Speeches by Mayer.

“Thank you; we are always happy when politics isn’t the problem. You mentioned that some other countries do this better, and you mentioned the concept of more regional devolution. Are there any countries that do regional rail policy well?”

“Is there really a lack of political consensus? East-west rail has been talked about since before the millennium. Twenty-five years ago groups of local authorities came together to say they wanted it, and in 2011 the Government backed it. We have been through loads of different types of Government. It is still sort of t…”

“Stephen, you said earlier that there was a lack of cross-party consensus, and we have heard evidence about the need for more public support for investments, to help to insulate a pipeline from political changes. How might that look? How do you make it happen?”

“How do you think the Government should approach rolling stock procurement? John McGookin: We look at where we are on procurement. Last week, I was on an HST, a 385; these trains were new before grass was green. Ultimately, we do not have, and do not see, a joined-up plan in terms of how we replace rolling stock. We now…”

“My colleague asked the previous panel about the rail network enhancements pipeline document that is stuck on the DFT website and has not been updated in some time. Do you have a view on its effectiveness in principle if it were updated?”

“In the written evidence we received there was quite a lot of discussion about control periods. Briefly, how would you like control periods to work differently?”

“Excellent. Moving on a bit, how do you think that a stable investment pipeline would improve productivity and efficiency in rail projects?”

“I agree, and let me say that transport is popular when it comes up in the Chamber. It does not often come up, because there are not emergency statements on it every five minutes, but everyone has a bus in their constituency and many people have a train—”

“It does not seem very long since we were last here talking about eggs and chickens, although I imagine it would feel much longer if we were stuck in a cage only the size of an A4 piece of paper. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to learn lessons from other countries, including Austria and Luxembourg, because our h…”

“You have talked about the Government’s development of the rolling stock strategy that you are being engaged on. Do you think that it needs to be accompanied by a more detailed document specifying the upcoming needs of customers, or do you think that it will be enough in and of itself, given the engagement you have had?”

“I think you have covered timings, and money. What detail do you actually want in this pipeline?”

“How has the procurement model changed since 2020 from a financier’s perspective?”

“Do you work differently with a privately owned operator than you would with an operator that has been taken over by the Department for Transport Operator?”

“Did you find the DFT to be a good client for you?”

“Okay.”

“Passengers quite often say to me that the wi-fi on trains is not fantastic. I am sure that you have experienced that, too. I am sure that you build what you are told to build, as with everything else, but are the specifications and expectations changing for wi-fi on trains?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay) on securing this debate. I last spoke about eggs in a debate just before Easter, but eggs are not just for Easter; they are for all year round. As other hon. Members have already said, we a…”

“Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I think buses are brilliant, so I am delighted that this Bill is coming forward on 2 June, because, as you said, it is my birthday. I thought it was the Minister’s way of wishing me many happy returns—and singles also! For too long, buses have been in decline. It is great that…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”