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Greater London Authority Bill

I have enjoyed the debate, and I do not want to denigrate earlier speakers, but as I listened I could not help but think—as an old hand—how much wittier and more informed it would have been if our old friend Tony Banks had been able to contribute, with his great knowledge of the subject. Let me say a word about the contributions from the Opposition. Leading for the Conservatives, the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) called for more accountability and transparency; but—again, as an old hand—I well remember that when the Tories were in power there were more quangos, and less and less democratic accountability. Local government was shackled. The Tories even abolished the Greater London council, and where they replaced its roles they were performed by quangos. As for the Liberal Democrats, we heard a very righteous speech from the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), but it boiled down to ““We will vote for the Bill on Second Reading, but we are likely to vote against it at a later stage””. How typical of the Liberal Democrats to wait for a later stage, when they can say ““We supported it”” or, if it suits them, ““We opposed it””. But the speeches of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats showed that they had one thing in common.