Business of the House

Debate between Neil O'Brien and Alan Campbell

Thursday 16th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to support Fulwell community library and the National Year of Reading, and I pay tribute to Richard Beck and all the others who are helping to make these things possible. Public libraries open up opportunities for everyone to access information and knowledge, and provide vital community spaces. We are investing £1.5 billion to save more than 1,000 local museums, art venues, libraries and heritage sites, ensuring access to culture for everyone. This is a particularly exciting time for my hon. Friend’s city, not least because we will be enjoying European football next season.

[Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston) (Con)]

The midland main line is in crisis. More than a quarter of our trains are being cancelled or are crazily late, and we find that even if people can get on, they will have to stand because so many are short form. The trains are falling apart; the air conditioning, toilets and doors do not work, and the windows are blown. We need a debate on this, because this happened because Department for Transport officials allowed our trains to be sent somewhere else in the country, even though they knew that our new trains were not going to arrive on time. My constituents want to know when the compensation will come, and whether they will get trains over the summer to stop this crisis getting worse, because at the moment, the Department is in denial. We need some proper answers.

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I am sorry to hear of the situation that the hon. Gentleman raises. I will take that back to ministerial colleagues and see if we can get an update. Should he seek a meeting with Ministers, I would be happy to arrange it.