Contributions
1,819 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD HS2First, on the budget and the schedule, it is exactly as I said in my opening statement: I completely agree with my right hon. Friend that there is no future in trying to obscure…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2On regular reports, I will come back to the House as many times as it is prepared to hear about this matter, and I will continue to update Members in every possible way. It might…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2I know that Douglas Oakervee will have been listening to my right hon. Friend’s words with great interest and will no doubt take into account the national rail travel survey…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2I hope the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I write to him on some of that, rather than detain the House on all of it. He is absolutely right about the Allan Cook report. I…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2I thank the hon. Lady; it is a pleasure to have a question from the Chair of the Transport Committee. The one thing I can assure her of is that there will be £48 billion of other…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2As I say, I am not short of advice on this, and Doug Oakervee will definitely have heard my hon. Friend’s words.05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2I know that the hon. Gentleman’s constituency is affected in a big way. I refer to what I said before. This project affects a lot of people’s lives, with demolitions and the rest…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2Even with the Olympics, the cost changed over a period. The hon. Gentleman will know that big projects require management, and the process is designed to ensure that this is…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2As I said before, to have a proper go/no-go decision, we need to continue to allow enabling works. However, I can ask the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2As the representative of two towns—one, Welwyn Garden, calls itself a city, but it is actually a town—I absolutely agree with the idea that towns have a significant part to play…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2I think every exchange indicates that, while everyone is able to welcome a review, when we get to the announcement of that review on the other side the House will not be quite so…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2We have a range of different people on the Doug Oakervee board, including Andy Street, and we are making sure that all the representations go into it. As I say, I do not want to…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2Yes.05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2Absolutely. Travelling on a train can be a fantastic way to chomp through constituency work or anything else that people are doing on business or for pleasure. It is one of the…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2As I say, it is not just a question of the expenditure. As I mentioned before, it is also what the benefits are. May I ask my right hon. Friend just to be patient enough so that…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2Absolutely.05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2This project is too serious to be thinking in those terms, and I certainly was not when I asked Douglas Oakervee to carry out this review. As I have now said twice, this is about…05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2As the terms of reference, which I encourage right hon. and hon. Members to read, make clear, this review is wide ranging and takes all such matters into account.05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2That is one of the things that Douglas Oakervee is looking at. Interestingly, Allan Cook’s report, which is in the Library, suggests doing phases 1 and 2a together.05 Sept 2019HANSARD HS2My hon. Friend’s question reminds me of a clip that I made on the day of announcing this full, thorough and open review. When the camera was switched off they said, “What do you…05 Sept 2019