High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill

May I thank you, Mr Speaker, for selecting the new clauses that stand in my name and those of my ...

As the hon. Lady knows extremely well, I have opposed this Bill and its predecessor Act of Parlia...

The hon. Gentleman’s intervention seems slightly premature, so I ask him to hold his breath as I ...

Surely, the answer is that, right from the scheme’s inception, there have been serious concerns a...

I remind my hon. Friend that the whole country will benefit, because this is a national infrastru...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her generosity in giving way. She quite rightly points out tha...

The hon. Gentleman will know that one concern about the HS2 project is the escalating cost, and t...

Is the hon. Lady not also worried by the very long delay before there is any additional capacity ...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. As I have already said, we would focus on ...

rose—

I will, if I may, finish my point.

Although we all get frustrated because we want projects ...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. I share her enthusiasm for this ambitious project. She tal...

I certainly do agree with those excellent points, because HS2 cannot stop at Crewe. We must build...

rose—

I wish to make a little more progress, and then I will be happy to take the hon. Gentleman’s inte...

Scepticism is shared by many of my constituents, especially given the track record of non-deliver...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and of course constituents right across the north really do w...

I totally agree with the hon. Lady: she is absolutely right about there being a need for a Crossr...

France is a very different country from the UK, and we must bear in mind the potential opportunit...

I am not sure whether this will come as music to the hon. Lady’s ears, but I am proposing to vote...

There are two separate points. We want to ensure that we get value out of the project, and it is ...

Just before the intervention of my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash), the hon. ...

My new clauses are so important to ensuring that we get that desperately needed connectivity buil...

Does the hon. Lady therefore question the current arrangements as proposed, and is the Labour par...

Labour is very clear that we will be supporting phase 2a that is before the House today, but we h...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent point about why we need to improve the governance and overs...

I thank my hon. Friend for his point. The jobs in his constituency are vital. Having met some of ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will continue for a little bit, if I may.

HS2 provides a crucial opportunity to create a ...

Again.

Indeed. In the light of concerns expressed by Members from across the House, Labour’s new clauses...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will give way briefly, then I must move on.

Does the hon. Lady agree that early and rather more moderate expenditure on digital signalling co...

I am honoured to have a centre for digital signalling in my constituency and have seen the power ...

I just want to emphasise the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William C...

The hon. Gentleman appears not to want to see the line built in his lifetime, my lifetime or the ...

Would it not be right to think about my hon. Friend’s proposal in new clause 4 as an attempt to l...

My hon. Friend speaks eloquently and is right. We need to pool the information, including the scr...

My hon. Friend is doing an excellent job in making the case. Does she accept that the information...

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point and I will return to it shortly.

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Not at this time—I am going to move on.

As raised in Committee, there is a major issue with...

I made it clear in my remarks to the shadow Minister that I am minded to vote for these new claus...

On the question of environmental impact, does my hon. Friend think that we were too obsessed by s...

I entirely concur with my right hon. Friend. The very fact that he is in the House, as are other ...

We started off with a figure of about £35 billion or £36 billion. The latest figure is somewhere ...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend—a real friend, quite apart from being an hon. Friend—and I...

There are some unusual cases in my constituency. There are a number of people with canal boats wh...

They certainly are, and there are also freehold properties. People who own property, as I have ju...

Did my hon. Friend notice that while Labour says that it wants a 12-month review of fairly fundam...

The hon. Member for York Central is smiling as she looks across the Chamber—[Interruption.] She s...

Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that this is just good governance? If we are spending this amo...

The hon. Gentleman is completely right to say that I will never accept this project. I have made ...

My hon. Friend is making complete sense. He mentioned Lord Adonis earlier. Is my hon. Friend awar...

That all sounds frightfully interesting, but I am afraid that it is not what we are dealing with....

rose—

I will give way again to this extremely energetic Member of Parliament.

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I do not feel energetic. Is it not the case, though, that th...

The hon. Gentleman has very sensibly tempted me into saying something else that I believe. I am c...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash). We disagree on almost ev...

The hon. Lady might anticipate what I am about to say. The proposals put the railhead down at Yar...

I personally believe that the hon. Gentleman needs to look at the benefits of HS2 for people in h...

Order. What the hon. Lady is saying is important, and I presume that she will be linking her rema...

My speech is all about the way in which HS2 will help to deal with these matters, but I will spee...

My hon. Friend makes the case eloquently for her constituency. This independent review is so impo...

Absolutely. The review is incredibly important. What does the review mean for places like Crewe? ...

It is always interesting to follow the hon. Lady, who is my neighbour. She extols the virtues of ...

I absolutely agree. Constituents and businesses have come to me, as they have done to the hon. La...

Sadly for Eddisbury, the number of losers there is very large. It will cost an extra £100 million...

Last week, the hon. Lady’s party rightly called for Labour to do something about non-disclosure a...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. He will see from the drafting of my n...

