Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The basis of this project was that Hertfordshire County Council and the Department for Transport provided money to TfL for the extension work. The agreement was that TfL would meet any costs above the agreed price, and would retain any funds below the agreed price. That agreement was reached a couple of years ago. Quite a chunk of money has already been spent, including on the acquisition of a train. It is for the Mayor to complete this project, and I have asked him for his plans to do so.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State aware that he cannot easily brush off what has happened with that fiasco at HS2 and the resignation? Will he take into account the fact that now is the time—very opportune—to get rid of that stupid idea of having two HS2 lines running through the county of Derbyshire? The one called the Newton spur will lose us 1,000 jobs in the area and knock down 32 houses. It is called the “dawdle through Derbyshire”. Get rid of it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 23rd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I take this very seriously. We have been very clear when letting contracts—most recently in the information that we put into the market about rolling stock—that we expect this project to leave a lasting skills footprint not just in the areas of construction but around the United Kingdom. A number of events have been held for potential suppliers to the project around the UK, and we have been very clear with all firms, both UK and international, that want to bid to be part of it that we expect them to leave that footprint. It is an essential part of the project.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Is the Secretary of State aware that because of the decision to have a station at Sheffield, we will have two HS2 lines running through Derbyshire: a fast track and a slow track? Many villages throughout Bolsover will be affected as a result. There is one in particular, Newton, where more than 30 houses are due to be demolished. Will he meet a group of residents from that village to try to sort this matter out?

[Chris Grayling]

I am aware of the issue the hon. Gentleman refers to. I give him the same assurance that I just gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan): we will do our best to minimise impacts. The Minister alongside me, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough, will answer these questions in more detail in the Adjournment debate tonight. Either he or I will also meet residents to discuss the issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 12th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State reject the new proposal of a spur line from HS2 in the constituency of Bolsover between Hilcote and Morton? Not only will it cut the Blackwell council in two, but it will destroy scores of houses in the village of Newton. Will he have a look at the letter I have sent him, in order to pacify the people of Blackwell about this mad idea?

[Chris Grayling]

Of course I will. I have taken a close interest in the eastern leg, and I have been up and down most of the route myself. I am very keen that we deliver the economic benefits, but that we do so in the way that works best for local communities. I am happy to take a look at the issue that the hon. Gentleman has raised.

Rail Infrastructure (Train Operating Companies)

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Tuesday 6th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Following the new Southeastern franchise bids, I hope and expect to see the kind of benefit that we have seen on the East Anglian rail network, where every single train is due to be replaced as part of the new franchise. That is the sort of progress that makes a real difference to passengers, and I want to see that kind of improvement across the network, including on Southeastern. As the two sides of the railway work closer together, the ability to deliver small, incremental improvements quickly becomes better and more readily available, and we can then improve services.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

This is a Minister who has a bit of form. In a previous job, he wrecked the prison system. He now has the job at Transport and is about to cause havoc there as well.

[Chris Grayling]

Let me surprise the hon. Gentleman by saying that I am the Minister who decided not to privatise the Prison Service, a decision which was described in my office by the Prison Officers Association as a victory. I hate to disabuse him, but I am not an inveterate privatiser; I am an inveterate improver of services.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 30th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I agree with my hon. Friend. I pay tribute to the people of Cleethorpes for organising such an important event last week, and to all those who are celebrating and commemorating, with poignancy, the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. We should always value the people who serve this country in our armed forces. I hope that the weather brightens up and that the flow of people into Cleethorpes this summer grows rather than diminishes.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Now we know that, according to what he has just said, the national health service will get more money, will the Leader of the House make a statement and tell the Secretary of State for Health that the Hardwick commissioning group in Derbyshire, which proposes to close the Bolsover and Bakewell hospitals, should keep those hospitals open because we have got the money?

[Chris Grayling]

Knowing what a formidable campaigner the hon. Gentleman is, I think it would be a bold person who tried to make changes in his constituency. I do not know about the local circumstances, but regardless of the process for the negotiation of our exit from the European Union, we are spending, and will continue to spend, more money on the national health service.

EU Referendum (Privy Council)

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Monday 14th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Lots of people talk to lots of others about lots of things, but the former Lord President has said that the story is categorically untrue and that the conversation did not take place.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

I have never been to this palace, so I do not know what takes place there, but the most bizarre thing for me is what on earth the Queen was doing confiding in Clegg. [Laughter.]

[Chris Grayling]

The response to the hon. Gentleman’s comment from across the House suggests that not everyone disagrees with the view he puts forward. I hope that he gets the chance to go to the palace before he ends his illustrious career.

Business of the House

Debate between Chris Grayling and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 28th May 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The hon. Gentleman can apply for such a debate at any time. We condemn unreservedly employers who do not pay the minimum wage. They are breaking the law; it is as simple as that. I hope and expect that the relevant authorities will take action wherever they find such breaches.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Skinner]

You, Mr Speaker, could have advised the Leader of the House as well as I can that the word “chutzpah” is pronounced “khutzpah”. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the most vindictive, mean piece of legislation announced yesterday was the attack upon the political levy, which is an attempt to withdraw funds from the Labour party—the Opposition? Will that legislation be drawn wide enough for us to put down amendments to include those hedge funds and all the other City institutions that give money to those people in the Tory party who sit on millionaire’s row?

[Chris Grayling]

I remind the hon. Gentleman that people who donate money to the Conservative party make an individual choice to do so. A large number of trade union members vote Conservative, but still end up putting their money into the Labour party. It is time they had a choice. I extend my sympathies to the hon. Gentleman. It will be a difficult Parliament for him because whenever he stands up to ask a question, he will not know whether, when he sits down again, he will find an SNP MP already in his place.