Expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Tuesday 20th December 2022 Westminster Hall

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Gareth Johnson) for securing this important debate. Conservative Members have been campaigning assiduously on this issue, in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Gareth Bacon), who has been leading on it for some time. The ULEZ will have a profoundly negative impact on many of our constituents. Hon. Members should be under no illusion: the ULEZ is about revenue generation on the back of poor financial management. This is a London tax, put forward by the Labour Mayor of London, and it hits the poorest, who cannot afford to update their vehicles. In Runnymede and Weybridge, families and businesses will suffer the most.

I put out a local petition, and there was an overwhelming response against the ULEZ. That is interesting in itself, but what perhaps gives more power to the arguments against it is the individual comments that people made in response to the petition. People explained that they cannot afford to update their car, because they do not have enough money. Public sector workers, who need to go into London to work, said that the ULEZ will have a serious impact on their ability to continue to do that sort of job. Businesses felt that it would make them go under. People living with disabilities need to use their cars to travel around, and that is a particularly substantial issue at the moment because, yet again, the lift at Weybridge station is broken—sadly, I have had to campaign too often to get it repaired. People are therefore forced into using cars to get to and from London.

Sadiq Khan says that the ULEZ is about air quality. If it really was about air quality, why does he use such a blunt tool to deal with the issue, as opposed to focusing on the areas with the most acute air quality problems, which are along trunk roads? Why the blanket approach rather than a targeted approach? If he really wants to improve air quality, why does he not push even faster car scrappage? Why does he not invest more in the bus fleet conversion to electricity and hydrogen vehicles? Why does he not listen to industry?

Earlier this year, I was at an event hosted by Octopus Electric Vehicles in Weybridge, which was looking at the transition to electric vehicles. There were lots of representatives from all sorts of businesses and innovators, and they said that the key policy to drive forward the uptake of electric vehicles is the zero emission vehicle mandate. They welcomed the Government’s incredible position in terms of bringing it forward, but they said that if we want to really push things, we need a more ambitious ZEV mandate. Why is Sadiq Khan not talking about practical, proper solutions to air quality, rather than pressing his attack on, in essence, the poorest?

I will finish with this: the ULEZ is a London tax to prop up a failing administration. My constituents should not have to pay the price for Sadiq Khan’s failings.

Covid-19: International Travel

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

Throughout the pandemic, Labour has flip-flopped, calling for a pause on international travel, then opposing all and any restrictions. May I thank my right hon. Friend for ignoring its game playing—[Interruption]—and for his unalloyed support for international travel and a truly connected global Britain?

[Grant Shapps]

Opposition Members do not like the question because it is true. Everyone has witnessed it. Their Front-Bench team has flip-flopped on one side, then the other side; one way, then the other. As it turns out, it is important to follow the evidence, and when the evidence says that we should unlock and do away with these tests that is exactly what we have done. [Interruption.] One would think that the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane), who is shouting from a sedentary position, would welcome the data-driven, spreadsheet-based approach to this issue.

International Travel

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Monday 20th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Tempting as it would be, I am sure, for him to welcome all the extra business, in the end we are all better when we are together. As Edinburgh Airport said, the decision to diverge yet again and further curtail the recovery of Scotland’s aviation and travel industries is incredibly regrettable.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend and welcome this great news today: great news for people living in Runnymede and Weybridge; great news for businesses; great news for people who need to see their families; and great news on the reciprocal arrangements with the US. Of course, it is all about those reciprocal arrangements. I welcome his laying out a standard to go to other countries and say, “This is how we should do things.” Will he be promoting that with his Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office colleagues as the best way, so that we can truly usher in international safety standards?

[Grant Shapps]

Yes, we absolutely will. My hon. Friend is right to suggest that what we need is international standards through the International Civil Aviation Organisation, so that we are all working off roughly the same playbook. That is part of what we have been doing, and the House will be interested to hear that I will chair a further meeting of G7 Ministers later in the autumn to try to ensure that we spread an international approach to launching international travel.

