Flybe

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)]

Order. We cannot have two people. It is the turn of the Green Party.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord makes a very important point, but of course landing charges are set on a commercial basis.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top]

My Lords, regional connectivity is very important, and I am pleased that the Government keep repeating that phrase. However, if you come from the north-east, there is the threat of the Flybe difficulties; LNER is now telling people not to travel north on two weekends out of the next six because of engineering works and disruptions; and there is now real uncertainty over the future of HS2 because of the Government’s announcements post the election. Does the Minister understand that regional connectivity is absolutely critical to the survival of the manufacturing industries of places such as the north-east when so many other things are against them? All these issues coming together spell really bad news for the north-east.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

This Government are absolutely aware of all the issues that the noble Baroness has raised. We are taking a new look at regional connectivity to make sure that we are able to get people to where they want to be across all modes. She mentioned that the train service is sometimes out of service at weekends. Of course, that disruption is simply a function of the amount of money that we are putting in for maintenance and for enhancements.

Railways: High Speed 3

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kramer]

My Lords, I am delighted to keep all interested Members of this House informed. It would indeed be a pleasure.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

Can the noble Baroness reassure us that the Government understand that there are great northern cities that lie north of Leeds? The north-east is never mentioned, yet the country depends on the north-east for manufacturing output. We have the only mainline railway on which running times have become slower over the past 10 years, not faster. It looks like the Government are trying to cut us off from the rest.

[Baroness Kramer]

My Lords, I absolutely have to counter such suggestions. First, the cities further north than the actual reach of HS2 will benefit from much higher speeds on the lines in that direction, many of them seeing 30 minutes to an hour shaved off journey times. The released capacity on the east coast main line, the west coast main line and the Midlands main lines will mean new services for many cities in the north. The work on connectivity with Rail North and others who represent local communities and other stakeholders is extensive in order to make sure that that connectivity is built in. It is a very exciting opportunity and I am sure that if the noble Baroness talks to the relevant communities, she will discover how excited and engaged they are.

High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Thursday 8th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

I am not volunteering for that, although I will discuss it with my noble friend later. Does he agree that what he has just said about the hybridity of the Bill should have been said by the Minister in a proper introduction?

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords, I will intervene very briefly. I continually argued in the Commons, when I was involved in the usual channels, that we needed to find a different procedure for this sort of highly technical and potentially extremely lengthy Bill, which involves and engages a small number of Members for an inordinate amount of time. It is not quite so bad in this House, because we do not have representational responsibilities in the way that Members in the Commons do, but it is an arcane procedure. I tried to get the clerks and the legal people in the other place to think about this much more.

This is now the most significant—and will be the longest and most technical and difficult—Bill that either House will have seen for many a long year, and I wonder whether the Government have thought of any other procedures or ways of dealing with it. It puts Members in a really difficult position, too, because of interests such as whether they travel on the train and whether they have ever met the owners of the track, the trains or whatever. It is an incredibly difficult procedure to get Members involved in and it really is about time.

While I am on my feet, I am bewildered why the business of the House is not organised more effectively more regularly. When I used to have weekly meetings in the Commons with my noble friend Lord Grocott, who has just left the Chamber, he used to be absolutely clear with me about what we could and could not do so that Members knew when they would be here and when they would not. I suspect that if we as a Government had changed the Queen’s Speech at the last moment, the then Opposition would have gone berserk. We really need a bit more organisation in the way that the business of this House is conducted.

[Lord Elton (Con)]

This may be a matter for the Procedure Committee in the long term but we have an immediate issue. I remind the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, that the objectors to the Bill and those who have an interest do not wish to be summoned twice to repeat their evidence. There is a very pressing argument in that respect for carrying forward at this stage.