. Then Mike (Lee), you made a point just 60 seconds later that the IOC does not want a re-run of Athens. The point about this is it is to do with money. It is to do with the fact...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Could you ask them to put one in about that?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Mike (Lee), the point about that is that it is simply not the case. The number of people in that survey who said, "We will pay nothing," was 40%. Now, those people said, "We will pay nothing towards an Olympic Games in London terms." You cannot say that those people are supportive. I might have argued the question at the time, if I had been asked. I would have said, "Yes, I would like to see them in London," but if somebody then started asking about my support, on the basis of the costs that are unspecified or that we...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

This is the problem with a supranational, international body telling us what to do, so it is unaccountable, like the EU, I guess "our other interest"

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

And the Eurovision Song Contest. No, I am a supporter of the Eurovision Song Contest, having sung in the song for Europe, but I will not go into that.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Maybe he can join you instead. I think the only point - I just want to finally make a point under this particular section - is that these figures do need to be made clear, surely. Do you not agree? The public in London do need to be on side. We would love to support the Olympic Games for London, but until and unless there is proper consultation with the people of London, they do not trust. If you look at what has happened in Scotland with the Scottish Parliament or the Dome, there is a general feeling - and...