For more than two centuries London has been one of the world's most successful cities. It still is, and provided we do the right things now, it will be in the future.

Far bigger than any other city in Britain and bigger than any other city in western Europe, London has an unrivalled combination of functions. A global financial centre, a major cultural and sporting centre, a concentration of academic research and medical effort, the transport centre, not just of Britain but of Europe, communications hub, home of major service industries, the law and other professions, a centre of manufacturing and above all a centre of trade.

London is the city where all the nations of the earth have come to live. And we have to keep it that way.

So London has many strengths and I believe we must draw on these strengths to deal with London's weaknesses.

To read more from this speech Frank Dobson MP (27 October 1999) click here