Business of the House Debate

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Department: Leader of the House

Business of the House

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts
Thursday 7th March 2024

(8 months, 3 weeks ago)

Commons Chamber
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Penny Mordaunt Portrait Penny Mordaunt
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It is sometimes said that in response to questions I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave some moments ago, but my hon. Friend could stand up every week and refer me to the question he asked the week before. He is assiduous in his campaigning to highlight the failures of his local authority, and I expect to see him doing exactly the same thing next week.

Wera Hobhouse Portrait Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
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Passengers must feel confident when making train journeys. In the last two weeks alone, there were major cancellations on South Western Railway, as well as mass delays on Southern and Thameslink. At the same time, rail fares rose by nearly 5% on Sunday. Everybody is paying more for less. Is it not high time we had a debate in Government time on how we can support our crumbling rail infrastructure?

Penny Mordaunt Portrait Penny Mordaunt
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The hon. Lady will know that the Department has made recent announcements on considerable uplifts to rail infrastructure. There have been particular issues with the service provided by South Western Railway and the quality of its rolling stock. The next Transport questions will not be for some time, so I will raise the hon. Lady’s concerns with the Secretary of State and ask that his officials get in touch with her.