Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, like my noble friend, I welcome the Government’s move on this. I have a couple of questions on the relationship between London, the UK and the Mayor’s role. First, given that on some matters London is ahead of the rest of the UK, which may remain the case in the future, will reliance be placed on the Mayor to do more in London to increase the national average, as it were, and to improve the national picture overall? Does this give the Mayor greater responsibilities? Secondly, will the changes—I think that the answer is no, but let us get it on the record—give the Mayor any powers with regard to the rest of the UK, either the surrounding regions or the UK as a whole? It would be helpful to cover those two points, although I support my noble friend; I remember that, when we were first sitting together on these Benches, we looked at each other and said, ““These issues don’t remain within an administrative boundary””.