Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Ms Ghani]

My hon. Friend is a passionate campaigner for the midlands and any opportunity I have to talk proudly about Birmingham in particular, is welcome. Over its course, HS2 will create 100,000 jobs. It is important to note that the majority of those jobs will be created outside London, so opportunities will be vast along the line.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

21. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and with his French counterpart on constructing a fixed link across the Channel.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Joseph Johnson)]

The Secretary of State and I have periodic discussions with our counterparts in our partner countries on a range of issues.

[Patrick Grady]

Well, can the Minister tell us, then, whether, as the question says, those discussions have included the concept of a new fixed link? The Foreign Secretary seems to think that it is a very good idea, but I am not clear whether anyone else in the Government or the Cabinet does.

[Joseph Johnson]

This is certainly an idea worth exploring. I repeat that this is a view shared not just in this Government but in the French Government. The hon. Gentleman will recall that at the conclusion of the highly successful Anglo-French summit it was agreed that there would be a committee of wise people, a comité des sages, established to consider reviving the tradition of UK-French collaboration on a range of matters, including infrastructure projects.