Sojan Joseph MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Jun 2026 · Preparedness for National Emergencies · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Barker. Emergency preparedness in east Kent is essential because the area contains major strategic entry points to the UK, including the port of Dover and the channel tunnel. Those vital gateways for trade and travel handle a significant proportion of the nation’s freight and passenger movement. However, their importance also makes them particularly vulnerable to disruption, whether through accidents, severe weather, security incidents or operational pressures. The consequences of such disruption can extend far beyond the region, affecting national supply chains, businesses and the movement of essential goods. We saw a clear example of that over the recent bank holiday weekend when travellers experienced delays of around four hours at border checks, highlighting what can happen to these systems when they are under severe pressure. In that context, effective preparedness, co-ordination and communication are critical. Another key element of resilience in the region is the international rail service between mainland Europe and London, which passes through my constituency. Members will be aware that I have previously raised the economic and strategic importance of restoring international services to Ashford International, for which I will continue to campaign. Although trains do not currently stop at the station, it nevertheless plays a crucial contingency role. In the event of an emergency on the line between London and the channel tunnel, Ashford International remains a designated location where passengers can safely disembark. Despite the absence of stopping services for over six years, Eurostar has until now maintained a contract to keep the facilities at Ashford available for emergency use. Importantly, the infrastructure remains fully operational, with international platforms, security arrangements and access routes enabling emergency services to reach trains quickly and passengers to be evacuated safely when necessary. However, that contract is due to expire later this year. I know the Minister may not be able to give much detail, but I hope he will take that matter up with his colleagues in the Department.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source

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  I was really pleased that our Government brought in the rating system so that we can hold local authorities accountable. I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Since being elected, I have written on multiple occasions to the Reform administration at KCC, as well as to their Conservative predecessors, to ask that they take the issue of our local roads seriously and do the necessary work to fix them. It is clear from the road maintenance ratings that despite record funding from the Labour Government, they have so far failed to do so. My constituents expect and deserve better, and I look forward to seeing tangible improvements.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Transport in the South-East · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller) on securing this very important debate. It would not be a debate about transport in our region if I did not use it to mention international rail services returning to Ashford International station. Last month was the 30th anniversary of the first ever international service calling at the station. For nearly a quarter of a century, daily services operated between the station and continental Europe, making it a vital link for residents and businesses in Kent, Sussex and the wider south-east to get to mainland Europe. Ashford was developed as an international hub, and its connectivity was a key factor in attracting businesses to my constituency and the wider area. However, during the covid pandemic, the decision was taken to suspend services to and from Ashford, and they have not restarted, despite the fact that they continue to pass through our station. To mark the anniversary of the first service calling at Ashford International, I was delighted to join other local MPs, council leaders, business people and other local residents at the station in the latest part of our campaign to restore international services. The return of international services is much more than a transport issue. It is central to maximising our region’s economic potential and would be a major boost for jobs, businesses and economic growth. I know that the Government recognise that, and I am pleased that the Prime Minister, the Transport Secretary and the Rail Minister have all given their support to our campaign. The demand and support for international services are there, so I once again urge all operators that want to run services between the UK and continental Europe to work with local MPs, councillors, business representatives, the Government and other stakeholders, so that as soon as possible we can make Ashford International an international station again. The perception is that because of our region’s close proximity to London, the south-east is prosperous and uniformly well off, but large parts of our region were forgotten about or ignored by the Conservatives when they were in power. The poor transport connectivity in the rural parts of my constituency is a good example of this. Poor connectivity contributes to economic underperformance by restricting access to jobs and causing increased reliance on private cars. That obviously has a disproportionate impact on those who do not have access to a car, such as young people, elderly residents, the disabled and those from lower-income households, especially in rural areas such as Hawkinge and the surrounding villages. Poor transport connectivity not only limits those people’s access to work opportunities, but impacts their ability to attend healthcare appointments or access local amenities. That is why I have been prioritising the need for improved bus services across Ashford, Hawkinge and the villages. I recently had a good meeting with Stagecoach, which operates bus services locally. I was delighted to see the Government allocate £78.2 million in bus services funding in Kent over the next three years. The short-term funding cycle that has been in place until now has made it difficult for local authorities to make medium to long-term decisions about local transport infrastructure. It is good news that Kent county council can make funding decisions to give all my constituents an improved and more reliable bus service in both urban and rural areas. One other area of transport infrastructure that Kent county council needs to act on is to urgently do more to deliver road improvements for residents. Potholes have been a blight on the roads in my constituency for far too long: they are another symbol of how the previous Government left things to decline. My constituents deserve to have road infrastructure that is fit for the 21st century, and I welcome that Kent county council has been allocated more than £274 million over the next three years. That record investment from the Labour Government gives KCC the long-term certainty it needs to save drivers in my constituency money on repairs to their cars and to make our roads safer. I was concerned that, in the recently published ratings on how local authorities are maintaining their local roads, Kent county council received an amber rating. My constituents know that our roads need improving, and that rating confirms that the Reform administration at Kent county council has not delivered on my constituents’ needs.

