London Government (Hansard, 25 January 1989)

§ Mr. Tony Banks (Newham, North-West)

I am deeply grateful, Mr. Speaker. What we have just witnessed is the lazy person's approach to legislation. This is the more difficult approach.

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to restore to the people of London the legal right and duty to elect a London Council so that the needs of London may be met and its administration secured on a basis that is fully accountable to the people, through the ballot box; and for purposes connected therewith. Nineteen eighty-nine will mark two significant anniversaries in the history of London local government. The first is the 100th anniversary of London county council; the second is the 800th anniversary of the City of London. While the city, that most anachronistic of all local government institutions, is busily celebrating its anniversary with a surfeit of food and wine, the great mass of Londoners will only be able to pay tribute to the past work of the LCC on behalf of millions of capital citizens, past and present.

The work of the LCC from 1889 until it was absorbed into the newly created Greater London council in 1964 would take far too long for me to record today. Suffice it to say that the monuments to the LCC are all around us to this day. On London's streets and below London's streets the good works of the LCC and the GLC exist in superabundance. Thanks to the LCC, millions of Londoners were able to escape from the slums into decent homes for the first time. Millions were educated in LCC schools and colleges and attended LCC evening classes. LCC parks and open spaces, together with hospitals and specialised medical services, provided for the health of London's citizens. LCC transport services on road, rail and water served the capital's transport needs. LCC fire, ambulance and other emergency services guarded London in peace and war. LCC arts and crafts schools produced the musicians, painters, dancers and sculptors who subsequently graced the LCC's Royal Festival hall and its museums, art galleries and concert halls.

The LCC built for the future and protected the past. London's needs were met with skill and dedication by generations of professional council officers, many of whom were acknowledged throughout the world as the finest in their disciplines. Many LCC politicians subsequently achieved high political office in Government, and in both Houses today there are many who owe an enormous debt of gratitude to London county council.

The LCC was created as an acknowledgement that London was more than simply the sum of all its parishes and boroughs. London as the capital city needs a citywide government able to plan and co-ordinate the capital's strategic services. That was the judgment of 100 years ago, as it is today.

Political arguments about the structure of London government have raged around this place for more than 150 years, but always the underlying process has been a movement towards a single strategic authority. It was true when the Metropolitan Board of Works gave way to the 1045 LCC, which in turn gave way to the GLC. That was the historic development of London government which will inevitably be resumed at some later date. However, for the moment we are in a period of hiatus. There is no strategic authority for London and the disastrous consequences are there for all who choose to see.

London is the only capital city in Europe without citywide government. The abolition of the GLC in 1986 remains the single most destructive legislative decision of the Government. It was based on the politically malign and vindictive motives of the Prime Minister, who is far more influenced by the example of Attila the Hun than St. Francis of Assisi. Abolition is now history and my Bill looks to the future. There is no doubt in my mind that the welcome departure of the Prime Minister will presage the welcome renaissance of citywide government in London.

If leave is given to introduce my Bill, the new London council, operating from county hall, will be charged with the responsibility for providing, safeguarding, maintaining, developing and improving employment and training, housing, transport, planning, information services, fire services, police, ambulance services, arts and recreation, pollution control, waste disposal, flood prevention, support for groups of Londoners, and such other goods and services as the council wishes to provide for the people.

In most of those service areas today London is descending into a chaos created by a lack of coherent and co-ordinated planning. Numerous Government Departments, local authorities, public bodies and quangos are struggling to make sense of a Heath Robinson system of administration in London which defies history, good sense, efficiency and public interest.

My Bill, if enacted, would not only restore administrative sanity and civic pride to London but would 1046 also address the historically outstanding task of democratising the ancient city of London. The Royal Commission report on London government in 1960 stated: If we were to be strictly logical we should recommend the amalgamation of the City and Westminster. But logic has its limits and the position of the City lies outside them. Such sentiments are wholly unacceptable today. My B1111 would deal with the City by making it the basis of a new London council, firmly established upon Londonwide democracy and accountability. The lord mayor of London would truly become the lord mayor of all our citizens and not, as at present, lord mayor of the mere handful within the square mile.

I have but one modest wish in respect of the city: to succeed where Mr. Gladstone failed. With those sentiments, and with the support in spirit, I believe, of Mr. W. E. Gladstone, I beg leave of the House to introduce the Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Tony Banks, Mr. Tony Benn, Ms. Joan Ruddock, Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, Ms. Dianne Abbott, Mr. Harry Cohen, Ms. Mildred Gordon, Mr. Paul Boateng, Mr. Ken Livingstone, Ms. Harriet Harman, Mr. Bernie Grant and Mr. Tom Cox.