Lords
Proceedings
27 October 2025
8 contributions
Heathrow: National Airports Review
My Lords, I think the place to start here is to say that it is quite clear that having more capacity for an airport that has been at capacity for two decades is a really important step for economic growth and the future of our country. Heathrow is the only international airport hub in Britain: it de…
I thank the noble Baroness for her contribution. In a very modest way, I have some background on the connectivity of the United Kingdom. It is of course the Government’s intention that a third runway would enable better connectivity to Heathrow from a variety of places within the United Kingdom. One…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
10 contributions
International Maritime Organization: Net-Zero Framework
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. Given the urgency for climate action and the industry’s need for certainty, does he agree that it is vital to maintain momentum, despite the IMO delay? Will the Government commit to continuing their input during the intersessional period, helping shap…
My Lords, while I welcome the IMO decision—as other noble Lords have said, it is a shame that it has been delayed—when it actually comes into effect, who is going to police the enforcement of lower emissions from ships on a worldwide basis? It sounds a pretty horrendous task.
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
8 contributions
Open Access Rail Services
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that response. Can he assure me that any further applications for open access trains will not prejudice the existing train paths, particularly on the east and west coast main lines, and particularly train paths reserved for freight trains, if the Governmen…
My Lords, the Minister just said that the ability to grow open access is constrained by the lack of capacity on the network, yet he says that the Government intend to increase rail freight by 75%. How are both of those true?
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
22 October 2025
10 contributions
Drink-Drive Limit
I thank the Minister for that reply, in particular that the Government are considering changing offences such as drink-driving, reflecting concerns raised by bereaved families, such as mine. I lost two family members this way.
A fifth of road deaths—about 250 people a year—are because of drink-driv…
My Lords, is it not the case that the Scottish Government did exactly what the noble Baroness proposes, then commissioned research that showed the change made absolutely no difference whatever to the accident rate in Scotland?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, for the amendment, which seeks to remove the Secretary of State’s ability to grant powers to an acquiring authority to compulsorily possess land necessary to facilitate delivery of highway schemes. The purpose of the measure is to allow acquiring author…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon, for tabling Amendments 52 and 57, which are important. The rollout of public and domestic charge point infrastructure is vital to ensuring a smooth transition to zero-emission vehicles, particularly for those without access to off-street parking.
…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
21 October 2025
Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2025
That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 16 July be approved. Relevant document: 34th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 15 October
Lords
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
10 contributions
Great British Railways: Rolling Stock
My Lords, I welcome the work that is under way. Establishing the right industry partnerships is essential to developing a more efficient and cost-effective British railway model. Can the Minister update the House on the current status of discussions with EUROFIMA and indicate when British operators …
My Lords, now that the Government own South Western Railway, they have inherited about 4,000 trains that were manufactured four years ago and have not carried any passengers at all. Can my noble friend the Minister tell the House when these trains are likely to enter service?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
15 October 2025
4 contributions
Aviation Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, noble Lords will wish to know that the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments has considered a draft of the order before it was laid and then gave informal pre-laying approval. After the draft order was laid on 16 July, it was formally cleared by the Joint Committee. Likewise, the Second…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his comprehensive outline of this topic. I seek clarification on two areas.
In paragraph 6.4 of the EM, reference is made to low-risk parts. Paragraph 5.4 also talks about allowing
“certain aircraft components to be installed without needing a Form 1, as long as …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
14 October 2025
4 contributions
National Policy Statement for Ports
My Lords, I am pleased to open this debate. National policy statements set out the primary legal framework for planning decisions on nationally significant infrastructure projects, with the Planning Inspectorate providing the examining authority. In the case of ports, they will normally also incorpo…
My Lords, I welcome this debate and the initiative the Government have offered us in extending, in many respects, the public consultation that ended in July this year, on which your Lordships’ views, as we have heard from the Minister, will be taken into account. In the absence of a single ports Bil…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
13 October 2025
13 contributions
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL]
I apologise to the House for my brief absence. In speaking to this Motion, I will speak also to the other amendments in this group and to Motions 1A, 8A, 8B and 29A. It is a pleasure to bring the Bill back to the House for its final stages and to engage on the remaining areas. This is an important B…
My Lords, in moving Motion 1A, I will speak to the other Motion that I have tabled in this group. I hope noble Lords will forgive me for being distressingly frank. The background to the Bill is the Government’s payment of the Danegeld, if you like, to their friends in the trade unions and in a netwo…
+11 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
18 September 2025
9 contributions
Rail Fares
I thank the Minister for his Answer. While it is good to hear about initiatives in some parts of the country, passengers have faced rail fare increases year after year for an unreliable service. I therefore ask the Minister, when will passengers have simplified rail fares so they can be confident th…
My Lords, the Minister rightly pointed to my complete failure as Secretary of State for Transport. However, will he reassure us that in the brave new world he is promising for the railways, where the Treasury will be totally onside with everything he wants to do, he will manage to see a simplified r…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
10 September 2025
4 contributions
Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) (Amendment) Order 2025
My Lords, the purpose of this draft order is to amend the Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order 1989 and thus to ensure that the full suite of maritime legal powers currently available in relation to ships is also available, where applicable, to regulate hovercraft operating in the United Kin…