International Travel Rules

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Monday 19th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts]

A number of different points were raised in the hon. Lady’s question. All employers and all workplaces of course have to enforce the law as it stands; Parliament has legislated and that must be enforced, and there are authorities to do that. On covid-safe travel, a lot of detailed guidance has been made available and I would expect everybody to continue to follow it, to keep everybody safe, as indeed they very much are doing. Some travel providers may decide to take steps in addition, such as making a mask a condition of carriage or of entry. I am confident that those assessments that each travel provider undertakes on their premises or in their transport means will enable everybody to travel and to remain safe while they travel.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I very much welcome the fact that fully vaccinated people can now travel to amber countries without having to quarantine on return, but I am disappointed with the change in the situation with France and, in effect, the creation of a new “orange-red” category. It is right that the Government act quickly, and it would have been a disaster if France had become a red country, but new variants are going to keep on coming—that is inevitable—and what the sector, families and travellers need is certainty and predictability. Will my hon. Friend assure me that at the next review certainty and predictability particularly will be looked into, and that the traffic light system will remain a three-pronged one, rather than covering all colours of the rainbow?

[Robert Courts]

I am keen to reassure my hon. Friend that the system we have laid out in the Global Travel Taskforce report—the red, amber, green system—remains in place. A precautionary measure has been taken, for the reasons explained, with regard to France. I agree with him that certainty is what we would like to provide—we aim to do that through the system that we have. One difficulty, of course, is that if a situation develops in another country with regard to a variant or increased prevalence, we have to react to that, and it is right that we do so. In answer to his question as to whether these matters will be kept under review as we continue to consider policy, I can tell him that they will, of course.

Transport Decarbonisation

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 14th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

That is an excellent question. I have been speaking to the energy infrastructure, not only to make sure that it is secure against hackers, but also that we are able to ensure provision, as the number of people buying electric cars continues to increase. It is worth mentioning that one in seven people who bought a car this year bought a car with a plug on the end of it, effectively, so electric vehicles are being used in ever-greater numbers. The question of electricity security, and all our infrastructure security, is also wrapped up in the good work that happens throughout government, and I will ensure that I press the hon. Gentleman’s point home as we have those further discussions as well.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I, too, warmly welcome the statement and I look forward to digging in to the plan later. May I pick up on a point around HGVs, because they are incredibly polluting? I have many constituents who live alongside the M25 and the M3, where that is an issue, and they warmly welcome the consultation process in terms of trying to decarbonise HGVs and buses and stop that pollution.

Sustainability has to be sustainable, so I can see why there is a need for consultation to ensure that it works and that we do this properly, but as a result of the consultation, will my right hon. Friend really try to push forward as quickly as possible in getting diesel, getting HGVs, off the roads, decarbonising them and making a huge difference to my constituents, for whom that cannot come soon enough?

[Grant Shapps]

A small but important sub-clause to my announcement that we will be consulting to outlaw the sale of diesel HGVs by 2040 is that by 2035—five years earlier—we will already have done that for lorries up to 26 tonnes. A 26-tonner is a very considerable size of lorry, so my hon. Friend’s prayers may well be answered much sooner than he fears.

International Travel

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I welcome the hon. Lady’s welcome for the package. I am very, very sorry to hear about the situation that she outlines. Of course everybody in a quarantine hotel should have access to medical assistance. I am not aware of the details but I am happy to help to arrange for the correct Minister in the Department of Health and Social Care to meet her to discuss her constituent’s case.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I very much welcome the announcement from my right hon. Friend, which will make such a huge difference to families wanting to see their relatives, to businesses in my constituency, and of course to people who want to go on holiday.

Can I come back to the point on reciprocity? While we can ease the measures domestically, what happens when people land on the other side also impacts their ability to work, see relatives and so on. Ideally, we want international safety standards and an international approach that is synchronous across all nations. Will he update the House on his discussions on taking that forward?

[Grant Shapps]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his campaigning on this subject. He has done a great deal in talking about safety standards and campaigning to get to a situation where we can help to reopen things. He is right to talk about reciprocity. He will be interested to hear that I chaired a meeting of the G7 Transport Secretaries with my equivalents earlier in the year and will do so again later in the year. Our drive is to introduce those international standards, because clearly coronavirus is not going away any time soon and we want to make sure that an internationally recognised system is in place. We are doing our part, since we have been chairing the G7, to make sure that those standards are recognised globally.

Aviation, Travel and Tourism Industries

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Thursday 10th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

In 1919, Sir John Alcock said:

“There is always satisfaction in being the first to do anything, whatever it may be”.

I am sure the Minister recognises that name, because it was Sir John, along with Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Brown, who flew a Vickers Vimy—built at Brooklands in my constituency—in the first non-stop Atlantic crossing. Aviation is in my constituency’s blood. We are five miles south of Heathrow and Gatwick is right next to us, and I speak on behalf of the thousands of my constituents who work in the sector, whose jobs are dependent on aviation. Those jobs include flying and refuelling the planes, working as ground staff and working in the hotels where people stay when they come to visit us. There are jobs in logistics, and SMEs set up in my constituency because of the aviation and infrastructure there. People also come to the tourist attractions, such as Magna Carta and Thorpe Park, and they stay over.

