Greater London Authority Bill

Our amendment removes the prescriptive list and the Government are saying that the strategy should be ““in conformity with national policies””. In removing the general prescriptive list, we are allowing the Mayor the most flexibility. I repeat my belief that the national policies are probably not strong enough for London—London needs stronger greener policies than the rest of the country. The London policies should certainly be in conformity with the national policies, but we want to give the flexibility to do different things in London. That would be the right thing for the Mayor to do, whether or not it is the current Mayor. He is trying to take some action on climate change problems, but we hope that future mayors will do more in London. That is why we feel that our wording is better. The strategy is still in conformity with the national policies, but it allows the maximum possibility for the Mayor of London to be innovative with new policies. We are going round and round the argument because we all want to see London pursuing a green agenda as much as possible. We hope that the Government will reflect further on their wording. We support what the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, has said about flexibility for the Mayor, and as we have all been saying the same thing in different ways, I hope that we can all reflect and get the wording right in this legislation before it is passed.