Passenger Railway Services Bill (Public Ownership) Bill: Committee: Amendment 21
82Ayes
360Noes
Defeated · majority 278 · Government won205 did not vote
647 Members · Aye 82 · No 360 · DNV 205 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on Amendment 21 to the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill during its committee stage on 3 September 2024. The amendment was defeated by 360 votes to 82. The bill, at the stage when this vote took place, was being examined line by line by the full House of Commons sitting as a committee. The bill is designed to return passenger rail services to public ownership, ending the franchising arrangements under which private companies have operated train services. The amendment sought to modify or restrict elements of that programme, though the detailed content of Amendment 21 is not available in the records underlying this summary. Defeating the amendment left the bill's public ownership provisions intact as drafted by the government. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines, with the Conservative Party absent from the breakdown, suggesting this amendment was brought by opposition parties rather than the government's traditional main rival. The Liberal Democrats supplied the bulk of the ayes, with 68 votes, joined by Plaid Cymru, the Green Party, and the Democratic Unionist Party, each contributing four votes, plus two independents and smaller party representatives. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted unanimously against, providing 353 of the 360 noes. No Conservative votes appear in the data for this division.
Voting Aye meant
Support Amendment 21 to the Public Ownership rail bill, likely seeking to modify or restrict elements of the rail nationalisation programme
Voting No meant
Oppose Amendment 21, backing the bill as drafted and resisting changes to the government's rail nationalisation plans
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
316
45
Conservative and Unionist Party
—
0
0
116
Liberal Democrats
Whipped Aye
67
0
4
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
37
5
Independent
—
3
4
7
Scottish National Party
—
0
0
9
Reform UK
—
0
0
7
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
4
0
1
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Plaid Cymru
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
2
0
Your Party
—
1
1
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
1
0
0
Restore Britain
—
0
0
1
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
0
1
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
0
1
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Opposes the Bill's ideological approach; demands rigorous impact assessments, independent oversight of DOHL's capacity, financial monitoring of public operators, and independent pay review body to prevent union-driven wage inflation without productivity gains.Conservative · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (4,878 words) →
Supports the Bill as correcting 30 years of privatisation damage; emphasizes billions in profits transferred abroad and that Labour has thoroughly developed the policy, rejecting claims of haste.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (231 words) →
Strongly supports public ownership but warns that DfT officials may obstruct implementation; urges fast prioritisation of worst-performing franchises first and seeks clarity on removing clause 2(3) loopholes.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,468 words) →
Neutral on ownership model; demands independent review of passenger experience impacts, ticketing system overhaul, and mechanisms for devolved local bodies to run services under GBR guidance.Liberal Democrats · Voted aye · Read full speech (1,476 words) →
Strongly supportive; defends public ownership against privatisation's dividend payouts to foreign governments; cites improved performance of DOHL-run services (LNER, TransPennine) and urges exploration of not-for-profit rolling stock financing.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,579 words) →
Supportive; emphasizes procurement reform and supply chain stability as critical for domestic rail manufacturing (Alstom Derby), requires detailed Government procurement strategy.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (764 words) →
Supportive of principle; proposes amendments to enable elected local bodies (combined authorities, councils) to own and operate companies bidding for franchises under GBR framework.Green Party · Voted aye · Read full speech (314 words) →
Defends the Bill and the recent ASLEF pay deal as delivering necessary reform; criticises previous Secretary of State's failed modernisation attempts.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,370 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0