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Business Rate Supplements Bill

Does my hon. Friend remember that in 2004, the then Mayor of London, Mr. Livingstone, addressed a meeting in the City, at which he clearly said, way before any Business Rate Supplements Bill had even been thought of, that a supplement would need to be put on business rates for Crossrail, should it be approved—it had not, at that time, been approved—and that it would be for Crossrail, and nothing else? Does my hon. Friend not agree that that only goes to show that the issue had nothing to do with party politics? The view was taken across the board.