Could my hon. Friend give us some idea of what kind of information she thinks might be suppressed...

So far, HS2 has refused to answer freedom of information requests. It claims, in answers given to...

Is it not true that a number of former senior HS2 employees who have expressed concerns about fin...

I completely agree. I am worried that NDAs are used to cover up wrongdoing in HS2, particularly i...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way. I am shocked by what she has reveal...

I have asked for details, and for a copy of an NDA but, again, there was a refusal to disclose th...

How long are they valid for?

I do not know, but presumably for the length of the project.

That has an impact on Members ...

As my hon. Friend knows, I take a personal interest in this matter. I am sorry that I have not be...

I completely agree with my right hon. Friend, which is why I tabled new clause 5. NDAs should not...

I absolutely respect that the hon. Lady is giving voice to her constituents, but she has been fai...

I am glad to be giving voice, because I sound a bit croaky—I am losing my voice.

I agree th...

I rise briefly to support new clause 4 and the call for a full peer review of this project. I wil...

In 2017, Northern rail should have been delivering two trains an hour from Northwich to Mancheste...

Order. I am just a little worried: we are obviously talking about new clauses to the Bill, and as...

Mr Deputy Speaker is completely right: we could go on for a very long time about the problems wit...

Does the right hon. Lady agree that the Department for Transport needs to update its national rai...

If there has simply been no updated assessment, that might explain why so many of my constituents...

Will the right hon. Lady give way?

I am conscious of the time and see Mr Deputy Speaker looking at me, so I shall give way only brie...

I am very relaxed.

How would a review help, given that the right hon. Lady’s Front-Bench colleagues and the current ...

Nobody has done a proper assessment of where transport infrastructure investment is going and wha...

rose—

I will give way, even though I said that the previous time was the last.

I took the hint from Mr Deputy Speaker that he was relaxed about interventions.

I thank my ...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. Certainly, for bus services, which are crucial for our towns, th...

My worry about the Labour new clauses is that they will not achieve the objective that Labour see...

I am generally very supportive of additional high-speed capacity between London, the north-east, ...

I stress that I do not want to stop my hon. Friend getting a better deal for his constituents; I ...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am not a believer in breaking contracts if contracts ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that there could be massive revenue losses once the railway is up and r...

As so often, my right hon. Friend is absolutely right, and what has also not been forthcoming is ...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that—I do not know whether this is because of HS2 or not—at ...

Yes, I do. I think the Pendolino fleet, introduced by a previous Labour Government, has done a gr...

I am glad to confirm everything my hon. Friend has said, but I am a little puzzled that he left n...

I listened carefully to what my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell...

My hon. Friend is making a very important point, although I am not convinced that the new clause ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I will come on to such matters in a moment. He makes a ve...

The position of Hopton is very similar to that of my own villages, and the problem is exacerbated...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I have had a number of similar cases. In fact I was about...

May I take my hon. Friend back to his remarks about his constituent’s farming problem? When I was...

I am most grateful to my hon. Friend. My office has been in touch with the gentleman in question ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way again. On the Committee, we also found that cases ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, but sadly we have had to get involved in almost every case, a...

Only a few days ago the Stone Railhead Crisis Group, which represents the interests of my constit...

I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. I did in fact refer to junction 15, w...

Mr Deputy Speaker, you will know that I am not a controversial person. Far be it from me for one ...

And that is from a non-controversial Member.

Sadly, I have to agree that what my hon. Friend says is sometimes the case, but I would hope that...

I thank you for allowing me to speak in the debate, Mr Deputy Speaker, because it gives me an opp...

My hon. Friend will know that the Government argue, as indeed does the Labour party, that the rea...

My constituents have often argued that solutions can be put forward using the west coast main lin...

Unlike my hon. Friend, I have in the past supported measures related to HS2, but this evening I s...

That is exactly the point that I am seeking to make. I agree. It is very interesting that the Lor...

I accept that Governments need to balance the books—they cannot spend the same pound twice. Quite...

Absolutely.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford referred to the series of junctions on t...

The hon. Lady is making a compelling case. As a London MP, I want to point out that people on Wel...

I fully empathise.

Of course, there are also environmental concerns. New clause 1 proposes ...

Does my hon. Friend not find it extraordinary that the original proposal by Arup for HS2 was that...

It will do so much damage at a time when we are becoming increasingly aware of how important it i...

I am happy to support the new clauses as they make a lot of sense in terms of accountability, eva...

I should say that I think Labour has a good track record on devolution and devolving power. Does ...

I do not want to hear too much about cake.

I know exactly what my hon. Friend is saying, although I do not watch “The Great British Bake Off...

I am bemused by the hon. Gentleman’s talk of one or two amendments and tweaking. Does he not thin...

Do not give way again.

I have been following instructions from you for 20 years, Mr Deputy Speaker, so I will continue t...