• 14 Oct 2025 · International Rail Services: Ashford · Hansard source

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  Does this debate show that it is not just an Ashford or Ebbsfleet issue? That was the presumption in the past, but it is much wider. The whole region benefits from international services returning to Ashford, at the same time as the rest of the country. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to address this important matter and grab the opportunity as soon as possible?

• 14 Oct 2025 · International Rail Services: Ashford · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with that, and that is what we are working on. The Prime Minister and the Transport Secretary support the return of international travel to Ashford. We will continue the work, and I hope that this debate will help the Government to support that decision. For more than five years, the previous Government’s decision has meant that Eurostar’s monopoly on running international services has prevented any movement on restarting services from Ashford. We now have four potential bidders looking to break that monopoly, giving fresh hope that services could return to Ashford. That is why the decision that the Office of Rail and Road will soon make on whether any of those bidders will be able to access the international depot at Temple Mills in east London is so important. When it comes to a decision, the ORR has a number of duties to consider, including acting to protect railway service users’ interests, acting to promote the use and development of the railway network, and acting to promote competition for the benefit of those who travel on the railway. I am aware that in their letter to the ORR, the Government indicated that they believe that allowing competition will benefit the users of international rail services. I therefore ask the Minister if the Government will give a clear indication that they favour operators that will offer new services on the line, including to and from Ashford International. Will the Department for Transport ensure that the ORR considers the potential for economic growth, and that one of the central criteria is how proposals would serve the economic interests of Kent, Sussex and the wider south-east? A clear signal that Ashford International will once again welcome international travellers would give a huge economic boost to my constituency and region. It would be warmly welcomed by local businesses, which recognise the opportunity that international services would bring. International services calling once again at Ashford would be key to driving economic growth locally. More businesses would likely locate to the area because they could easily do business with France, Belgium and elsewhere in continental Europe. As they did before, international services would help to attract businesses from mainland Europe that are looking to expand into the UK. International services stopping at Ashford is much more than a transport issue; it is essential to maximising our region’s economic potential. The absence of services at Ashford has significantly undermined our region’s capacity to attract investment, skilled professionals and tourists. The Rail Minister, my noble friend Lord Hendy, has been in Ashford twice in recent months to visit the station, and I welcome his support for our campaign to see international services return. The Prime Minister, the Transport Secretary and local councils and businesses want those services to return. There is also overwhelming public support. Four new operators are looking to launch services between the UK and mainland Europe. They include FS Italiane, which confirmed at the weekend that if its bid is successful, it will invest £1 billion in the UK economy—including an innovation hub in Ashford—and will have services calling at the station. We need to seize this excellent opportunity and ensure that Ashford International becomes an international station once again.

