Speeches by Robertson.

“One of the things that is really clear is that people do not feel heard. Being able to bring their voices into Parliament allows them to understand that this pressure is being put on Royal Mail. We know that Royal Mail will take a very strong interest in that. I think it would be very good to see DBT summing that up.”

“Weirdly, many years ago, I was involved in a by-election in my constituency—long before I was an MP, I was the agent for one of the candidates—and I remember getting a phone call from the local elections authorities to say that they had been informed by Royal Mail that 30 ballots had not been delivered. They were liter…”

“People across Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages are delighted that this Government have funded the midlands rail hub project, meaning a doubling of the number of trains from Lichfield to Birmingham every hour. Ministers could go even further, though, by investigating the reopening of the Derby-Burton-Lichfield line…”

“8. What steps she is taking to providing funding for rail infrastructure.”

“We will get back to you very shortly.”

“There is and there isn’t, is the answer to that. One reason is that it appears to be getting worse, so every time we delay this, there will be more interest, and we are allowing a service that is deteriorating literally in front of our eyes. Secondly, there is no upcoming big piece of legislation that may change this p…”

“The main reason for asking for a general debate was that we thought that that might get it into the Chamber sooner. If you are advising us that—”

“I hope it would be DBT.”

“Certain things the Government can do. The Government and DBT have a role in the regulation of the USO in particular. The main people who need to get this right are Royal Mail. The actual solutions lie with Royal Mail, but the Government, through DBT, have a role in putting the pressure on, as well as we do through Parl…”

“There were two points in that, and I thank you for raising them. I did not cover it in the speech because I knew I was already going a little long, but this is not individual posties—this is not down to the person who is putting the mail through your door. It is a systematic failure of the organisation, and I think tha…”

“Thank you, Mr Blackman, and the Committee for hearing me today. As you mentioned, I should note that I made this application jointly with my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch, but unfortunately he is travelling with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee today, so you get the less pretty one of us. Apologies for that…”

“In my part of the world, people who get in touch with me about crime raise four major issues: car crime, county lines, antisocial behaviour and retail crime. The first two are often caused by criminal networks that extend beyond Staffordshire, and into the west midlands and further beyond. Will the Home Secretary confi…”

“Hear, hear.”

“My hon. Friend elucidates the problems that we face at Rugeley Trent Valley station. He is a doughty campaigner and it is a pleasure to work with him and to follow his lead. The issue affects not only his constituents but a number of mine as well. I want to go back to his remark that, “The next station is Lichfield Tre…”

“It is a pleasure to take part in this debate with you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. I thank those who have already spoken. I am here to talk about rail. I would love to talk about buses, but I do not think I will have time. Specifically, I would like to address the midlands rail hub, which the right hon. Member for Aldridg…”

“The right hon. Lady mentions the Network North money. It was a mythical project last seen leaving London, carried by Dick Whittington riding Shergar. The money simply did not exist. This Labour Government found the money for the project in the Budget, but it is not only the money. The alliance for delivery has already …”

“Yes, because it is you, Wendy.”

“The right hon. Member and I have both done some work on Chester Road—a place where one of my constituents lost their life a number of years ago. Is the right hon. Member able to update us on any conversations she has had with Walsall council about that area? I, and my constituents, would greatly appreciate that.”

“The right hon. Lady drives at that point again, but what we are seeing is the difference between words from one side of this House and action from the other. We have seen that in large parts of my constituency over a number of years. However, I will now seek to make some progress rather than be sidetracked by the numer…”

“It is always great to see the Liberal Democrats finding a south-east MP to come and talk about transport in the midlands and north Wales. The hon. Member mentioned the well-overdue news that the Government will be following through on the rail improvement projects and building north to south, rather than south to north…”