Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)]

As set out in the Government’s fusion strategy, the environmental and economic impact of fusion energy could be transformational. The Government’s programme aims to drive commercialisation of fusion energy by building a prototype fusion energy plant by 2040.

[Bob Blackman]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. When I was studying physics at university more than 40 years ago, fusion was a gleam in our professor’s eye. Now we have been able to achieve it, but the key is scalability. What effort is my right hon. Friend making to invest in the research and development that is required to bring this clean, cheap and green energy to fruition?

[Grant Shapps]

As my hon. Friend says, fusion has always been talked about as 20 years hence, but to speed that up we have invested £700 million in fusion in the spending review period. We are working to get the world’s first fusion power station connected to the grid by 2040, with works scheduled to start in 2032.

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse: Final Report

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Monday 24th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I can tell the hon. Lady that we are setting up a cross-Government group to specifically work on the issues that she has raised, and that will include my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I welcome the statement from the new Home Secretary and also welcome him to his place. I also congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) on starting this process in the first place. Child sexual abuse is not new; it has been going on since time immemorial. Young children are abused in families, in institutions by gangs, and by paedophiles who groom them online and then abuse them. Those of us who have had a long political career have witnessed some of the inquiries that have gone on, and we know the sad reality is that the people who do such things are thoroughly evil and need to be brought to justice. Although it is good news that more people are coming forward to report historical child sexual abuse, we need to ensure that those currently experiencing it are enabled to report what is going on and are believed, and that action is taken. Will my right hon. Friend undertake to do that as a matter of utmost priority?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

Yes, I do join the hon. Member in congratulating them. That came after I wrote to all the ports and asked them not to allow in Russian ships and Russian-connected ships. I should point out that this is the only country in the world to have a Russian-connected ban at our ports, and we look forward to other countries joining our lead, just as Minister Kubakov explained.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on refusing the Mayor of London’s decision to remove the car park at Cockfosters station. Can it be a precedent, so that we can encourage motorists to park at stations and then use the London underground network to get into the centre of London? Will my right hon. Friend use that as a means to stop car parks being removed at termini throughout London?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend will have seen my action with regard to Cockfosters station. The plan would have removed all but 12 car parking spaces, and while I am keen to get people using active travel and all forms of travel, the idea that only 12 cars a day would turn up was ludicrous. It would just have meant other cars parking on the streets and inconveniencing residents. I encourage the Mayor of London to come forward with better plans than that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

16. What recent progress he has made on agreeing a long-term financial settlement with Transport for London.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

It is for the Mayor to take decisions about how to balance the TfL budget. We are committed to supporting the system and have done so with hard cash—£4.5 billion and counting.

[Bob Blackman]

As my right hon. Friend knows, the current deal expires very soon. The Mayor was due to provide ways that he would balance the budget; I understand that he has not done so yet. Could my right hon. Friend confirm that in any arrangements that he makes with the Mayor of London, we will exclude the outer London charge for people driving into the London area and stop the Mayor introducing road pricing in London unless the whole country goes ahead with it?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is a terrific champion of a fair settlement. It is the easiest thing in the world for someone to propose a tax that people other than their own residents pay, which is exactly what the Mayor has been pursuing with the boundary tax. It is not fair; we will oppose it—no taxation without representation.

Transport Decarbonisation

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Wednesday 14th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s enthusiasm for this agenda and his work on logistics and clean air. As far as I am aware, this is already the world’s most ambitious plan to decarbonise the transport economy. He will be pleased to hear that I will say more about experimentation with things like hydrogen trucks and electrifying trucks, not just with internal batteries but potentially with overhead wires.

I hope he will agree that rather than coming here today to spring an announcement on the HGV sector, it is absolutely right that we make it clear we have a plan and that we then consult on it. That is why Logistics UK, which is far and away the largest haulier logistics representative organisation in the UK, has said that the plan gives

“confidence and clarity on the steps…on the pathway to net zero”.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. Will he go further on what we will do to ensure a sustainable maritime fleet, for example by ensuring that around our coastal communities there is opportunity for plug-in processes for boats and ships, particularly for fishing around our coastal waters? In the long-term, will he look at alternative fuels that can power the long-distance fleets?

[Grant Shapps]

That is very much at the forefront of our mind; I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and for welcoming the statement. We already have plans in place to challenge stakeholders to agree a course to zero in maritime by 2050. The UK has a very rich maritime history. The International Maritime Organisation is based in London, although it is a UN organisation, and we have been working closely with it on developing the shipping route to zero. We look forward to a lot more developments in the area, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend on them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Thursday 11th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Transport for London on a future funding agreement.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

The Government regularly engage with Transport for London on the impacts of covid-19, and—dare I say?—the Mayor’s management of Transport for London.

[Bob Blackman [V]]

My right hon. Friend will be well aware that the current Mayor has increased council tax by 30%, brought TfL to the brink of bankruptcy with £12 billion of debt, even before the pandemic struck, and now wants to charge motorists for coming into the outskirts of London. Does he agree that it is time for a fresh start?

[Grant Shapps]

I cannot have my hon. Friend be unfair to the London Mayor; we do have to consider that covid has been a part of that. This Government have stumped up £3.4 billion to assist TfL so far, and we are talking to the Mayor and TfL again. But my hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that there was already a £494 million on-year deficit. Now the Mayor, through not having collected or raised the price of fares over the years, is considering a boundary tax to tax people without representation to enter London. It is appalling mismanagement of our rail services.

International Travel

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Monday 7th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I mentioned a few moments ago the example from an airport boss relayed to me this morning where a day zero test failed to pick somebody up whereas a day seven or eight test was able to do that. That shows why a single test on arrival is not the solution, much as it is not the solution to temperature-test somebody on arrival to see whether they have got coronavirus. We need to be more sophisticated than that, and we absolutely will be. I remind the hon. Gentleman that different parts of the devolved Administrations will need to come to their own decisions on it as well.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

I agree completely with my right hon. Friend on the need for testing to improve and to increase. Given that in most international travel, someone arrives at the airport sometimes many hours before travelling, will he give consideration, as the science moves forward, to enabling testing to take place before people get on aircraft so that if they are showing signs of symptoms, or they actually have the virus, they are not allowed to travel at all and not allowed to infect people on the plane they were travelling on?

[Grant Shapps]

A sort of pre-quarantine is something that other countries are using; my French counterpart is using a 72-hour test before people arrive in France, for example. Again, you need to be certain that somebody has quarantined during that period and be cognisant of the incubation period, which can be up to 14 days with coronavirus, so it is not an entirely straightforward solution, but I do think it is worth additional examination. Again, I look to the scientists to help advise on this, and they are being very forthcoming with that advice.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Bob Blackman

Thursday 2nd July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are now on the flightpath to Harrow East and Captain Bob.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) [V]]

  Thank you, Mr Speaker; what else would you put on for Transport questions? My right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary has already outlined the concerns about Transport for London’s finances. Will he update the House on his discussions with Transport for London and the Mayor of London about the long-term issues with TfL’s finances? Will he also nail the lie that it was a Government requirement to extend the congestion charge to seven days a week from 7 am to 10 pm, which will strangle London’s recovery from this pandemic?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As I explained a few moments ago, after failing to collect £700 million of fares in various forms and then coming to Government with a request for £1.6 billion, it stands to reason that something has to give. He is absolutely right to mention that it is the Mayor’s decision to extend the remit and the time of the congestion charge, although I have to say that the Mayor left himself with precious few options, having failed to collect that money for all those years.