I want to put on the record that I believe that in the last nine years our Transport Ministers ha...

I respect the hon. Lady’s views on some of those issues in the context of the debate, but I have ...

If a Government had decided to offer all the northern councils involved their proportion of the o...

I say genuinely to the right hon. Gentleman that that is a false choice. In Greater Manchester, t...

Order. We are straying way off. We are not about bus services. We are not about subsidies. I am s...

I entirely accept what you say, Mr Deputy Speaker. I simply say to the right hon. Gentleman that ...

I rise to support the HS2 rail development and to support the Government ahead of the votes this ...

Surely, the point of scrutiny is not political point scoring, but accountability for the billions...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, but I refer him to the 11,000 pages of the environme...

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the complexity of the compensation schemes, and no ...

I do not have HS2 or, indeed, any significant infrastructure projects in my constituency, but I l...

I am very interested in the point my hon. Friend is making. Can she tell the House why, if the re...

Any large-scale project, particularly a first like HS2, will see unintended costs, resulting in a...

It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate. I have listened carefully to the arguments. The h...

I remind the right hon. Gentleman that we are debating phase 2a of the HS2 project. That is the r...

Order. That is for me to judge. I have been very lenient to Members on both sides throughout the ...

It was with regards to my amendment.

Of course we will come to your amendment.

I just wanted to say to the right hon. Gentleman that my amendment can therefore apply only to ph...

I totally get that point, but one cannot get from Crewe to the end destinations in phase 1 withou...

Does my right hon. Friend have any sympathy for the amendment from our hon. Friend the Member for...

I am going to come to that in a minute. I am wholly amazed by the revelations from my neighbour, ...

I absolutely accept the constituency issues that the right hon. Gentleman raises, and the poor co...

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his interventions. He has been busy making these poi...

Can we not start looking at this perhaps as broadband infrastructure and rail infrastructure? All...

That is a perfectly fair point, but there is no money tree. There is a limited amount of private ...

People call this project an investment. Now, one aims to get a return on an investment. If we wan...

I agree. There were questions at its original cost of £32 billion. We are now at £55 billion and ...

It has been a pleasure to hear so many passionate speeches about the power of transport to transf...

I am probably as much from the north as Andy Burnham—I am from Greater Manchester—and I am critic...

The people I mentioned have all made it very clear that they do not think it is a waste of money....

His name is James Cantrell. I am sure his situation is the same as that of staff in many other co...

I want to put on the record my thanks to James for doing such fantastic work. My hon. Friend rais...

I apologise for missing the start of the Minister’s speech. I was chairing a debate in Westminste...

My right hon. Friend has raised the important issue of transparency and the need for data to be u...

Will the Minister give way?

Very briefly.

If my hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Antoinette Sandbach) presses her new clause, will the...

I completely understand my right hon. Friend’s frustration with the impact that the build is havi...

Order. The Minister is trying to address points made in the debate, so it would be appreciated if...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The NDAs that HS2 has are fundamentally to ensure that it can co...

HS2 has a number of subcontractors and contractors, and it has entered into NDAs with them. Under...

I would uphold my hon. Friend’s concerns if they were valid. As I have said to her, HS2 Ltd has n...

Will the Minister confirm that what she said to the House a few moments ago is true—that no forme...

I cannot speculate on why people are made redundant. I can confirm that no member of staff is sub...

The Minister has explained why it is important for the efficiency of HS2 that it should have NDAs...

I feel that my hon. Friend is talking about particular cases in her constituency, on which I am m...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I am running out of time; forgive me.

New clause 5 would slow down the process, and I do no...

I have listened carefully to the Minister, and in the light of the power of our new clause 4, I w...

Consideration completed. I will now suspend the House for no more than 10 minutes in order to mak...

I can now inform the House that I have completed certification of the Bill, as required by the St...

indicated assent.

The House forthwith resolved itself into the Legislative Grand Committee ...

I remind hon. Members that, if there is a Division, only Members representing constituencies in E...

We should not let these sittings of the English Parliament go completely unremarked. In particula...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

In 2015, the Government decided to...

rose—

I will be delighted to give way to my hon. Friend, as I referenced him earlier, but he was not in...

I think that if my hon. Friend, and she is my friend, had been in the Chamber earlier, she would ...

Order. Before the Minister replies, I should say that I was in the Chair earlier. The Minister di...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I did speak to the Minister earlier and she suggested ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point of order. I think we should now probably just resume th...

I am not sure who is chastised there, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I am pleased to see that my hon. ...

The Minister will no doubt be aware, as are other Members, of how often the hon. Member for Lichf...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, which gives me an opportunity to put on the record ...

I am afraid that I am going to have speed on and perhaps not take any more interventions.

A...

We have had an extensive debate on phase 2a of HS2. Although the Bill is not as robust as the Opp...

Having listened to the Front-Bench speeches from both the Government and the Opposition, I could ...