We’re into the pre-election period now ahead of local elections, meaning that there are no formal Assembly meetings until May. So I will be stopping these regular updates for now and will pick them back up after the elections. I’m still of course contactable and fulfilling my duties as an AM!
Had an amazing time at Heston & Isleworth Fire Station participating in an RTC casualty rescue exercise. It was great fun using the various tools to chop up the car, which would normally be done to give paramedics access to casualties. Really brought home to me the problem-solving nature of the firefighter role.
My report ‘Spaghetti South Western: Untangling Transport in South West London’ was released this week. The report calls for a bespoke transport strategy for the three boroughs of South West London and cautions that the Mayor’s approach of a single ‘outer London’ strategy is the wrong approach. We cannot treat ‘outer London’ as a single homogeneous blob.
Thursday saw the last Mayor’s Question Time of the municipal year. I quizzed the Mayor about crime against London’s LGBT community. The highlight (perhaps lowlight would be a better word) though was the Mayor’s rude, bullying and obstructive responses to perfectly reasonable questioning from my colleague Peter Fortune. It’s clear this Mayor really does not like scrutiny.
Neil Garratt and I recorded the last episode of season 1 of Inside City Hall. It was great to be joined by fellow AMs Emma Best and Peter Fortune for what turned into a rather reflective episode about our first year in the role. Do take a listen! We will be back for season 2 in May.
