Mayor defends first decisions

Boris Johnson has faced his first question time at City Hall since being elected mayor of London.

He set out the decisions he had made in his first two weeks in office including his appointment of deputy mayors with responsibilities for various areas.

Greater London Assembly members grilled Johnson on a range of his policies and appointments including Johnson's decision to delegate powers over areas like planning to unelected deputies.

"Authority over areas like planning has not been abandoned, it has merely been delegated," the mayor told assembly members.

Johnson also defended his decision to ban alcohol on buses and the Underground saying Transport for London staff backed up by the British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police would enforce the prohibition.

He said the ban, coming into force on June 1, along with additional police officers on the transport network, would be part of a wider offensive against anti-social behaviour and crime.

The mayor said the arrests of alleged armed gang members on a bus in Lewisham recently demonstrated the need for action to tackle criminality on the transport network.

"I hope the Met take bus crime more seriously and I think we have seen they are doing that and I have high hopes that we can turn this around," he said.