Speeches by Glover.

“I shall have to ask my office to initiate an investigation into the leak of my speech—I will go on to say why we do indeed need a rolling electrification programme, which is something that has hitherto been missing under Governments of all colours. Nevertheless, we Liberal Democrats have some concerns about the Bill in…”

“I welcome that the Government have tabled these amendments to strengthen the Pension Protection Fund arrangements. However, that will be of little use to those such as the AEA Technology pension campaigners, about whom I have met the Minister. Despite many Select Committee reports and National Audit Office findings, th…”

“I think everybody in this Chamber and in this House can agree that we need economic growth, but many question whether the Budget will really help with that. It prolongs Conservative underhand tactics, such as tax threshold freezes, which will have a comparable impact to more honest and up-front tax rises. Small busines…”

“I am sure that the Minister will join me in welcoming Alaa’s recent release from detention in Egypt, and in thanking the many people who have campaign for and helped secure that over the years. This week, Alaa will miss the 14th birthday of his son Khaled, because the Egyptian authorities are not letting him travel. It…”

“9. What recent progress she has made on helping Alaa Abd el-Fattah to return to the UK.”

“What is your view on the ORR’s downgraded power merely to “advise” the Secretary of State on GBR’s performance, rather than having actual powers of enforcement?”

“I am very interested in what you said, John, about the fact that the ORR will not regulate performance; the Secretary of State will. There is lots of stuff in the Bill, which we are going to get into, about how the Secretary of State will have various powers and jurisdiction, and how GBR will be a body of the state. Ye…”

“We have alluded to some of this already; the Bill allows for the Secretary of State to issue guidance and direction to GBR. Do you envisage that the ORR will have any role in that issuing process, or in scrutinising that guidance and direction?”

“In what circumstances would you see the Secretary of State issue directions and guidance to GBR? Is the Bill clear on that?”

“Some interesting developments over the last few months have been on things such as certain letters to the ORR about open access—which of course you worded very diplomatically, although I would assess, based on my verbal reasoning, that they were basically telling you to not give any of it. In your view, could clause 63…”

“That is a very clear answer.”

“Happy to move on, Chair.”

“One of the things that gives a bit of optimism to those of us who are not necessarily completely overwhelmed—either in general or by this Bill—is the provision for a long-term rail strategy and for GBR to produce a five-year business plan, which will presumably relate to that long-term rail strategy in some way. That p…”

“Nick, do you have any other thoughts?”

“There are various things in the Bill about creating a new network access regime. I am sure that many people would not necessarily be overwhelmed with despair at changing the current arrangements to track access contracts and so on, but do you feel the provisions in the Bill for non-GBR operators are fair and appropriat…”

“Could I ask a quick supplementary—it probably sounds niche, but I think you will all appreciate its importance—about a fairly specific aspect of the current network access charging regime? That is EC4T—a terrible acronym, even by railway standards—which stands for electricity charges for traction, I think. I am not an …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) for securing this debate and the powerful points that she made, especially about how young people are often lazily demonised as being an idle generation. That view fails to take into account ho…”

“You have teased something out there. It does enable a discount, but it also enables GBR to charge more if they think that an operator can pay. Does that get to the heart of needing to make sure there is good policing of those powers, to make sure they are not abused?”

“No, I’m happy, Chair, but I believe my colleague Rebecca is keen to ask something at this point.”

“For decades, rail fares have been subject to above-inflation increases, and many people feel that prices such as £7,780 for an annual season ticket from Didcot to the London travelcard area do not represent good value for money and hinder the railways’ potential to reduce congestion and contribute to economic growth. D…”