Heidi Alexander MP: speeches

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Speeches

11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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If he wishes to write to me with the specific details of those local issues, I will come back to him.
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman seems to be suffering a case of amnesia because his party allocated absolutely zero money to fund the bus fare cap beyond December of last year. I know how important affordable bus travel is to the British people, and this Government are determined to deliver it.
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I can assure my hon. Friend that I have regular meetings with the Mayor of Liverpool city region. I am completely cognisant of the fact that for new towns to be successful, thriving communities, they need public transport built in from the start. Indeed, there is capacity to almost create new towns in existing towns where public transport is already available. Those are the sorts of conversations I am having with our regional mayors.
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is a great champion for her constituents. I reviewed her correspondence with the Rail Minister over the summer and was aware that the 8.22 service had been reinstated, but I was not aware of the longer journey times. I would be happy to meet her to discuss that further.
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Can I start by welcoming my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Keir Mather) to my ministerial team? I am really pleased to have him on board, and I am sure he is equally pleased to be facing oral questions on day four. He is joining a great team that has achieved a lot over the summer as part of the Government’s plan for change. The new electric car grant is putting money back in the pockets of drivers; 35 electric vehicle models, including from Ford, Nissan and Vauxhall, will see their prices slashed thanks to £650 million of Government investment. Since its launch, the grant has already helped over 7,000 drivers to choose an EV. We have announced a further £100 million in transport funding for local transport outside major cities in England, with uplifts for the north-west, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the midlands. Public ownership is already improving our railways, with South Western more than doubling the number of new trains in service, and there is much more to come in the next few months. We will publish the first road safety strategy in over a decade, as well as an integrated transport strategy for England, delivering better journeys that put people first, grow our economy and improve our day-to-day lives.
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I know the importance of affordable public transport to people in Britain. I know the importance of the fuel duty freeze that we brought in last year. I assure the right hon. Gentleman that I will have conversations across Government to protect businesses and the travelling public.
11 Sept 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Like my hon. Friend, I am a big fan of the Elizabeth line, and I commend him for his dogged support of the scheme on his constituents’ behalf. It is a significant addition to the transport network in London and the south-east, and it has had tangible positive impacts on the supply chain around the country, as well as providing faster journeys into and across London from Reading. I was proud to have personally helped deliver this new railway in my previous role in London, and to see that it has now supported around 55,000 full-time jobs, as well as creating over 1,000 apprenticeship opportunities.
11 Sept 2025 · Major Transport Schemes: Local Authority Support · Hansard source
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I have a meeting soon to discuss the matter with my hon. Friend’s constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball). I would be happy for him to join that meeting.
11 Sept 2025 · Major Transport Schemes: Local Authority Support · Hansard source
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The Government are investing an unprecedented £15.6 billion in local transport across our city regions, including £1.5 billion for South Yorkshire and £2.1 billion for West Yorkshire, to support the delivery of transport schemes across the region. We have also confirmed £2.3 billion for the local transport grant over the spending review period for improvements in places outside major city regions, including to support more zero emission buses, cycleways and congestion improvement measures.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I would be very happy to have those discussions across Government. I believe the local authority met recently to consider whether it could provide any support to fill the funding gap and, potentially, secure developer contributions towards that scheme.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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The scale and significance of the proposed Universal Studios development in Bedfordshire is huge, and its success will undoubtedly be dependent on modern, sustainable transport options. We are committed to working very closely with Universal and the relevant local authorities as the development progresses to ensure that infrastructure planning prioritises public transport and active travel. We are really determined to make the most of this fantastic growth opportunity.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I understand everyone’s frustrations with the tube strikes; I use public transport in London every week, and I know that when the tube is down, not only are there queues for buses, but there is gridlock on our roads. It is right that the Mayor of London has called for the RMT to get back around the table with TfL. That is what this Government want, and it is what the travelling public want. I will be talking to the director of operations at Transport for London, Claire Mann, this afternoon, to understand what the next steps are in resolving this dispute.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I was pleased to meet my hon. Friend in the summer to discuss this issue, and she is right to say that the previous Government cancelled plans to upgrade the Brighton main line. I can assure her that my officials are in regular discussion with Network Rail on opportunities to improve services and ease congestion in the Croydon area. I can also report that the recently completed upgrades to the station at Gatwick airport, and to track configuration in the Gatwick area, have significantly improved performance and journey times on the Brighton main line.