Contributions
1,117 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHS2 ResetI thank the noble Lord for the decision to appoint Mark Wild, which was obviously a good thing. The noble Lord is absolutely right that he did take some action. In the light of…19 Jun 2025HANSARDHS2 ResetMy noble friend is not quite right. We do not always do these things badly. Indeed, I deliberately referred to the trans-Pennine upgrade in my previous remarks because it is a…19 Jun 2025HANSARDHS2 ResetI can indeed absolutely assure the noble Lord of that. One of the difficulties I found in coming into this position is that clearly the previous management of HS2 thought it was a…19 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationI share the noble Lord’s enthusiasm for teaching kids to cycle, which is why I said to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, that the Government have no plans to legislate for the…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationMy Lords, the Government have no plans to legislate for the registration or insurance of e-bikes or pedal bikes. This would be likely to put many people off cycling, with negative…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationI feel that this is a rerun of the noble Baroness’s previous Question. She is right that the road network, including the pavement, should be safe for all varieties of road users,…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationWe have limited road space in the towns and cities of the United Kingdom. I have wrestled with this issue personally, when I ran Transport for London for nine and a half years. It…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationThe Government understand that position completely, and there is enforcement. Last year, the City of London Police seized 324 e-cycles for having no insurance, and the…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationThe noble Baroness raises a good point. I and the department have read the investigation by Jim Waterson. It is concerning that these bikes apparently seem to cause so many breaks…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationLast time the noble Lord said that to me, I repeated the answer I gave him on 1 April, which is that “I do not … care to be lectured about drift by somebody who represents a party…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationI thank my noble friend. I have cycled only as far as Amsterdam on a pedal bike, so I admire him for going to Vienna and back. I am not sure that I could do it now. The reason why…17 Jun 2025HANSARDE-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: LegislationThe one thing that I did not say was that the Government are doing nothing. The Government are considering very seriously what needs to be done to deal with this issue, and noble…17 Jun 2025HANSARDEuropean Geostationary Navigation Overlay ServiceI thank the noble Lord for his question. Rather than filibustering for a few minutes while I refer to the knowledgeable officials behind me, I think I had better write to him…12 Jun 2025HANSARDEuropean Geostationary Navigation Overlay ServiceThe department is in constant discussion with the CAA on this issue. I do not have any evidence that the CAA believes that reimplementing EGNOS is a matter of the greatest…12 Jun 2025HANSARDEuropean Geostationary Navigation Overlay ServiceI thank my noble friend for that question. It is a good question because developments in drones, particularly drones beyond line of sight, uncrewed aircraft and flying taxis have…12 Jun 2025HANSARDEuropean Geostationary Navigation Overlay ServiceMy Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on securing this debate. This has been an important discussion, and I welcome the opportunity to respond. Like the noble Baroness, Lady…12 Jun 2025HANSARDDriving Test DelaysI thank my noble friend for that; I am aware of this. What we must not do in all this is reduce the safety content. The rule about theory tests and their expiry after two years is…10 Jun 2025HANSARDDriving Test DelaysMy Lords, this Government continue to work hard to tackle car practical driving test waiting times. They provided 1.95 million tests last year and have so far recruited a further…10 Jun 2025HANSARDDriving Test DelaysI welcome another former Secretary of State for Transport to the House, and I look forward to my interactions with him. Looking back at the numbers of tests booked, in fact he is…10 Jun 2025HANSARDDriving Test DelaysMy Lords, the Government’s inheritance in this matter was that, as of July 2024, there were 532,782 car practical driving tests booked. That number has gone up, as the noble Lord…10 Jun 2025