My Lords, I shall intervene reasonably briefly on this matter and, in doing so, I declare my interest not as someone who has captained or flown a hovercraft but as a holder of a private pilot’s licence in aviation. In probing this matter, I first refer to the definition of a hovercraft, not from a m…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
5 September 2025
Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill
My Lords, I am very grateful to all those who have participated today and for the way in which noble Lords have expressed cross-party support for the Bill. It is right not only to congratulate noble Lords on showing the way forward that the Bill could produce, which would mean a strengthening of inv…
Lords
Debate
24 July 2025
20 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, the first three amendments in this group seek to ensure that the fees charged by the prescribed bodies to highways authorities under the Highways Act 1980 are not excessive, that the level of fees charged does not cause highways authorities financial hardship, and that the regulations deta…
I thank the noble Lord for his intervention and I am very sympathetic to his point. He is quite right. He and I both know that, on many occasions, reinstatement works are done badly and do not last long. The recovery of inspection charges to find that out is reasonable; punitive charges beyond those…
+18 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
17 July 2025
9 contributions
Train Operators’ Revenue Protection Practices Review
My Lords, the Minister knows that, under the new east coast main line timetable, many more passengers will rely on connecting services run by different train operators, but when they board the train, as happens when they board a train now, they are quite likely to hear an announcement saying that ot…
The Minister will be aware that the first iteration of the timetable for the LNER services in question was withdrawn. As a result, as the noble Lord, Lord Beith, has identified, there are fewer direct services serving stations such as Darlington, Northallerton and others, meaning that more changes a…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2025
7 contributions
Road and Rail Projects
My Lords, I am pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, said so much about other things. He did not have much to say about the list of funded schemes, so I am concluding that, by and large, he is happy with what he has read in the Secretary of State’s Statement in the other place. He makes a lot of…
I am sure the noble Baroness will know the answer to that. As I said at Questions, taxation is a matter for His Majesty’s Treasury. The Chancellor will determine taxation policy from time to time.
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
14 July 2025
4 contributions
Transport Act 2000 (Air Traffic Services) (Prescribed Terms) Regulations 2025
My Lords, the UK’s airspace is a vital piece of our national infrastructure that is essential to economic growth, connectivity and national resilience. Last year, there were more than 2.4 million flights using UK airspace, but despite a significant rise in air traffic demand, the structure of our ai…
My Lords, in the new spirit in the House of declarations of interests, I declare mine at the outset. I do so as a private pilot, a former director of Newcastle airport and the author of an investigation into lower airspace, which was brought about at the request of the then Transport Secretary Sir G…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
14 July 2025
10 contributions
Rail Freight
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that response, but, while welcoming the 5% increase in rail freight over the past year, we are still a long way from the 70% which was promised in the Labour Party’s last election manifesto and which is still, as far as I am aware, party policy. Does he th…
My Lords, as part of the Government’s work, will they assess the role that lorry trailers on rail between key points in the UK and Europe could play in increasing rail freight and reducing the wear and tear on our major highways from heavy axle weights?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 July 2025
10 contributions
European Union Entry/Exit System
I thank the Minister for his Answer, but, given the significant risk to UK exports, particularly “just in time” produce, what work are the Government doing with the French authorities and the European Commission to ensure that pre-registration systems are in place ahead of implementation to alleviat…
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that there is a facility at Stansted Airport that currently takes live racehorses, exporting them to the rest of Europe and further afield? For good reason, that has been requisitioned for other purposes, but there could be a period when those racehorses will not be…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
19 June 2025
9 contributions
HS2 Reset
My Lords, I start by emphasising the benefits of a new railway to the Midlands and the north of England. Both the noble Lord and the noble Baroness referred to the capacity of the West Coast Main Line, and it is not in contention that new capacity needs to be built. Connectivity drives growth, jobs …
I thank my noble friend for that. There is no latest cost estimate. One of the things we are absolutely resolved to do is not to have such a cost estimate until Mark Wild and the people he is bringing in have been through this project in such detail that an estimate can be reliable. It is not at all…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
19 June 2025
8 contributions
Self-driving Vehicles: Disabled Passengers
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply, but the key problem with the Government’s announcement is that the consultation is happening at exactly the same time as the specification and the manufacture of the driverless vehicles that are due to be launched early next year. This is literally a onc…
My Lords, what provision will there be for disabled passengers in all HMG’s transport plans?
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
17 June 2025
9 contributions
E-scooters, E-bikes and Pedal Bikes: Legislation
I thank the noble Lord, and I look forward to meeting him tomorrow. Presumably, the Government are seeking a safe space for all road users, including pedestrians, car drivers, e-scooters, e-bikes and bikes. Currently, 1 million e-scooters are being used illegally on public roads without insurance. D…
My Lords, will the Minister consider banning e-bikes and e-scooters on pavements and introduce a special lane on the road for these vehicles to rescue pedestrians from what is currently a major risk?
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 June 2025
4 contributions
European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
Before the Minister moves on to another subject, given the particular circumstances in Scotland, which the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, referred to, and the many islands, if the Scottish Government wished to make a service agreement with the European Union for this purpose, but the United Kingdom Gove…
My Lords, my noble friend has given us a very interesting progress report on any discussions taking place with the European Union, the CAA and others, but no decisions have been made. Can he give us any estimate about when the next decision might be achieved?
+2 more contributions in this session