Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jason McCartney and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 9th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jason McCartney]

I very much look forward to the northern powerhouse coming over the Pennines to west Yorkshire. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the new bidders for the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express rail franchises will commit themselves to getting rid of the antiquated Pacer trains that plague commuters in my constituency on their daily commute?

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue, which is raised by Members of Parliament and constituents from across the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express franchise areas. I can confirm that in the autumn statement we set out some changes that we would make to those two franchises. The packages for the new franchises will include a substantial package of upgrades, including new services and modern trains in order to phase out the outdated Pacer trains, which have also been raised with us under the Deputy Prime Minister’s Northern Futures programme.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jason McCartney and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 28th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I still very much take the view that Britain is better and stronger as a full member of the European Union and that membership of the European Union is vital for our trade and for 3.5 million jobs in this country, which is why I will resist any attempts to take Britain out of the European Union.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

T5. I do not know whether the shadow Chancellor has been to Yorkshire recently, but if he does come up north, he will see that, in Colne valley and Huddersfield, manufacturing is surging, whether it is Magic Rock brewery exporting to Australia, Camira fabrics selling its textiles to the Los Angeles transit system or even Newsholme foods selling black puddings to Spain. Will the Chancellor please continue to reject the doom-mongering, mithering and class warfare from the Labour party and continue with his long-term economic plan?

National Infrastructure Plan

Debate between Jason McCartney and Danny Alexander

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

Housing is not, of course, directly part of the national infrastructure plan—it never has been—but I can say a word about it. A number of the infrastructure projects will directly unlock housing developments. For example, the investment in the A14 will unlock sites for 10,000 or more new homes in that part of England. That is precisely the sort of project we need to see more of.

Our Help to Buy scheme, which is enabling people who cannot afford large deposits to get a mortgage and to get on the housing ladder, is helping people in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and mine, as well as across England and Wales, to access the housing market. That, in turn, will help to stimulate house construction in Scotland as well as in other parts of the UK.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that if Opposition Front Benchers stopped their mithering, got out more from their Primrose Hill mansions and came up north, they would see a succession of major infrastructure projects finished ahead of schedule? For example, the M1 and M62 managed motorway schemes came in under budget and finished under time, and the new Acre Mill site at Huddersfield royal infirmary has nearly been completed. The trans-Pennine route is also being electrified and we have the northern hub. If the shadow Transport Secretary, the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh) went to her constituency of Wakefield in two weeks’ time, she would see a nearly completed new railway station, which I use every week.

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend makes the case incredibly powerfully. We are investing in infrastructure up and down this country. We are delivering massive investment. He gave a list and I could give an even longer list from the north, the south, the midlands and across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Labour party has called for consensus on infrastructure. That consensus could best be achieved by Labour setting out its support for the best long-term plan for infrastructure this country has ever had.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jason McCartney and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 5th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

8. What recent steps he has taken to increase investment in infrastructure.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

Investment in infrastructure is a key priority for this Government. In June, I set out a pipeline of investment in specific projects, worth over £100 billion out to 2020, including the largest investment in our railways since the Victorian era and the biggest investment in roads since the 1970s.

[Jason McCartney]

I welcome the support of my local Labour leader of Kirklees council for the new north-south railway, but does my right hon. Friend agree with the leader of Manchester council, who said that politicians need to stop taking cheap shots at HS2

“unless we want an increasingly disconnected North…slowly grinding to a halt”?

[Danny Alexander]

I wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments. My hon. Friend could have added to that list the leader of Nottingham city council, who said that the Labour Front Bench should get off the fence on HS2. The project is needed to promote growth, and connectivity outside London. I agree with that, and so should they.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jason McCartney and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

2. What assessment he has made of the effect of the pensions triple lock on pensioners.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

The triple lock means that the level of the full basic state pension is now £6.85 a week higher than it would have been if it had been uprated only by earnings since 2011-12. That equates to about £356 a year. The average person reaching state pension age in 2013 with a full basic state pension can expect to receive an additional £12,000 in basic state pension over their retirement, thanks to the triple lock.

[Jason McCartney]

Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the triple lock will prevent a repeat of the disgraceful situation in which pensioners received a pension increase of only 75p?

[Danny Alexander]

I certainly can confirm that. Putting in a floor of a 2.5% increase in the basic state pension will prevent that disgraceful situation, and I can tell my hon. Friend that, thanks to the triple lock, the basic state pension now represents a higher share of average earnings than at any time since 1992.