Commons
Debate
13 November 2025
5 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Apologies, but I want to go back to the point the Minister was making about Lords amendment 1. As Chair of the Transport Committee, I am slightly concerned that we will get less opportunity and time to scrutinise major infrastructure projects. Had these proposals been law when High Speed 2 was first…
Will the Minister give way on that point?
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
3 November 2025
Points of Order
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I ask that the record be corrected? I inadvertently mentioned Avanti West Coast. I must have been thinking of the derailment, and not the tragic incident, which of course was on LNER.
[ Official Report, 3 November 2025; Vol. 774, c. 640.]
Commons
Debate
3 November 2025
Huntingdon Train Attack
I thank the Home Secretary for all her remarks and the Secretary of State for Transport, who is also in her place, for her comments in the media this morning. I share, as all hon. Members of the House do, their concern for the victims and their families and the recognition of the heroism of so many …
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
Topical Questions
T8. I have heard from small businesses locally, including a butcher’s and a lighting supplier, about how Brexit has imposed extra barriers on small businesses such as theirs. Will the Minister outline how the UK-EU common understanding will improve conditions for small businesses, particularly those…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 October 2025
Heathrow: National Airports Review
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. I look forward to the work she does on this ANPS coming to our Committee in due course. A third runway at Heathrow, combined with all the other agreed—or likely to be agreed—expansions of capacity in London and south-east airports would involve an in…
Commons
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Topical Questions
I, too, look forward to working with the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Keir Mather), in his new role. Last week, the Transport Committee heard that car clubs, peer-to-peer ride-sharing and car-sharing schemes align with Government objectives on transpor…
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
5 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
You are absolutely right, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will not repeat what I said on Second Reading, except to say it is no surprise that our first stand-alone inquiry in the Transport Committee was on buses in England outside of London. That issue affects Members in England from across the House and fr…
I speak in the context of devolution within an overarching set of values. I will not go into the specifics of what level a bus fare should be, but the overall ridership and the sustainability of the bus system are a key objective. I know the Minister will say that with devolution, how that happens i…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 September 2025
Indefinite Leave to Remain
I thank my hon. Friend for his speech, and I thank those who secured the debate. Many of my constituents are highly skilled. They often work in IT. Some do not intend to stay and may well go home, but those who have written to me have told me what it means for them. It is not just about their curren…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 September 2025
2 contributions
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) on securing this debate.
I have seen the difference that the adoption and support grant has made locally. I visited the Purple Elephant Project, based in Whitton in my constituency, which supports over 100 children and families in Houns…
Is my hon. Friend as concerned as I am that we are hearing that some adopters, or potential adopters, are being put off going even through the process because of concerns about a lack of post-adoption support, which of course has to be long term, as he just mentioned?
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 September 2025
Pavement Parking
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this debate. She and many other hon. Members have described the reasons for this debate and for a change in the law.
