Speeches by Glover.

“Small businesses in Didcot’s Broadway are struggling with energy and staff costs, business rates and a rising tax burden, and the older town centre would benefit from investment and rejuvenation. For areas, such as Didcot, that did not receive Pride in Place funding, what suggestions does the Secretary of State have fo…”

“Colleagues are going to ask some questions about the future of the west coast main line in terms of how to accommodate traffic north of Handsacre given the cancellation of HS2 phase 2. I have a quick question for the Minister, or whoever is best placed to answer it. We are constantly being told that the west coast main…”

“Q5. This month’s local elections saw the biggest ever gap between votes and seats in England, with five parties estimated to have won more than 15% of the vote. It is increasingly clear that the public have had enough of Westminster business as usual. Does the Prime Minister still have full confidence in the first-past…”

“I have some questions about the implications of the cancellation of the phase 2 leg of HS2 to Crewe and Manchester. Minister, you will be aware that there has been lots of discussion in the rail press about concerns that HS2’s order for 54 200-metre trains—equivalent to eight coaches—could reduce capacity north of Birm…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. We Liberal Democrats also support this legislative tidying up. I hope the Minister is grateful for the opportunity to talk about what I know is his favourite mode of transport, ships, rather than dabbling in railway tedium. I have only one question for him: d…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her candour on the scale of the HS2 disaster and for the specificity of the range of dates she provided. The Liberal Democrats certainly agree with her intent: we need to make the most of this shambles, and it would be better to do something with what has been built rather than scrap …”

“I present on behalf of 175 constituents a petition regarding the closure of East Hagbourne post office. This is in addition to a non-parliamentary petition signed by 1,100 members of the local community. The petition states: The petition of residents of East Hagbourne in the constituency of Didcot and Wantage, Declares…”

“I am glad you mentioned the driving thing, because we have seen evidence that when people actually try it, they are surprised by the acceleration and how good they feel to drive. Do you think that the Department could do more to promote practical opportunity for people to try it and see it for themselves? Sometimes, se…”

“A big issue with electric vehicles is either misinformation or people having inaccurate and outdated perceptions. The Government have launched the “Get that electric feeling” campaign—an interesting name. What evidence do you have on the reach and effectiveness of that campaign?”

“That is a very good segue, thinking about interdepartmental co-operation. Mr Bruce, your Office for Zero Emission Vehicles works across two Government Departments. How effective do you think it has been in co-ordinating work across those two Departments?”

“To be clear, do you believe that the 2030 phase-out date is realistic?”

“This opening question is fairly simple, though the answer may not be: how confident are you that the electric vehicle transition is happening at the pace required?”

“You rightly emphasise the importance of consistency, Minister, but this Government made changes to the ZEV mandate in April last year. What evidence do you have of how effectively those changes are working, and does that not somewhat undermine what you are saying about the importance of consistency in policy?”

“The £150 million a week, for example.”

“Sometimes it does, yes.”

“Q13. Despite the Government’s ambitious house building targets, the charity Shelter believes that the current approach is not providing enough social and genuinely affordable homes. Will the Prime Minister end his Government’s warm embrace of the developer-led model, and instead heed Liberal Democrat calls for 150,000 …”

“I hear what you are saying about the manufacturing sector, but we are hearing through this inquiry that there are big concerns about the delivery of charging infrastructure, grid readiness and affordability, and that they are all lagging behind where we need to be to achieve the trajectory to get to 2030. Do you agree …”

“T3. At a recent meeting with members of Wantage chamber of commerce, local businesses were united in their concerns about business rates and unconvinced by recent Government tweaks that Ministers have just alluded to. Page 31 of Labour’s manifesto states: “The current business rates system disincentivises investment, c…”

“I was reading the ministerial code just yesterday evening. Paragraph 2.1 states: “The Prime Minister is the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a minister and the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards.” That provides clarity on how Ministers can be held to account by the Prime Min…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) for securing a debate on this important topic, and the Backbench Business Committee for choosing it. We have heard from many hon. Members the important reasons the DVLA needs to improve. I do not have time to mention all the excellent contri…”