Contributions
1,335 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)I understand where you are coming from, Mrs Hobhouse. The problem is that the amendments relate to clause 37, not clause 36, so it is inevitable that I have to describe the…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)Thank you, Mrs Hobhouse, for agreeing to chair this afternoon’s deliberations. Here we are at clause 36, on the general duties of the passengers’ council. The clause requires the…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)This may shock the Committee, but I listened carefully to the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford, and his expertise has exposed a lack of knowledge on my part. I was not…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)Clause 47 deals with improvement plans. It allows the passengers’ council to request improvement plans from licensed rail operators “where it judges them to be, or likely to be,…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)The Minister says that he wants GBR to remain agile, but does he foresee a situation in which it is agile by removing the veterans railcard? If he says no, as I suspect he will,…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)The clause sets out the circumstances in which the passengers’ council must—that is “must”, not “may”—investigate matters relating to railway passenger services or station…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)The clause requires GBR to provide a discount fare scheme for passengers who are “young, elderly or disabled”—that is it—to ensure they can access cheaper rail fares and tickets.…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)I am not going to reheat the discussions that we have already enjoyed on clause 37, and clause 38 simply replicates the 1993 Act. We are happy for the clauses to proceed without…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)The hon. Member is absolutely right that there is a sequence of complaint. Before going to an external body, one would typically be expected to have exhausted the internal…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)It is extraordinary that the Government say, on the one hand, that age and disability need to be included in primary legislation, but on the other hand that it is totally…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)I beg to move amendment 46, in clause 34, page 18, line 20, after “are” insert “UK veterans,”. This amendment, alongside Amendments 47 to 50 would require GBR to continue to offer…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)Amendment 61 would remove GBR’s ability to set unrestricted conditions about discounted fares. The amendment probably goes too far, so I will treat is as a probing amendment to…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)I recognise that the Minister has his line to take and that there will be lots of angry people sitting behind him at tea time if he makes any concessions. However, a simple…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)I beg to move amendment 56, in clause 34, page 18, line 20, after “are” insert “aged 26-30,”. This amendment, along with Amendments 57 to 60, would require GBR to continue to…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)That is all very well, but it is not the wording of the Bill. The text does not say “have regard to”; it is a mandatory requirement to investigate every single allegation. I…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)In the wording of clause 39(1), at the moment paragraphs (a) to (e) are additional. If the “or” in “or…it appears to the Council” at the end of paragraph (d) were replaced with…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)No wonder I agree with it so strongly. I put “LD” by it, but that is being unduly generous to the Liberal Democrats. It is an excellent amendment. As I was concluding, it would…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)I am wholly unpersuaded. The Minister did his best, but he cannot hide from the huge disparity between setting up a stand-alone arm’s length business, which is meant to run itself…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)I think we have to decide what GBR is going to be. Is it going to be a stand-alone organisation that is trying to run itself efficiently, providing value for money for the…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Tenth sitting)The Minister’s argument is clearly—is it parliamentary to say nonsense? I hope it is. His argument, that the industry will be confused if the passengers’ council is able to…03 Feb 2026