Rural Communities

Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Angela Eagle

Wednesday 7th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I will give way to the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew)

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

The Minister talks about rural transport. Does she not recognise that enhanced partnerships run by Conservative county councils in Norfolk and Essex have increased bus usage by more than anywhere else in the country because they are working with the private sector, not against it?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

We are not working against the private sector. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will recognise the Conservative record in this area. They presided over a 50% cut in the availability of bus services across the country, and that was often worse for rural areas as some lost their buses completely. We know that rural areas are benefiting from Labour’s changes—for example, York and North Yorkshire.

Immigration

Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Angela Eagle

Wednesday 21st May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

The Conservatives—who conveniently called an early election so that the Rwanda scheme would never start, after spending years saying that even perpetrating the idea of a Rwanda scheme would stop the boats—know as well as I do that over 84,000 people crossed the channel in small boats in the years from the Rwanda scheme being put into law to its being abolished. They can sit there and say that—

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

No. They can sit there after all this effort and all these gimmicks and pretend to the British people and Members of this House that the Rwanda scheme was ready to go and would have worked perfectly if only their Government had staggered on until 24 June, but nobody believes them, because it was a flawed scheme from the start. It was not a deterrent, it did not work, and it was massively expensive.