Speeches by Aquarone.

“I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this important debate, which is linked, of course, to the Transport Committee’s report on disabled people’s access to public transport. I am a passionate advocate for public transport. Over my years of campaigning, I have pushed for more buses and …”

“I draw Members’ attention to my interest as a serving county councillor. May I thank the Minister for seeing through Norfolk Conservatives’ self-serving scheme for a mega-council for Norfolk? The three-unitary model will ensure that my residents get the efficiencies of joined-up services, and that decisions are still m…”

“Are you recognising that in calculating the total cost of ownership?”

“Understood.”

“But that is slightly different from what Jamie said. The total cost of ownership is competitive, but you cannot roll it out because of access to charging infrastructure, or have I misunderstood that?”

“David, what is the difference between HGVs and LGVs?”

“This may well be useful to answer now as we go into some of the more detailed questions, but what are the differences in need between light and heavy goods vehicles?”

“But even within the HGV sector, the use cases are wildly different when it comes to the charging requirements.”

“Yes, of course.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. North Norfolk has many things to be proud of, and our half-a-billion-pound tourism industry is high on that list. However, that can bring its challenges: a seasonal economy leads to insecure employment and makes it hard for businesses to plan for the future. We…”

“Correct me if I am wrong, but even notwithstanding those abnormal loads, if you have a fleet that is basically going depot to depot there is inherently a charging opportunity at both ends of the journey. If you are not doing that type of journey, it is only the home depot that has the charging facility.”

“We have talked about how it would be charged. What about what is actually charged? Should there be different pricing or exemptions depending on vehicle age? We have touched on this a little. Are there any other ways around a per-mile charge in principle that could be made more palatable in practice?”

“I do not want to anger the Chair and a witness at the same time, but is this not a chance to be simple and say that road tax is road tax and that we need to look at road charging to make up the revenue deficit?”

“Some EVs are already paying vehicle excise duty because they are classed as luxury vehicles, which is a bit of a stretch when the market entry price for a large car until quite recently was, by definition, paying high-value excise duty.”

“Wrong thing, wrong way, wrong time. Any builds on those, gents?”

“That could lead to looking at road charging rather than recovering—”

“Connections to market towns in my constituency are vital for our tourism and hospitality industry. We have a great branch line service, but patrons of the much-lauded Gunton Arms and Suffield Arms will know that Gunton station quite often suffers from having trains only every two hours. Does the hon. Member agree that …”

“You mentioned LTPs. Do you think the Government should give clearer guidance? Very briefly, please.”

“I should draw the Committee’s attention to my registered interest as a serving Norfolk county councillor, as we have a senior officer from that authority here—don’t panic, Grahame! Lucy just mentioned the NPPF. It is almost as if transport does not fit neatly into any departmental box. That comment aside, I assume that…”

“Does anyone have any particular thoughts on whether the vision-led language is useful or hollow, what you need to deliver that, whether vision-led actually means car-free, and whether that is viable in all parts of the country? I do not need an answer from everyone, but perhaps I could gently encourage Grahame to answe…”