Railways Bill Remaining Stages: Amendment 143

Amendment 143 to the Railways Bill was defeated on 10 June 2026 by 266 votes to 167. The amendment was backed by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Reform UK, Plaid Cymru, and several smaller parties, but Labour MPs voted unanimously against it, providing the government with a comfortable majority to reject it. The amendment sought to alter the Railways Bill at its remaining stages, a late point in the legislative process when the House of Commons considers final changes before a bill passes. The defeat means the Railways Bill will proceed without the modifications the amendment proposed. Given the scale of the Railways Bill, which deals with the structure and governance of the rail network, the stakes of each amendment are significant for how the reformed rail system will operate in practice and who will be accountable for it. The vote reflected a clean government-versus-opposition divide, with no Labour rebels and no Conservative or Liberal Democrat MPs crossing to support the government. The Conservatives put 90 MPs through the Aye lobby while the Liberal Democrats contributed 57, making them the two largest opposition blocs on the amendment. Five Green MPs, five Reform UK MPs, and four Plaid Cymru MPs also voted Aye, indicating broad cross-opposition concern about whatever the amendment addressed. On the same day, two related divisions were also lost by the opposition: Amendment 148 fell by 279 to 155, and New Clause 1 fell by 271 to 77, suggesting the government held firm across the remaining stages of the bill.