Speeches by Glover.

“Mr Wild, you have quite clearly articulated the role of the designs not being complete before construction started and a lot of stuff to do with consents. Do you have any thoughts as to why construction started too early, given those issues? What were the causes and pressures that led to that?”

“A number of academics and HS2 senior managers have suggested that the political culture and politicians have some responsibility for starting early and for some of the wider problems facing HS2. Is it all our fault around this table?”

“Indeed. Such interfaces are very common with high-speed networks in other countries as well.”

“I thank the hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for securing this debate and the Backbench Business Committee for granting it. Along with the hon. Members for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) and for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran), she spoke eloquently of the emotional impact of a stolen phone. I still have a …”

“I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and his previous answer on dentistry, but I will push him a little further. My constituency, along with all of Oxfordshire, is an NHS dental desert. Having met with dental providers, they say that the key to changing that is reforming the NHS dental contract. I note that…”

“T4. I recently visited the Cornermen project in my Oxfordshire constituency. Based at South Moreton boxing club, it provides professional mental health support for men in a sporting environment. Does the Minister agree that sports and leisure can open the door to mental health provision? What more can the Government do…”

“I praise and thank the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury) for her wide-ranging opening speech to this important debate. I also thank the Backbench Business Committee for giving time for it. There is much to welcome in the spending review announcements for transport, particularly the capital investme…”

“I agree that full electrification is the best solution for the Devon and Cornwall main line, and we can use battery trains on the branch lines once that has been done. I would welcome a longer conversation with the hon. Member, because I understand that the current thinking is for discontinuous electrification with bat…”

“My hon. Friend is quite correct. Having previously worked on this subject in my past life, modelling of acceleration shows that electrically hauled freight is transformative compared with diesel, and it enables more to be hauled, making the most of the limited capacity that we have. Let me give an example from my const…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I follow other hon. Members in congratulating the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) on bringing this vital topic to the House and sharing his insight from his many decades of medical practice as well as the tribute that he paid to …”

“That is very interesting, thank you. Clearly, a key challenge for the railways across Europe is decarbonisation. In the UK, as you will probably be aware, we have a very high percentage of unelectrified lines. How are you finding that the market is changing in Europe in what you are looking to finance? Is it becoming m…”

“That is very interesting, thank you. Mr Brown, what is the view of Angel Trains on the idea of the UK participating in a EUROFIMA way of doing things?”

“Mr Pasternak, I do appreciate you will not be able to go into anything that is subject to any confidential commercial discussions, but given our move to Great British Railways do you think there is potential for UK operators to access EUROFIMA financing in the future?”

“That is very interesting, thank you.”

“Mr Pasternak, thank you very much for coming to the Committee. It is very interesting to hear a European perspective on this because some would argue that we can be a little inward-looking here. You mentioned that there has been a fairly continuous level of demand for rolling stock, but do the companies for which you p…”

“Yes, hopefully, although I am sure you would accept that in Germany they are carrying on with electrifying a lot of their main lines as well, aren’t they?”

“Does discontinuous with batteries work for freight?”

“Do you have anything to add?”

“Yes, briefly. It is interesting that you mentioned Ireland, because we went on a Select Committee trip there. They were very clear that they see the role of battery mostly as temporary, until they can get the capital for overhead wires. I think you are right in what you are saying about main lines. Do you think that th…”

“Isn’t it fortunate that LNER has not ordered a really small sub-fleet of 10 tri-mode trains that will be incompatible with its existing one?”