Greater London Authority Bill

I fear that those in the Chamber have become the victims of group hypnosis, which has led them to believe that the Bill removes planning powers from local authorities and gives them wholesale to the Mayor of London. That is a travesty. It seems to have slightly affected my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford), as well as the more susceptible Opposition Members. [Interruption.] I have known the Mayor of London for many years, and there is nothing of which I would not suspect him, but I am referring to what appears in black and white in the Bill. Planning powers relate to the London plan, not to the individual development plans of the boroughs. It seems entirely logical that the Mayor should have a call-in power and should be able to enforce the London plan, otherwise it is a bogus and almost worthless document.