Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Chris Bryant

Thursday 21st March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I know how strongly people in regional airports feel about this issue and the intense pressure from around the United Kingdom on the Treasury to look at this again. I know my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken careful note of all those representations. Of course, the one thing that would not help Newquay airport and others is Labour’s plan to hike air passenger duty.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Which? reckons that, if we have a no-deal Brexit, British passengers may well face more than five hours’ wait in airports in this country and on returning to the UK. It recommends that people should take with them not only water and food, but nappies. Does the Secretary of State recognise that there is a real danger in a no-deal Brexit for British passengers? Has he considered yet using the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to make sure that passengers are protected?

[Chris Grayling]

We of course continue to look very carefully at all the potential implications of different Brexit scenarios. What I would say to the hon. Gentleman is that passengers from this country go on holiday around the world, not just in the European Union, and they do not end up waiting for five hours at airports. The reality is that those countries and those airports want British tourists and they will work to make sure that that is possible.

Rail Update

Debate between Lord Grayling and Chris Bryant

Wednesday 29th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Those two projects will happen in lockstep. They are both important, they are both going to happen, and we are going to steer them in parallel.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

The journey from Paddington to Cardiff is regularly a version of hell. Trains are frequently cancelled, and then everyone has to pile on to the next train, often an hour later. My constituents tell me that it is often announced that a train will not set off for another 20 minutes because it is too overloaded to be safe. At the weekends, instead of putting on extra trains after international matches, the company puts on fewer trains, which means that hundreds of people are standing for four hours. That is simply unfair and wrong. When will the Secretary of State put it right?

[Chris Grayling]

The hon. Gentleman will be delighted to see the arrival of the new Hitachi intercity express trains, which will have more seats and more capacity. They will replace trains that are well out of date, and will provide a faster, better service for passengers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Chris Bryant

Thursday 19th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

The service on the Treherbert line is shockingly bad. Trains are regularly cancelled. When there should be four carriages, there are often two. Obviously, there is to be a new franchise, let by the Welsh Government, but we need more investment in the rail network, and that is down to the Westminster Government. We have 6% of the railways in this country in Wales. Why do we only get 1% of the investment?

[Chris Grayling]

In Wales right now, we have the biggest electrification programme in the country coming soon; we have new trains coming to Cardiff, Swansea and Pembroke Dock; we have a big investment programme funded by central Government in the valley lines; and I am now looking at what changes we can make to the north Wales line, where there is a real need for improvement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Chris Bryant

Thursday 13th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

All three of us have taken part in business questions, so I am sure that you were not totally surprised by that contribution, Mr Speaker.

On a serious note, I pay great tribute to the officers of the British Transport police and the staff of Northern Rail for the way in which they responded to the bomb attack in Manchester. The rail staff in particular, whose job description that was in no way part of, responded heroically, and they deserve our thanks.

[Chris Bryant]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thought you might have picked something up from the Queen of Spain yesterday—[Interruption.] Some Spanish. I wholly concur with what the Secretary of State said about the staff in Manchester.

When the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, may I urge the Secretary of State to come to the Rhondda to visit the Rhondda tunnel between Blaencwm and Blaengwynfi? That would be a magnificent tunnel if it were open for the public and cyclists to go through. It would be a great tourist attraction if only his Department would hand the project over to the local charity, and give it £250,000 as well.

[Chris Grayling]

I know that relations between the hon. Gentleman and the Labour party in south Wales can sometimes be slightly strained, but I am sure that he will use his influence on the Welsh Government, to whom we have offered to give the tunnel. They have not responded—I am waiting for their response—but it is there for them. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman could encourage them to give us a response.