Speeches by Dollimore.

“I really welcome the £21.5 million of extra funding for Hastings, and I am delighted that hundreds of residents have been in touch with their ideas about how to spend it. As the Minister said, it is better spent on people’s priorities and not wasted as in previous schemes under the Conservative party, like the £150,000…”

“I thank the hon. Member for making the case for international rail. Does he therefore agree with me that it is a great shame that the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition Government sold this country’s 40% stake in Eurostar in 2015, during their time in Government? As a result of that sale, we lost our seat at the table when…”

“Today we have heard huge support from across the House for restoring international rail services to Ashford. I thank the Minister for the Labour Government’s firm commitment to restoring international trains to Ashford International, which is music to the ears of the constituents we represent. I also congratulate him o…”

“I totally agree that having good, international rail travel is important, not just because it is often cheaper and easier, but because it is better for the environment. At a time when we need to consider climate change, we must have more options for people to travel to our closest European neighbours. Since Eurostar st…”

“My hon. Friend, like me, represents a constituency that the Sutton Trust has ranked one of the lowest for social mobility and opportunity. Does she agree that reopening the link would provide a massive boost to young people and opportunities for them in our area?”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of returning international rail services to Ashford. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. When the channel tunnel first opened in 1994, it was rightly celebrated as a triumph of engineering and ambition. It showed that Britain wa…”

“T2. The Queensway Gateway roadworks have unleashed chaos on my constituents in Hastings and the surrounding area. The project was originally planned to last one month, but has dragged on for more than a year because of the failure of East Sussex county council to plan for the relocation of a major water main. Does the …”

“Minister, I just wanted to ask briefly about the issue of landslips, which is an issue that is increasingly affecting more and more of our constituents. We know that it is something that will increase with climate change as well. When landslips are happening, it is having a really devastating impact for the residents a…”

“What would your message to the industry be about the differential between the bosses at the top—who have been failing—and those frontline workers?”

“Our experience shows that we need those guidelines, we need those guardrails, because this is an industry that thrives on wriggling out of legal loopholes where it can. So, as a Committee, our plea to you would be to please put those legal protections in place for our constituents. We have also called for a single soci…”

“Noted. Lastly, on a cultural point, we have repeatedly heard the water bosses come here and justify eye-watering bonuses despite overseeing huge failure. When we have pressed them on their percentage bonus it is always much, much bigger than the bonus package available for the frontline staff who are actually out fixin…”

“But there is a commitment from the Department to set out some proper guidelines about what we can expect on day one, day two, day three of a water outage incident, and to learn the lessons from past failures?”

“Thank you. Flooding has been another massive issue. I have constituents who have waded through sewage in their own home and been forced to move out for six months; others have had it pour into their back garden. There is currently no duty on the water company to come out within a certain time to fix it and put it back …”

“I should start by declaring an interest as the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Water Pollution. We have heard a lot of evidence today—indeed our Committee has over the last couple of months—about how useless Ofwat is as a regulator. It is a regulator that does not even want to bark, let alone bite. And…”

“As you know, we have been having all the water bosses in and grilling them about very specific failings that they have made and wider problems in the sector, which is completely rotten. I just want to ask about some specific findings and recommendations that we put to the House in that report and to hear the Government…”

“T6. I recently visited the ghost terminal at Ashford International train station, where five years ago Eurostar, shamefully, ceased to have its services stop. A report last month found that bringing back those international trains to Ashford could benefit our local economy in Sussex and Kent by over £2.5 billion, which…”

“I gently remind the right hon. Member that since this Labour Government came to power, interest rates have been cut five times—a vote of confidence in our Chancellor, fixing the foundations of our economy. That saves the average family on an average tracker mortgage in my constituency over £100 a month. Will he remind …”

“Will the right hon. Member give way?”

“I really welcome the water commission. The EFRA Committee has had each of the water bosses in, one by one, and each struggled to explain why their industry prioritises bonuses over fixing broken pipes. I therefore really welcome the action that the Government have taken to ban bonuses, starting with the bonus for the S…”

“But can you answer the question, Adrian? You have said in your accounts today you think this will take 10 years to fix. Is it therefore correct to say that Thames is lobbying Ofwat and the Government to be let off fines for 10 years?”