Commons
Debate
9 February 2026
Leagrave Station: Step-free Access
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. This is an important debate. If she has been following the proceedings of the Public Bill Committee for the Railways Bill, she will have heard that at the current rate it will take more than 100 years to get step-free access across the full estate. Does…
Commons
Debate
4 February 2026
3 contributions
Lord Mandelson
The hon. Member says that he would not buy a second-hand car from Mandelson. Would he have made him ambassador to the United States?
The Prime Minister made a huge deal about the process that had been gone through when he answered questions from the Leader of the Opposition earlier today. If I understand it correctly, the process was that the Prime Minister wanted Peter Mandelson.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
38 contributions
Railways Bill (Tenth sitting)
I agree.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 35 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 36
General duties of the Council
I beg to move amendment 63, in clause 36, page 19, line 35, after “of” insert
“all users, and potential users of the railways, including”.
This amendment ensures that the Passengers’ Council must have regard to the needs of all users, and potential users of the railway.
+36 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
26 contributions
Railways Bill (Ninth sitting)
I beg to move amendment 226, in clause 25, page 14, line 9, at end insert—
“(1A) When designating railway passenger services, the Secretary of State must—
(a) take account of—
(i) the Rail Freight Target under section 17, and
(ii) the Infrastructure Capacity Plan under section 60; and
(b) demon…
Thank you, Mrs Barker, for chairing the debate. It is great to see everyone back in the room.
Clause 25 requires the Secretary of State to designate the railway passenger services for which Great British Railways should be responsible. Designation is the mechanism for assigning responsibility for r…
+24 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
2 contributions
High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill
I echo the Secretary of State’s thanks for what must have seemed a very thankless task in the Select Committee.
This is a slightly odd legislative vehicle, but the motion is a practical mechanism used by the last Government to allow for continued progress on railway improvements to create Northern …
I am the first to accept that there are serious lessons to be learned from the delivery of HS2. However, the Secretary of State has so far failed to mention how she proposes to deliver all that she has promised within a financial cap of £45 billion, given that the estimate for the works back in 2019…
Commons
Committee Stage
29 January 2026
33 contributions
Railways Bill (Eighth sitting)
I beg to move amendment 262, in clause 17, page 9, line 24, at end insert—
“(1A) Any proposals by the Secretary of State and Great British Rail about how they intend to meet the target under section must include an assessment of the impact of those proposals on level crossings.”
It is good to see you back in your place, Mrs Hobhouse. Something happened during our short recess: I was in the Tea Room, at the right end, but down at the wrong end I heard someone singing “Happy Birthday”. It occurred to me that today is the Minister’s birthday. [Hon. Members: “Hear! Hear!”] We a…
+31 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
29 January 2026
11 contributions
Railways Bill (Seventh sitting)
My hon. Friend is quite right that we need to look at modal interoperability. Does she agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge that a level crossing in a conurbation has a negative impact on road use and, in some instances, cuts one side of a town off from the other? Is he r…
Starlink.
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 January 2026
Northern Powerhouse Rail
May I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement? She started the statement by saying that people are sick to the back teeth of Westminster politicians promising the earth and delivering absolutely nothing—and then she did exactly that. We on the Opposition Benches know what the…
Commons
Westminster Hall
13 January 2026
5 contributions
Airport Drop-off Charges
I rarely intervene on another spokesperson’s speech, but this raises a question: if the Liberal Democrats want these expensive policies and say that consumers should not pay, who should pay?
It is lovely to see you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I join all other contributors today in congratulating the hon. Member for Bolton South and Walkden (Yasmin Qureshi) on securing this debate. We often say, “This is an important debate,” and most of the time in this Chamber we do not mean it, but on this …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
12 January 2026
Finance (No. 2) Bill
The hon. Gentleman said earlier that this was a tax on the rich because 20% of dividends are paid to the richest 1% of people in this country, but that means that 80% are not. Does he not accept that dividends are right at the heart of the savings culture in this country and that if we tax them, we …
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
Passenger Rail Services
Rumours are swirling around the northern mayoralties that the Government are about to row back on Northern Powerhouse Rail. Is this going to be another U-turn from the Government, or can the Minister take this opportunity to put those rumours to rest by saying from the Dispatch Box that the scope, f…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
Rail Fares
But it is not just LNER, is it? We have also heard worrying accounts about Greater Anglia and c2c, shortly after they have been nationalised. The Government say that fare simplification is one of their key objectives; fair enough, but there are increasing numbers of accounts of discounted tickets be…
Commons
Debate
7 January 2026
Rural Communities
The Minister talks about rural transport. Does she not recognise that enhanced partnerships run by Conservative county councils in Norfolk and Essex have increased bus usage by more than anywhere else in the country because they are working with the private sector, not against it?
