Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Huw Merriman and Harriett Baldwin

Thursday 21st March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Huw Merriman]

The Secretary of State has led for the Department on the response to Hitachi and Alstom, and their understandable concerns about orders. As I have said, we have a challenge, in that while fleet can last from 35 to 40 years, the average age of our fleet is under 17 years. We have modernised 8,000 out of our 15,500 carriages, and as a result there is a lag with the order book. We are doing everything we can to work with all four train manufacturers to bring more tenders through. Those will be for the TransPennine Express, Northern, Southeastern and, as the Secretary of State mentioned, Chiltern Railways. The work to find a resolution is done in partnership between train manufacturers, the Secretary of State and the Department, and we hope to find that resolution.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

10. Whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of dualling the North Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Huw Merriman)]

I recognise my right hon. Friend’s long-standing campaign on this scheme; she has worked alongside stakeholders including the North Cotswold Line Task Force. We continue to work with local stakeholders on their aspirations for enhancements to the line.

[Harriett Baldwin]

I thank the team of Ministers for the £209 million that has been allocated to Worcestershire County Council from HS2 money, to help with local transport improvements. Will the Minister endorse a project in which we work with Oxfordshire County Council to find ways to redouble sections of the Oxford to Worcester line? That will result in faster, more frequent and more reliable services on the beautiful north Cotswold line.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Huw Merriman and Harriett Baldwin

Wednesday 1st May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I welcome the way in which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has allocated that money. Of course, it is overseas development assistance money that helps to support and enhance biodiversity in countries that are eligible for overseas development assistance.

[Huw Merriman]

It is very welcome that the Government are doing more to help developing countries with climate change, but the reality, as I have seen for myself, is that the Chinese are leaving a very large carbon footprint in African countries. What more can the Government do to persuade the Chinese to do better in Africa?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I know that my hon. Friend is an aide to the Chancellor and I know that the Chancellor was in China this week emphasising in his remarks the importance of taking into account the sustainable development goals in development projects. I am very pleased to see that 78 countries, including China, have issued green bonds here in the City of London, with eight different currencies raising $24.5 billion towards sustainable development. The UK has really shown leadership on this initiative.

Interpol Presidency Election

Debate between Huw Merriman and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am sure that the right hon. Lady would support the UK view, which is that the issue of the arrest of the former Chinese president is very much a matter for the Chinese state. She rightly draws attention to the importance of international law and of our rules-based international order. I assure her that in all instances the UK Government will take the opportunity in international forums to support the observance of international law and due process, and, indeed, human rights. That is very much part of what the UK stands for in these international forums. We recognise the importance of upholding the precious rules-based international order on which the safety and security of the UK has been based since the second world war.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

The difficulty for many Members is that Russia keeps getting away with it at international level. It got away with it by being able to host a successful World cup, and there is frustration that it may get away with it again. Will our delegate have the opportunity to say to other countries that if this election goes the way we hope it does not, we will form a new body automatically?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am glad that my hon. Friend raised the World cup, because it is a good example of where UK police and Russian police were able to work closely together to ensure that all fans from the UK who travelled to Russia were able to enjoy World cup matches, and those processes worked well. He refers to the importance of international police co-operation, for which Interpol is an important mechanism. The National Crime Agency believes that it is an effective forum for it to work with, so that the delegation at Interpol and the current conference in Dubai can reassure themselves that there is a range of checks and balances, including article 3, that means they are confident that Interpol will continue to be an important part of the UK’s relation with international policing matters.

Ebola Response Update

Debate between Huw Merriman and Harriett Baldwin

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

As my hon. Friend will know, there are many sources of conflict in the DRC. The UK, as a leading member of the UN, is a significant funder of the UN peacekeeping operation, MONUSCO, which has been there for a long time. Obviously, the UK supports it proportionately alongside our other obligations at the UN.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

World Health Organisation officials had to leave following an attack on a hotel in the Congo. Does the Minister anticipate more UN peacekeepers being in place to help officials stay in post?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I would like to put on the record my appreciation for the work of the MONUSCO peacekeepers in this very dangerous part of the world. Far too many of them have been victims of violence while doing their job. Given how prone this part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is to violence and conflict, it is important that the relevant Government authorities work with MONUSCO to take whatever steps they believe necessary to protect those peacekeepers and ensure that the appropriate forces are there.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Debate between Huw Merriman and Harriett Baldwin

Thursday 11th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I have just been informed by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell) that the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) still owes him a fiver, which he lent him last week.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

Having spent the last seven years working on the Lehman Brothers unwind and repaying creditors in full, I pay tribute to the thousands of RBS staff across the nation, including those at Cotton Street, Bolsover, for returning the bank to health. Will the Minister confirm that selling the initial stake will make it much easier and more efficient to sell the remainder of the stake?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I welcome my hon. Friend, who has a wealth of experience in insolvency practice that he has clearly put to good use in his first question. Rothschild and the Bank of England Governor have said that one of the challenges facing this stake is the illiquidity of the float—the stock is not liquid enough to be in any of the major indices, for example—so there are liquidity benefits and potential price benefits from putting an initial float in the private sector.