Topical Questions

Question

Mr Shapps, the Insulate Britain protests have stopped Members from accessing the Chamber. Can you confirm that injunctions against protesters are being served and what legal measures will be taken to address this issue?

Question

Five years ago, Sheffield looked as though it was going to benefit from a whole range of levelling-up measures for rail infrastructure. However, the electrification of the midland main line was abandoned in 2017; a positive report on a new road tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester seems to have lain dormant; and the high-speed rail line has been downgraded to an upgrade that only allows trains to reach under 60 mph. Will the Secretary of State now commit to proceeding with the eastern leg of High Speed 2, or is this simply another example of Sheffield being left behind?

Question

The Mayor of London is cutting seven bus routes in my constituency, halting the upgrade to South Kensington tube station, and increasing the congestion charge. Does the Secretary agree that this reeks of financial incompetence on the part of the Mayor?

Question

The Government's Budget saw cuts to domestic aviation taxes but did not reverse the rapid decline in bus use, despite the Prime Minister's promise of 4,000 new zero-carbon buses two years ago. The roll-out of electric charging points is sluggish, and there are now more diesel vans on the road than when the Government came to power. What will change next week at COP26?

Question

With respect, I want to stop the Secretary of State from flying his private plane. Turning to smart motorways, it has been 10 months since I asked for the immediate reinstate of the hard shoulder, but no action followed. Instead, you have continued with the roll-out despite confirmed equipment failures and lives at risk. Now that the Transport Committee's damning report is out, will you do the right thing and immediately insist on reinstating the hard shoulder?

Question

I am aware that the Government are about to legislate on vehicle modifications for reasons of road safety. Can the Minister please reassure me that this will not unduly affect our legitimate engine tuning activities, our buoyant classic and prestige car markets and also our world-leading motor sports industries, all of which are pivotal for sustaining many thousands of jobs.

Question

Rail services on, to, and from Teesside are probably some of the worst in the country, with hand-me-down diesel trains and intermittent services. Soon we will have the 200th anniversary of the start of the railways, which was the Stockton and Darlington railway. Any chance of improvements before then?

Question

I very much welcome the Minister's answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), outlining the good news in the Budget on the delivery of more buses towards our target of 4,000 zero-emission buses. There are three manufacturers here in the UK that can deliver these buses, including one with a production line in Scarborough. Will the Minister give me a guarantee that these orders will be placed with UK manufacturers?

Question

One of the largest city-to-city journeys to work in the country is between Bradford and Leeds, and those journeys are mostly by car. At scale, Northern Powerhouse Rail would support a 400% increase in rail travel and take 64,000 car trips a day off the roads. With COP under way, do this Government have a strategy to ensure that our covid recovery is by rail, rather than by road, and will that include—because it should—Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, with a city centre stop in Bradford?

Question

The Birmingham cross-city line is, I am told, the second busiest rail line in the whole United Kingdom. A continuation of it is the route from Lichfield to Burton via the National Memorial Arboretum. At present, that line is only used for freight traffic. Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visit—without a harness—so that he can have a look at the rail line for himself and see what a valuable addition it would be to the rail network?

Question

My inbox—and, I am sure, those of many other Members—is mounting up with complaints from constituents who have been waiting months for responses from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about drivers' applications. Many of them are professional drivers, of whom there is a shortage at the moment. One of my constituents who was renewing his licence has not had a reply in time and now cannot work. Will the Secretary of State assure us that something is being done to catch up with the backlog?

Question

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I do appreciate your understanding when I was blocked getting into the House earlier today by the protesters. Last year, thankfully, the Prime Minister came to Broxtowe to announce “Gear Change”, which provides £2 billion-worth of cycling and walking funding. That indicates that active travel is really at the heart of the Government's agenda. I have in Broxtowe a town called Stapleford where people have put in an expression of interest for something called Mini Holland, which sounds fantastic. Will the Minister explain what that scheme is all about and how the process will work?

Question

The Secretary of State and the Chancellor press-released that the Budget would invest in northern transport, but once again the north-east was entirely overlooked. It costs more for a Geordie to go four stops up the West Road on a bus than it does for a Londoner to traverse the whole of London city, so when will the Secretary of State level down bus prices?

Question

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is very seldom that I become furious, but I am absolutely apoplectic about missing my question this morning due to those reprobates outside who are doing their cause no good whatsoever. I was sitting in my electric vehicle—I know the Secretary of State has one as well—coming here with the sole purpose of putting pressure on the Government to reduce carbon emissions from aviation from Heathrow airport, so it is absolutely bizarre that they should have blocked that question. My question now, which I will slightly rephrase, is: given that aviation is one of the greatest contributors to CO2 emissions, do the Government have any plans to continue to put downward pressure on CO2 from aviation?

Question

Since City of York Council barred blue badge holders from accessing our city centre, it seems also that the Government are delaying implementing fully accessible transport. We heard earlier about the five-year delay on audio-visual for buses, but also, in commissioning active travel schemes, the Government are not making them accessible either. Will the Minister talk to the companies that are putting in place e-travel active travel schemes to ensure that they have an accessible form of vehicles as well so that we can increase motability for disabled people?

Question

There can be no better place to Bus Back Better than the great city of Stoke-on-Trent, because, sadly, in a survey of 230 residents from across Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, people said to me that fares are not fair, reliability is non-existent and there is not good connectivity for places such as Brindley Ford and the great village of Milton. The Secretary of State joked with me recently that I must have broken WhatsApp, because I kept bombarding him with demands and messages. He should save himself a load of hassle, give Stoke-on-Trent the £90 million it wants for the Bus Back Better strategy, and ensure that we level up in the great city of Stoke-on-Trent.

Question

Making aviation net zero is clearly a big challenge. Earlier, the Secretary of State said that it is not flying that is the problem, but emissions from aircraft that use fossil fuels. Will he meet me to discuss ideas around synthetic fuels that scientists from the University of Leeds have brought to my attention?

Question

Greater Anglia has agreed that it will look at reinstating through-services from Lowestoft to Liverpool Street over the next six months. Will my hon. Friend work with me and Greater Anglia to see whether it is possible to do that?