Commons
Oral Questions
Northern Ireland
7 January 2026
2 contributions
Economic Impact of Government Policies
6. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Government policies on the economy in Northern Ireland.
Mr Speaker,
“a continuing cost-of-living crisis and a recent budget that failed to support workers, families and businesses in a meaningful way”.
It is not often that I agree with the First Minister but, with absolutely no action to address lagging productivity, she is right, isn’t she?
Commons
Westminster Hall
5 January 2026
2 contributions
Free Bus Travel: Over-60s
Happy new year to you, Mr Mundell, and all other hon. Members. I thank the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) and, through him, Mrs Karen Hickman, who created the petition we are debating, which comes from a sentiment that we can all agree with. We want bus services that…
I am grateful for the intervention as it brings me to my next point, which is that Government funds are limited. The support provided needs to be focused exclusively on areas in which it can do the most good. A blanket increase to 100% subsidies for a cohort that is mainly in employment does not app…
Commons
Debate
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Employment Rights Bill
We are short on time, so I will limit myself to two points.
I will start with what my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds) admirably described as the “craven capitulation” of the Liberal Democrats. Just a week ago, the Liberal Democrats were arguing passionately…
I am grateful for that direction, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Let us move to Lords amendment 120N. This is a major new policy. We do not have to argue about whether a £118,000 cap is a good or bad idea. I think the cap is a good idea, but the amendment seeks to clarify the process by which the Government…
Commons
Debate
10 December 2025
6 contributions
Seasonal Work
My hon. Friend may recall my question at Prime Minister’s questions last week, in which I raised the case of Claire Howard Jewellery in Fakenham. It is one of many shops that contacted me in the aftermath of the Budget. There is a real sense of anger that the Budget claimed there would be a reductio…
The hon. Lady is right, but would she agree that there is a balance to be struck in every policy? Here, the balance is between employment rights on the one hand and business growth on the other. The sign of whether an economy has got it about right is when employment and growth go hand in hand. Does…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
3 contributions
Railways Bill
This has been a very popular debate with a lot of contributions; I congratulate all those who managed to make their points in just three minutes. I will do my best to summarise the debate, starting by noting the excellent contributions from Opposition Members.
My hon. Friend the Member for Isle of …
Let us wait to see if Labour actually nationalises it first; but the Conservatives are here to lead, not to follow.
There is plenty of evidence because we have tried the nationalisation experiment before. The railways were nationalised in 1948. [Interruption.] If Labour Members listen, they might l…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
3 December 2025
Engagements
Q9. My constituent Claire runs Claire Howard Jewellery in Fakenham, and she is one of many small business owners who contacted me after the Budget last week. She was absolutely incensed by the style of the Chancellor, who seemed to give the impression that she was reducing taxes on small businesses …
Commons
Oral Questions
2 December 2025
2 contributions
China: Threat to UK Interests
15. What assessment she has made of the level of threat that China poses to UK interests.
Last night, the Prime Minister said some tough things about China. He said:
“It’s time for a serious approach”
to the national security risk from China. The first opportunity to demonstrate that serious approach is on the planning application for China’s new super-embassy—complete, as we now know …
Commons
Proceedings
1 December 2025
Budget Resolutions
At the last general election, the Secretary of State and all his colleagues said that they would raise taxes by £7 billion, and that their plans were fully funded and costed. What democratic mandate does he claim to have for increasing taxes by £66 billion, and debt by a further £70 billion?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 December 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts
It has been dragged out of the Government that there was no black hole of £20 billion to £30 billion in the run-up to the Budget. In fact, there was a surplus. That means that Treasury insiders were deliberately misleading the press, the markets and our constituents in the run-up to the Budget, when…
Commons
Debate
26 November 2025
Budget Resolutions
Could my right hon. Friend remind the House what happened during that period to the deficit, which was inherited at over 10%? Maybe we will just deal with that.