Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, speaking of maturity, I am getting older by the minute. Why? Because it is the Assembly’s budget. It is not directly comparable with, for example, the Transport for London budget. If the Assembly is able to set its own budget, that could be the answer. Real politics involves very polarised political groups. I can well envisage a new Mayor wanting to make a big political statement with a number of Assembly Members—the big political statement will be more important than the scrutiny work that will be carried out over the next four years—and that group blocking the required majority. As to the reputational risk, the Mayor is left to protect his reputation and I think that we should let the Assembly take care of its reputation. Having said that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 24 not moved.] Clause 14 [Substitute calculations]: [Amendment No. 25 not moved.] [Amendment No. 26 not moved.]