Question: Can you tell us about the work of London First?
Baroness Valentine:London First is a business membership organisation whose mission it is to make London the best city in which to do business. Through our members, we represent at least a quarter of London's GDP, and we involve the senior business people from our members in tackling issues that are relevant to making London work well.
Question: Why is London the place to do business?
Baroness Valentine:You've got the agglomeration of lots of different activities going on in London; Westminster itself, the higher education sector, and a huge supportive structure of the financial sector.
Centuries of financial trading have been built up, and now London is home to globally competitive lawyers, accountants, investment bankers. One of the main reasons London is the place to do business is it is in the English speaking time zone.
Question: What are London First's key areas of interest?
Baroness Valentine:We have five priorities, the first is championing London with national government, which is about its global competitiveness and how it can be an asset to the UK as a whole.
The second is transport; the third is skills and employment; the fourth is the Olympic legacy; and the fifth is crime and security and the ongoing terrorist threat.
We have an interest in climate change as well.
Question: Do you think that business in London is well prepared for any terrorism?
Baroness Valentine:I do think the large companies on our network are sophisticated about security. We have a campaign to brief the smaller companies on how best to be prepared to protect against being a victim of terrorism and to recover from any unexpected event. When the IRA bomb exploded in Manchester a long time ago, a lot of small businesses went out of business immediately following that, and we don't want that to happen in London.
What we do want though is the government security services to cascade information out quickly to businesses. It doesn't have to be a bomb, it could be following a flood or some event. We want information about whether to send staff home or keep them in work, and we're still waiting for that communications cascade to become a reality.
Question: Your business members cover a huge number of issues but what are the key issues at the moment? Crossrail, the Olympics?
Baroness Valentine:The key issue for them is probably the fallout from the credit crunch - the fall in the American sub-prime mortgage market - and what that will mean in the long-term for the financial community.
There are ongoing transport concerns: we reached a huge milestone by getting the funding agreed for Crossrail, but the next issue is that Transport for London will be taking huge risks by taking on Crossrail and possibly the Metronet contract. We need to make sure it is in a fit state to manage those risks.
Question: Crossrail has been approved; is there a feeling that after so much has been invested in that particular project, it will be harder to get funding for anything else?
Baroness Valentine:No, I don't think so particularly. I think there is a recognition now of the long-term investment needs for transport in London and we're just beginning to see government accepting that.
It is an expensive exercise but it pays back at the end of the day, it results in an increase in GDP and an increase in tax take-up for the Treasury. It’s a long-term project but it's a positive project from the Treasury's point of view.
Question: How is London First involved in the Olympics and the preparation in London?
Baroness Valentine:We were involved originally in the campaign to get the Olympics in London, we are now much more interested in making sure what is left behind is positive for London so we're not particularly involved in the direct activities in preparation for the Olympics - raising the sponsorship, clearing the ground - but we were recently very concerned about getting in a good chairman for the Olympic Delivery Authority. We were involved in trying to find the right person for that role and we are delighted to have John Armitt.
However, we are looking at things like what will happen in reality when people come to London for the Olympics - they are either going to be staying in or visiting the West End. Is the West End going to be in a fit state to receive all the visitors, and can we do something to make the streetscape better, make it look better?
The other angle we take on the Olympics is to make sure that the regeneration the Olympics are a catalyst for is achieved in the broader area around the Olympic Park. We want to make sure that it works for the local community.
Question: You've mentioned quite a few challenges London faces in terms of the Olympics, Crossrail and transport. Does the environment come under this banner?
Baroness Valentine:It depends what you mean by environment. The environment in terms of what the streets are like comes under the banner of making sure London is ready to welcome visitors. If you mean climate change, we deal with that in various different ways. We are very interested in road pricing, something that in our view is an intelligent means of managing traffic.
Road pricing also deals, to an extent, with traffic pollution, and actually a greater portion of CO2 emissions comes from traffic pollution than domestic airplanes, and so we are very interested in that sort of issue.
Question: What is London First's most important achievement since its inception and particularly over the last two years?
Baroness Valentine:It's really a continuum. We were very keen initially to get an executive mayor, so we pushed hard for a political champion for London. And I think having got that, we've now seen the introduction of the original congestion charging zone, Crossrail and the Olympics all happening, and I don't think they would have happened without that political champion.
So, if you're looking for something in the last two years, the big achievement has been getting Crossrail funded. But from our point of view, it is about a continuum of making sure London gets its ducks in a row to continue to succeed. There will always be another challenge around the corner.
Question: Are you for Ken or for Boris?
Baroness Valentine:Whoever delivers for London and London's businesses.
Question: Do you think every UK city should have an elected mayor like London?
Baroness Valentine:Broadly, yes. London is different. Sometimes, a council leader is more or less in the same position anyway, so its horses for courses. But I do think that a strong executive elected person is good for a city.
Question: As a mother of two, what do you think are London’s issues or worries that concern you personally?
Jo Valentine:Safety on the streets. I worry that if they were to cycle to school they would get knocked over. And now they’re young teenagers they want to be out and about in the evenings. I feel London is broadly a safe place, but it is of course always a concern if you’re a mother of teenagers.
Question: What is coming up for 2008?
Baroness Valentine:We need to make sure Crossrail stays on track – that means addressing some of the issues I have already mentioned.
The Tube PPP needs to be sorted, as well as unemployment as a longer term issue.
I am very happy at the moment with my children's performance at school but making sure all London’s teenagers are capable of getting a job is a long term worry. And Heathrow!
Question: What are your views on London’s airports and Heathrow in particular?
Baroness Valentine:One of the other things I should have said is immigration. We are very keen to make sure London's businesses can be as competitive as possible. Part of the solution to that is definitely bringing in people from the rest of the world.
London businesses have been very frustrated with Heathrow, which is no one person's fault; it is a collection of issues. We are trying to work our way through these issues at the moment and hopefully the one bag rule will be finished by the end of the year and we’ll be allowed to take two bags on again in the New Year.
Then there are the longer term issues regarding airport expansion, and for a world city we have to recognise that air travel is a very important part of London's future.
It's a cosmopolitan city. It trades with and speaks to the whole of the rest of the world, and airports are a means of doing that.
We think the expansion of London's airport is essential, we think the government needs to lead the way on the environment and putting a price on carbon in some way, or making legislation which makes us all take proper account of the environmental impact of what we do.
Question: You mention government leading the way. How closely do you work with government? Do you find that you're in a position to advise and aid government in policy?
Baroness Valentine:Yes, definitely. We know London government extremely well and, with national government, we tend to know the people relevant to the specific issue we're dealing with. So, obviously on Crossrail, we're talking a lot to the relevant people at the Treasury. It really depends on the issue.
Question: Do you have any final messages for ePolitix.com's readers?
Jo Valentine:The message I shall be delivering along with the Queen’s speech will be that we’ve got lots of good ideas around the Eddington proposals, the Stern proposals, and to some extent the Barker proposals.
What is very difficult for government is to deliver on what it knows is the right direction to travel in.
So, my message would be not to have too much more legislation, but to say to government: "put your money and project expertise where your mouth is and get things delivered".