Speeches by Glover.

“How do you feel the balance is in this country between passenger services and rail freight? Are there any risks from GBR’s close alignment between infrastructure operations and train operations in creating space for freight, given that it is open access and private sector?”

“Yes, I have a quick follow-up. First of all, Chair, I hope you have noted the strong recommendation that we should go to Dijon for a Select Committee visit.”

“How do you feel that the decision to freeze fuel duty while raising the bus fare price cap and having above inflation rail fare rises aligns with the Department’s commitment to greener transport?”

“I am very glad you mentioned aviation because I have a question on that to come. I totally understand what you are saying, Secretary of State, about the importance of cars, but some people on the lowest incomes do not have a car at all and they will be bearing those bus fare increases. I hope that is being taken into c…”

“On aviation, when we visited the Department earlier in the week we were interested to hear your plans for decarbonising aviation. The 2023 Royal Society study in relation to sustainable aviation fuel estimated that, to meet just UK aviation fuel demand, more than 50% of agricultural land would need to be dedicated to b…”

“We have already touched a bit on the benchmarking of international comparisons and some of the challenges around those. There are many benchmarking studies showing that UK transport infrastructure costs, particularly for high-speed rail and trams—you mentioned Dijon, and Britain Remade did a good study comparing Dijon …”

“I could ask many more questions, but I have had my time.”

“I am very pleased to note your enthusiasm for trams. Bordeaux has a lovely system—50 miles of it that grew up in just 15 or 20 years. To pick up on what you said about the Treasury, Secretary of State, given that it has such dominant control over so many aspects of policy, including taxation, do you think it is possibl…”

“The new Government published a paper, “Getting Britain Moving”, containing a commitment to set targets for modal shift as part of helping to lower emissions from the transport sector. When do you anticipate those targets being introduced?”

“In the context of the fact that a lot of the decision making on rail, in particular, has been very centralised, how important do you feel the further devolution of bus and rail powers will be, in both specification and operation, to achieving your vision and plans?”

“Do you have any early thinking about what type of targets they are likely to be? What approach to the target setting are you likely to take?”

“Certainly, the Budget has been on the minds of many of my constituents. It was even a topic of conversation with the owner of Gurkha Sunkoshi when I collected an Indian takeaway last night. I will say more about the impact on small businesses such as his shortly, but let me start with the positives. It is certainly exc…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) on securing this critically important debate. In my Oxfordshire constituency of Didcot and Wantage, over 90% of water infrastructure is managed by Thames Water—a de facto m…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I congratulate the hon. Member for Telford (Shaun Davies) on securing this important debate. It was a pleasure to welcome to Parliament parents, children and teachers from Europa school in my constituency last week. They were all campaigning with the Dad S…”

“The hon. Member has anticipated the next line of my remarks: that it is time for change on bonuses and many other aspects of the current workings of the water industry. I am pleased to see the Government initiating today an independent review of the water sector, including the question of regulation, but I hope that th…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) on introducing this debate. I echo her call on the Government to boost access to GPs, NHS dentists and community pharmacists. In my Oxfordshire constituency, the growing number of people moving into the area has not been matched by an increase…”

“I commend my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey) for introducing this debate. I echo his call for an end to unfair overpayment claims as a result of the earnings limit, and for a comprehensive review of support for carers. I will now share some stories about carers who I have met over the …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald) for securing this important debate. It is important that we remember the context and seriousness of the climate change challenge, but as hon. Members have said, we need to b…”

“T8. Lord Darzi’s report highlighted the importance of local focus and alignment to co-ordinating local services and improving health, contributing to reduced hospital admissions. In Oxfordshire, the integrated care board is proposing to remove Oxfordshire’s dedicated place director. Will the Secretary of State give his…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Woking (Mr Forster) for securing this important debate and thank both him and the Minister for the opportunity to speak. My hon. Friend eloquently articulated the cost and train service challenges facing his constituents on the south-west main lin…”