Debates between Lord Liddle and Lord Rooker during the 2019-2024 Parliament

Mon 30th Nov 2020
High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Bill
Lords Chamber

Report stage (Hansard) & Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords & Report stage

High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Bill

Debate between Lord Liddle and Lord Rooker
Report stage (Hansard) & Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords & Report stage
Monday 30th November 2020

(3 years, 11 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021 View all High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 142-R-I Marshalled list for Report - (25 Nov 2020)
Lord Rooker Portrait Lord Rooker (Lab) [V]
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My Lords, I had better declare an interest because I am sitting here in south Shropshire. South Shropshire is unknown to the people who run Shrewsbury and north Shropshire. They think that we are in another world. As far as I am concerned, the biggest transport issue in Shropshire is the A49. It needs to be dualled from top to bottom. I can understand why people at the margin, particularly on the boundary between Shropshire and Staffordshire, might have an interest, but, to be honest, the way that this amendment is drafted—I have no personal criticism of anybody—I do not intend to vote for it. It is almost a wrecking amendment, as shown by the provisions of proposed new subsection (2). So, having declared my interest and made my case for better transport infrastructure in Shropshire, and partly rubbished the amendment, I am content to leave it there.

Lord Liddle Portrait Lord Liddle (Lab) [V]
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My Lords, I have some sympathy for this amendment given my experience as a member of the HS2 committee. The representations that we heard from petitioners were basically very local: they were individual petitions—people who had particular grievances and concerns—and, to the extent that there was any collective representation, at the parish council level. It is a pity that broader questions of whether the county council, highways authority and those responsible for transport locally had looked at how the impact of HS2 could be mitigated, given that we do not want to stop it or change the line of the route, did not come up at our committee. I therefore have some sympathy with Amendment 4.