Politicians' job is to make bumps smooth

It will be bumpy, and difficult for many but we have not spent years building London’s strengths for them to vanish. Our city, like Canary Wharf, is not built on sand.

So what to do? You will all have your own personal answers.

The job of politicians is to make the bumps as smooth and short as possible.

We do not have magic wands but we are not completely powerless. Parliament has a role, as do the councils.

City Hall has a job to do too. We need to understand just where the threats are, and how, if at all, we can lessen them.

The sorts of questions I am pushing our Mayor on are as follows.

Can we help stimulate the housing market?

Can we help people who might otherwise lose their homes?

Can we use the reduced private house building to bring forward public housing projects?

Can we accelerate construction of major projects in London that will provide jobs and better prepare London for the upturn?

And are we doing enough to train Londoners for the changing needs of the job markets?

The Government has so far acted quickly.

And they are clearly thinking what next to do.

As yet, other than a high level announcement of principles, it is very unclear just what thinking is taking place in City Hall.

This is a time when London needs its Mayor more than ever. Is he up for the challenge?