Contributions
402 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRailways Bill (Twelfth sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. As in previous sessions, I draw the Committee’s attention to my membership of Unite the union. I will speak briefly…05 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Twelfth sitting)I think I agree with at least most of what the right hon. Gentleman says. The issue is whether actual payments are made, but we questioned the noble Lord Hendy in the Transport…05 Feb 2026HANSARD Construction Industry Training Board: FundingI thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and I congratulate him on securing this important debate. I wish to draw the House’s attention to my chairship of the GMB parliamentary…04 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)Would the shadow Minister follow the logic of his argument as far as to say that the Conservative Government that passed the Railways Act 1993 were ideologically motivated and…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Ninth sitting)Does the Minister agree that there is a comparison with the disabled persons railcard, the criteria for which have been significantly expanded? That change is due to be…03 Feb 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Seventh sitting)Will the hon. Member give way?29 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Seventh sitting)The Transport Act 1981, which privatised British Rail’s ferry operations, including the Sea Link service to the Isle of Wight, contained no passenger interest provisions of the…29 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Eighth sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I will speak briefly and specifically on the attempt to introduce a passenger growth target. I think we have had the…29 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Seventh sitting)Much of the investment that has been channelled through the private sector since privatisation has in fact been underwritten by the state, and by Government guarantees. I will not…29 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Eighth sitting)Could the shadow Minister advise me whether there is anything in his amendments or new clause that would exclude foreign state-owned railway enterprises from that definition of…29 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Eighth sitting)I am not sure that I follow the logic of the hon. Gentleman’s argument. Our job here is to look at the network and the service as a whole. This is an integrated, engineering,…29 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fifth sitting)Will the Minister give way?27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I again draw the Committee’s attention to the fact that I am a member of Unite the union. Does the Minister agree that changes to terms and conditions, if they happen at all,…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)On amendments 125 and 127, I have full sympathy with the ambition of reducing costs to the taxpayer wherever possible. However, the word “minimise” is important here, because a…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)I appreciate what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but we have to consider the new clauses before us as drafted. Does he accept that almost no railways in the world run without…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fifth sitting)I will not test the wisdom of speculating about future legal circumstances, but is it not the case that when Railtrack was in a state of advanced collapse, that particular case…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fifth sitting)Will the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that progress has been made on the cultural issues and the micro-management that he describes? I note in passing that he dates that culture…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Sixth sitting)The 1992 White Paper that preceded the Railways Act 1993 said that, at the time, British Rail had the second highest workforce productivity of any railway in Europe. What does the…27 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the shadow Minister for the constructive spirit of his intervention. Indeed, in the days of cross-party consensus on High Speed 2, I worked with members of his party…22 Jan 2026HANSARDRailways Bill (Fourth sitting)The hon. Member particularly mentioned workforce productivity.22 Jan 2026