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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We have frozen fuel duty—that is what we have done. We have also invested £1.5 billion this year to fix potholes—a record amount of money—which will fix the equivalent of 7 million extra potholes. I also say gently to the right hon. Gentleman that I am a very proud representative of my home town in Swindon. Searching around the country for a safe seat was not something that I indulged in.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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The Government confirmed over £92 billion of capital investment in transport infrastructure at the spending review to drive economic growth and put more money in people’s pockets. That includes £24 billion to improve roads, £15 billion in long-term funding for our largest city regions and £2 billion for local transport, boosting growth in towns, cities and regions across the country.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I was very pleased that the Chancellor announced in the spending review that we would move ahead with the M54-M6 link road. As the then Roads Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), has said, that was a “no-brainer”. I would be very happy to ask my officials to meet the right hon. Gentleman to discuss support for local businesses during construction.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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Let me congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his appointment. I know he has experience as a Transport Minister. And, of course, he had extensive experience of travelling the length and breadth of the country before the last election searching for that rarest thing, a Tory safe seat. [ Laughter . ] On the substantive point, I of course recognise the frustration of the travelling public about strikes. The Mayor of London is completely right to have called for the RMT—the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers—to get back around the table with Transport for London to find a resolution to the dispute. May I caution the right hon. Gentleman, though? He might wish not to adopt such an indignant tone, because when he was at the DFT there was a rail strike one day in every 10. In fact, under the Tory Government, we saw the highest number of total strike days for any 19-month period since the 1980s. Forgive me, I will not be taking any lectures from him on industrial relations.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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We have made some progress on the proposed eastern leg of HS2, which had been due to run up to Sheffield, but the previous Government cancelled it. During the summer, I made announcements about sites on that part of the line. I am aware that there are further issues in the Birmingham area, and with the section between Birmingham and Manchester. I am keen to make progress, but we also need to make sure that we have sites available for the necessary development and construction. My first priority is to get HS2 built at the lowest reasonable cost.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend will know that ferry services run on a private sector basis to meet local demand, and funding for local ferry services is a matter for local partners, including Thurrock council and Kent county council. However, my officials are working with them to ensure that the public transport opportunities that the lower Thames crossing may create are exploited.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I understand the point that the hon. Lady is making. If I may, I will write to her with details about that junction on the A483.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is a great champion of the communities he represents, and I can assure him that the Government are investing in Wales’s future to drive economic growth. We continue to work with the Welsh Government, through the Wales Rail Board, to ensure that the benefit of our £445 million investment in rail, announced at the spending review, is delivered right across the nation, including in Pembrokeshire.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I am pleased to hear that the right hon. Gentleman had a constructive meeting with the new South Western leadership. I was clear with Lawrence Bowman when he took up the job that I wanted him to meet local MPs along the route to talk about quick wins to improve services. I am very happy to ask officials from the Department for Transport to meet the right hon. Gentleman to have the conversations he seeks.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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We are still funding drainage works and survey work on the Dawlish line. Four phases of work have already been completed. The cliffs are much more resilient than they were a number of years ago, when we experienced catastrophic failure. We have paused funding, but we will continue to keep under review the information that comes back from the survey so that we can continue to provide a reliable and resilient service for people in the south-west.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I assure my hon. Friend that we are committed to driving economic growth in all areas, not only the large city regions. York and North Yorkshire combined authority will receive £94 million in local transport grant capital funding over the next four years, allowing local leaders to support schemes, including public transport schemes, that are in line with local priorities.
11 Sept 2025 · Transport: Economic Growth · Hansard source
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Following the sobering recommendations of Baroness Louise Casey in her review on child sexual exploitation, this Government are more committed than ever to tackling this issue. We have committed to legislating to address inconsistency in driver licensing, and we are considering all options, including on out-of-area working, national standards and better enforcement, to ensure the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.

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