It is not just about jobs; people need to travel to see family. As many Members from all parties have said, that has been the cruellest part of the restrictions on international travel. People need to see their relatives—we are global Britain, an international family—and we need to get the vital routes back as soon as possible.

We have had a phenomenal, hugely successful vaccination programme. Will the Minister explain what needs to happen next so that we can start to evolve and change the restrictions and the process on international travel? Rather than wait, can we use that 1919 spirit again to be the first to drive things forward? We have always been at the forefront of aviation; can we use that aviation spirit to go forward and bring in international vaccination passports, or whatever is needed to get aviation and our international borders open again?

Southern Heathrow Rail Link

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) and the Minister for allowing me to speak in this debate. I also admire my hon. Friend for the strong case—it was a tour de force—she made for a southern rail link, which would provide a local economic boost and create and support jobs in Runnymede and Weybridge at a time when they are sorely needed. It would deliver greater connectivity between Heathrow and London and my constituency, and cement my constituency’s status as one of the best places to live and work—alongside, of course, her constituency of Guildford.

A southern rail link would improve our local infrastructure and economy, but, crucially, it would also help us meet our environmental targets. Air pollution and noise pollution from the M25 and M3 affect Runnymede and Weybridge badly. We want people to use public transport, but the infrastructure needs to be in place. This would support the aviation sector, which both directly and indirectly supports many jobs and businesses in Runnymede and Weybridge. A new train track to Heathrow airport would not just help those who want to head off to Lanzarote—dare I say it, but I think everyone in this country could do with a holiday? It would also create jobs in the sector and help those in those jobs to get to work, day in, day out.

At a critical point in our country’s economic recovery from covid, a southern rail link would help us to not just bounce back but bounce higher.

Covid-19: Aviation

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kelly Tolhurst]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Air connectivity with all our devolved Administrations, particularly Scotland, is important, and regional connectivity and our smaller airports will very much feature in our planning for the recovery stage. I am incredibly cognisant of the fact that we must do a lot of work to keep that connectivity and deliver on our levelling up agenda, and that is exactly what I intend to do.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for her answers, and I echo the point about the use of taxpayers’ money and the furlough scheme, and the corporate responsibility of carriers such as British Airways. A 14-day quarantine would ground the aviation industry and all jobs and businesses that rely on it, but as yet we have not provided aviation-specific financial support. Given that the 14-day quarantine is in effect a Government mandated shutdown of a large part of the passenger airline industry, does the Minister agree that sector-specific financial support should be provided, as we have done for other sectors that have been directly shut down, such as shops and pubs?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I recognise the importance of the aviation sector in my hon. Friend’s constituency; he has been a champion of it and spoken to me about this issue a number of times already. We absolutely have already delivered unprecedented financial support already for the airlines, which have the ability to access the Government schemes. As we move through the period of restart and recovery, we are working with the industry to assess what the problems, issues and requirements will be. We have not taken anything off the table and we will continue to work through things. We are obviously working closely with the sector to deliver on the quarantine announcement.

Surrey: M25 Noise Pollution

Ben Spencer Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Westminster Hall

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Woking (Mr Lord) for all his work in this area, and to the M25 action group. Most of what I intended to say was quite eloquently summed up by my hon. Friend, so I will just go over a few points, to reiterate the strength of my hon. Friend’s argument. I appreciate that, given current events, this is arguably not the right time for this debate. It is right that the Government must prioritise tackling the current pandemic, but Members must also continue to represent the wider needs of our constituencies.

When we emerge from the current social restrictions, ensuring a swift return to economic and social activity will be vital, and our infrastructure will be key. However, improvements to our infrastructure also need to be quality, because it cannot be that our residents are already hugely adversely affected by the impact of our infrastructure—noise pollution on the M25. Many of my constituents are quite seriously affected by the noise. In parts of New Haw, Addlestone and Chertsey, cars can be heard rattling past a kilometre away from the motorway. When driving up the motorway, as I have done many times, cars shake with the noise. It is quite clear to everybody how that noise can go over the barriers and affect people living locally.

Is the Minister willing to commit to reviewing the proposals for this stretch of the M25 later this year, and to meet me and my hon. Friend, in order to take this forward and look at how we can improve the situation?