Speeches by Turner.

“I will not, as I do not wish to deny other Members the chance to speak. All those representations were helpful and made a difference, and I am grateful to everyone who shared their story. I will be voting for the Bill tonight.”

“rose—”

“I am sure the right hon. Lady would not want an inaccurate statement to stand on the record. Unemployment fell under just two 20th-century Governments: the first Labour Government and the 1970 Government of Ted Heath. I know that she is repeating a standard Conservative party message, but it is a really cynical and sil…”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I think every Member of this House would agree that welfare needs reform. I think about the constituent who was asked in a PIP assessment, “How long have you been autistic?” I think about other stories that are close to my heart, which I cannot repeat because t…”

“I intend to speak briefly, and I draw the House’s attention to my role as chair of the parliamentary group for the GMB, the union that represents the largest number of workers on the parliamentary estate, and to my declarations to that effect in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Parliament is, on the whole,…”

“Okay. If this Committee was to examine one example in more detail, would you recommend the German approach?”

“Thank you.”

“I remember a civil servant once referring to the UK as “Treasure Island” because of the proliferation of individual procurement requirements rather than having standardisation. As a final follow-up from me, you said that the UK perhaps has been paying over the odds because of that degree of individual requirements. Cou…”

“You have spoken about existing constraints already. We all remember acutely the job losses in Derby a little over a decade ago. At what point would you face a similar point of crisis if new orders do not start to come in?”

“Changing topic a little, the UK’s rolling stock procurement system may be unusual compared with some of the other countries in which you operate. We are shifting towards a model which may look more similar to most European countries with one dominant public sector operator and customer. It is quite an open question, bu…”

“I have a question for Christoph. Do other nations that you operate in produce an overall report or register of the status of their rolling stock assets? Do such documents help potential investors to enter that particular market?”

“I am sorry to interrupt. Would you mind putting a rough figure on how long it takes to get someone to that point?”

“I have a final question on skills. Starting perhaps with Sambit—colleagues might want to come in on this issue as well—when you are taking on a starter, typically how long does it take to train them up to the level required, and what are the associated costs for your businesses if you do have to let people go because o…”

“Thank you, Chair. You both employ a large, high-skilled workforce, getting, between you, towards 3,000 people in rail manufacturing roles, directly. With the order book in its current state, at what point would reductions in that workforce start to kick in? To put it another way, how long can you maintain your current …”

“No, it has been covered.”

“Thank you.”

“On freight, there is a very large fleet of Class 66s that are coming towards the end of their life. You mentioned, Sambit, that Siemens has a product, albeit that it is not manufactured in the UK. Are you looking to future potential freight orders in the UK to help to fill some of those order book gaps? How practicable…”

“Okay. On the second point about value for money, you said earlier that the policy objective should be to create a market that offers best value for money for the taxpayer. The ORR separately has estimated that post-tax investment depreciation profit margins for the ROSCOs were 22% in 2023-24 and 34% the year before tha…”

“This question may need to be revisited sooner than five years because it relates to some that at the moment are franchised operations.”

“For the benefit of the Committee, could you talk us through what the significance of this process is and whether you think the current transparency order needs to be revised in light of the Government’s plans for rail reform?”