Railways Bill Remaining Stages: Amendment 143

Amendment 143 to the Railways Bill was defeated on 10 June 2026 by 266 votes to 167. The amendment, tabled by Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew, sought to preserve discounted rail travel for veterans, their families, and passengers aged 26 to 30 by writing existing railcard schemes into statute. The government voted against it, and its majority held. The amendment would have locked current discount railcard arrangements into primary legislation, preventing Great British Railways from altering them without further parliamentary approval. The government's opposition centred on its argument that statutory entrenchment would reduce flexibility. Ministers indicated a preference for allowing GBR to design a simplified offer for the armed forces community rather than preserving the current separation between veteran and family railcards. For passengers aged 26 to 30, and for veterans and their families, the vote determines whether those discounts rest on a statutory guarantee or on administrative discretion. The division followed strict party lines. All 267 Labour and Labour Co-operative MPs who voted backed the No lobby; no Labour MP voted Aye. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the Greens, Plaid Cymru, and several smaller parties all voted Aye. The result reflected the government's commanding Commons majority rather than any cross-party movement. Mayhew framed the vote as a test of individual Labour MPs' willingness to defy their whips, but no Labour member crossed the floor.