As Chair of the Transport Committee, it gives m…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Borders and Asylum
My constituency, like Britain as a whole, has long been home to people of all faiths and cultures who came here or whose forebears came here from all around the world. Over the summer, we have seen the growth of ugly rhetoric, including the term “indigenous Britons”, which risks a culture of fear in…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 July 2025
Middle East
Does the Foreign Secretary accept that Israel’s plans to transfer control of the Ibrahimi mosque from the Palestinian municipality of Hebron is highly inflammatory and a violation of international law? Will the Government condemn any transfer of authority away from Palestinians and consider sanction…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 July 2025
State of Climate and Nature
I very much welcome the Energy Secretary’s statement. Adequate electric vehicle charging infrastructure, depot charging and onshore power for shipping are all critical to the Government’s net zero challenge, and businesses and providers across the transport sector who are making investment decisions…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 July 2025
Road and Rail Projects
I welcome the statement, and I am sure that the Roads Minister will ensure that the various road projects deliver for local residents walking along and across the new junctions, and benefit them as much as they benefit drivers. The strategic road network projects are clearly important to dealing wit…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 July 2025
Heathrow Substation Outage: NESO Review
I, too, thank the Minister for making this statement, and NESO for this damning report. Heathrow Airport Ltd’s power set-up internally virtually guarantees hours of disruption in a scenario like this. On 21 March, that meant over a quarter of a million passengers were affected; airlines lost signifi…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
26 June 2025
Topical Questions
A new report from the all-party parliamentary group for cycling and walking warns of the growing public safety risk posed by the widespread use of unsafe, illegally modified bikes, and the fire risk caused by their cheap but powerful batteries bought from online marketplaces. What assessment has the…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
10 contributions
Department for Transport
Whether they are walking or cycling, riding on buses, trams or trains, or planes, transport plays a huge role in the daily lives of our constituents, and for the businesses and public services on which we all depend. I welcome the fact that the Government are investing properly in transport, particu…
I welcome the intervention from my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. As a London MP, I know that stability in transport provision in London will be of huge benefit to my constituents, Londoners, visitors and commuters to London. We did not get everything we wanted in the spending review—in our…
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
18 June 2025
HS2 Reset
I also thank the Secretary of State for the decisive action she has taken to address the causes of HS2’s cost overruns. We look forward to having Mark Wild and the Rail Minister at our Committee very shortly.
I actually want to celebrate something that HS2’s leadership should be proud of: the work …
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 June 2025
2 contributions
Humanist Marriage
Many thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards) and others who secured the debate.
The speakers we have heard already have spoken so powerfully about why this simple change in the law needs to happen. The hon. Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) talked about what …
Anyway, I fully support the Humanist Society’s position to allow a couple to be married by a celebrant who shares the couple’s values and beliefs, one that works in Scotland, Northern Ireland and many other jurisdictions across the world.
I would have some concerns if the law was opened up to any n…
Commons
Debate
11 June 2025
2 contributions
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill
I start by thanking the Secretary of State for Transport for her speech. I also thank her and the Aviation Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane), for coming to speak to the Transport Committee earlier this year about aviation and, of course, wider matters.
I …
My hon. Friend and neighbour is absolutely right, and I know that the plane and engine manufacturers are continuing to work—as they have done for decades, to be fair—on quieter and less polluting aircraft. Sometimes there is a tension between those two. Airspace modernisation will not make a lot of …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
I welcome the significant transport investment that the Chancellor has announced in the north and in the city regions. That is helped through her changes to the Green Book, but when will the place-based business cases be reviewed so that those areas can start planning for the local transport initiat…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Regional Growth
As Chair of the Transport Committee, I hugely welcome this announcement. These rail and mass transit schemes will link communities, generate growth and cut pollution and carbon emissions. In the context of finishing the job, which was mentioned earlier, can we hope that before too long there will be…
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 June 2025
6 contributions
Leasehold Reform
I beg to move,
That this House has considered leasehold reform.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. This is a well-subscribed debate, but as it is only half an hour I have said that just a couple of hon. Members can intervene, and hon. Members understand that we are not …
I am grateful to the hon. Member, because I was going to come on to that and to the insidious links between those selling the flats, particularly the developers, and the solicitors who they recommend to the buyers—often first-time buyers who are unaware of the challenges.
On how we got here, the an…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 June 2025
3 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the first Commons debate on the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, which I welcome. The new Transport Committee decided that its first inquiry would be on “Buses connecting communities” to address the rural and non-city services across England outside London. We…
I will come on to that, but yes. For a Labour Government with a focus on growth, opportunity and clean energy, it is essential to transform bus services across England to make them more reliable, more accessible and better integrated into the fabric of local communities. That is important to ensure …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
15 May 2025
Topical Questions
At yesterday’s Transport Committee hearing, the Minister for Local Transport outlined the measures that the Government are taking to reverse the 15-year decline in bus services. The measures will protect many at-risk bus routes and may deliver a few more, but as they deliver growth and reduce conges…