Speeches by Mayhew.

“Before I respond to that, Mr Western, is this my last opportunity to speak in the Committee?”

“In that case, these are all straightforward ancillary parts to the Bill, and I have no comments to make. Question put and agreed to. Clause 89 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 90 General interpretation Amendments made: 200, in clause 90, page 53, line 12, at end insert— “‘Passenger Transport Executive for an i…”

“I am not going to suggest that we do not progress the Bill to its next stage, because I am not sure I would win that vote, but I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for the constructive approach that he has taken to addressing the various amendments and new clauses that the Opposition and the Liberal De…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.”

“I have nothing to add. Question put and agreed to. New clause 61 accordingly read a Second time, and added to the Bill. New Clause 62 Transfer schemes made by Scottish Ministers “(1) The Scottish Ministers may, for any purpose connected with railways or the provision of railway services, make one or more schemes for th…”

“I seek a bit of advice here, Sir Alec: I presume this is the right time to talk about new clause 35 as well.”

“Thank you, Sir Alec. On new clause 11, I hear what the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage says about fiscal responsibility, but it seems a bit strange to set up a fund with no funds in it. Although, as Committee members have seen in the new clauses I have tabled, I support the principle of having a long-term approach t…”

“These are two unremarkable clauses. We have no objections to either of them. As for the Government amendments, they are technical in nature and we also support them.”

“The Minister has heard my submissions. In the interest of time, I will not press my amendments to a vote. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 80 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 81 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 82 Duty to consult Transport for London…”

“I beg to move amendment 103, in clause 80, page 47, line 13, leave out subsection (1) and insert— “(1) Great British Railways must inform Scottish Ministers before making a decision within subsection (2), and if, in the view of Scottish Ministers, the decision would significantly affect the interests of Scotland’s econ…”

“The Minister has inadvertently misunderstood that paragraph of the new clause; it does not refer to performance but to productivity.”

“I beg to move amendment 107, in clause 85, page 50, leave out line 3. This amendment would prevent the Secretary of State from changing the body that gives licences certificates so that it remains the ORR.”

“That is an interesting point. If the productivity of a private business falls, it becomes less profitable and cannot afford pay rises. Should the same attitude not be directed to public sector bodies? Where productivity falls, the people who suffer are the taxpayers. As the Secretary of State and GBR stand in the shoes…”

“New clause 31 seeks to reimpose minimum service levels. It would require the Secretary of State to make regulations to impose minimum service levels on passenger rail services, and for GBR to enforce them. The previous Government passed the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: Passenger Railway Services) Regulations 2023, …”

“I have no comments.”

“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 she agree with the …”

“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.”

“I was just thinking about the response that my right hon. Friend got from the permanent under- secretary. Does he think that was a permanent under-secretary trying to be helpful to the Committee, or was it him obfuscating and telling elected Members of Parliament to get their noses out of his business?”

“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?”

“In the wording of clause 39(1), at the moment paragraphs (a) to (e) are additional. If the “or” in “or…it appears to the Council” at the end of paragraph (d) were replaced with “and”, there would be a two-part test. The council would receive complaints from all the kinds of people in paragraphs (a) to (d), and the seco…”