"My hon. Friend gives a helpful example of where, instead of increasing competition and providing opportunities for the Government to exercise some control over the rail companies, that possibility might be being reduced.
The contract extensions, which were made necessary by the Government’s determination to pull East Coast forward, will …..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"Does the Minister accept that the original plan was for the east coast main line to be the last of the three lines to be refranchised, so the only reason that it now seems to be in line with the original date is that the whole thing was put on …..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"I want to take the railways Minister back to his earlier statement about the east coast franchise. Could he be precise about the innovations that I and my fellow travellers will see if the process goes ahead?..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"Unusually, I was here last Friday for the consideration of private Members’ Bills—I had the joy of having secured the Adjournment debate. I have to say that it reminded me just how dreadful the process is. Any member of the public would be appalled at the behaviour of the House …..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the significant things at that event was the reaction of those who were there to a spokesperson from the Scottish Government who gave only warm words—compared to the local council, which has committed 5% of its transport budget, to rise by 1% …..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"Some of my constituents who urged me to take part in the debate may have been surprised when I wrote back to say that, although I would put in for it, I could not guarantee that I would be able to speak, or able to speak for long. I think …..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"Has the hon. Gentleman sampled the catering offer and customer comfort on ScotRail, because I rather suspect it is not much better?..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech
"In recent months, I have been spending a lot of time working on issues relating to the east coast main line and the proposal to re-privatise it. The Backbench Business Committee was good enough to grant a debate on that some two weeks ago, which gave many of us an …..." Sheila Gilmore - View Speech