• 14 Oct 2025 · International Rail Services: Ashford · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) on securing this debate. She is an excellent campaigner on behalf of her constituents. I know this issue is important to them and she feels passionately about it. In her excellent speech, she ably demonstrated that the benefits of returning international rail to Ashford International would be shared far beyond my constituency. Nearly £80 million of taxpayers’ money was spent transforming Ashford International to accommodate international services. As well as developing services to accommodate international travellers, the infrastructure of the station was upgraded, and that included the addition of two new platforms. When international services started calling at Ashford for the first time in January 1996, Ashford became one of the UK’s first true international stations. From there, passengers could travel directly to cities in continental Europe, including Paris, Brussels and Lille. For nearly a quarter of a century, Ashford International saw dozens of daily Eurostar services, making it a vital link for residents and businesses in Kent, Sussex and the wider south-east to get to mainland Europe. Ashford was developed as an international hub and its connectivity was a key factor in attracting businesses. Substantial investment came to the town and the surrounding area precisely because we had international services, making it easily accessible from mainland Europe. It was also highly convenient for residents, with the regular service from Ashford meaning they could get on a train in the morning, have lunch in Paris and be back home in time for bed. In early 2020, during the covid pandemic, Eurostar suspended services to Ashford. Since then, people making the same journey have had to travel into London, which not only adds between two and three hours each way to their journey time, but costs considerably more. That decision was taken when travel restrictions were in place and Eurostar faced financial pressures, but more than five years on, those services have not returned. Part of the responsibility for that lies with the decision by the then Conservative and Lib Dem coalition to sell the UK Government’s 40% stake and preference share in Eurostar. That decision, which was driven by austerity, was short-sighted in the extreme and has been hugely detrimental to my constituency and the wider region.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  The perception many people have of Kent is one of prosperity because of our close proximity to London, but the reality is more complicated. In my constituency, we have widespread inequalities, and communities feel overlooked and disconnected, as is all too evident in the way our transport network operates. Nowhere has that been more evident than in the decision taken by Eurostar in 2020 to stop the international rail service calling at Ashford International. My hon. Friend the Member for East Thanet (Ms Billington) highlighted the importance of international connectivity to the south-east for its economic benefits. The decision has left the international section of the station, which cost about £80 million of taxpayers’ money, sitting idle, for over five years so far. This autumn, the Office of Rail and Road is due to make a decision about whether new providers of international rail will have access to the international depot at Temple Mills in east London. As the ORR comes to its decision, I ask the Minister whether the Government will give a clear indication that they will favour operators who commit to return such services to Ashford. The London focus of our transport network means that, while there are good services between Ashford and London, there is not the same provision of services for my constituents looking to travel across Kent or make local journeys that do not involve the capital. This disproportionately affects those who do not have access to a car such as young people, elderly residents, the disabled and lower-income households. It limits their access to work opportunities, healthcare appointments and local amenities. In particular, I have been contacted by many constituents since I was elected who have complained about the poor condition of local bus services. That especially affects the residents of Hawkinge and the smaller villages, such as the constituent whose son is disabled and is unable to find a job because the bus from his village starts too late in the morning, or the older constituents who are unable to visit theatres in Canterbury because the last bus runs before the end of the performance. Those are just a couple of the many examples I could cite showing why my constituency, and Kent as a whole, is crying out for properly supported bus routes. Having these routes is vital to breaking down barriers to opportunity and unlocking economic growth in our communities. I welcome the fact that, when Labour’s Bus Services (No. 2) Bill is passed into law, it will play a major role in reforming our broken bus system. I hope that the administration at Kent county council will take full advantage of the powers the Bill will give it to deliver the improvement in bus services that my constituents deserve.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to Sir David Amess. I wish to speak about a number of transport issues relating to my constituency. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of welcoming the Rail Minister to Ashford, where we attended the opening of a new career and skills hub for Southeastern. After the opening, I took the Minister on a tour of Ashford International station, and the part of the station left abandoned since Eurostar decided in 2020 that international rail services would no longer stop at either Ashford or Ebbsfleet. Those parts of the station stand ready for international passengers to use once again. It was great to have the noble Lord Hendy reiterate his and the Government’s support for our campaign to have international rail services return to Kent. In my year in the House, the other transport issue I have raised just as regularly as the return of international rail to Ashford is the deployment of Operation Brock on the M20. I am sorry that it was necessary to present a petition to the House on the subject last week, on behalf of my constituents. It is hugely disappointing that Kent county council and the Kent and Medway resilience forum have introduced Operation Brock once again, and that it will remain in force until at least 4 August. The recent announcement that the Dart charge will increase from September has disappointed many of my constituents. If we take that together with the tolls now in place for the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels, the result is that all those routes will now cost more. We should, of course, encourage people to take public transport wherever we can, and I recognise that the charges are in place to manage traffic numbers. However, many of my constituents will have no option but to pay the increased charge, as they have only one route to work available to them. Potholes are a blight on the roads in my constituency, just as they are in the constituencies of most Members. It is wrong that, as a result of under-investment by the Conservatives, our constituents have been expected to deal with the repercussions of poor roads and the maintenance backlog that has built up. I welcome the fact that the Government are committing additional resources to fix this problem; they are providing £500 million in extra funding for highway maintenance across the country this year, and Kent county council will receive up to an additional £16 million. If those problems are to be fixed, there will of course need to be roadworks, but I plead on behalf of my constituents for much better co-ordination to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum. I conclude by thanking you, Madam Deputy Speaker, as well as Mr Speaker, all my colleagues and the staff of this House.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Operation Brock · Hansard source

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  I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents, who are deeply frustrated by the regular deployment of Operation Brock. The decision by Kent county council and the Kent and Medway resilience forum to queue freight lorries on the M20 during the school holidays causes severe disruption for local residents and businesses, and is hugely expensive. My constituents do not object to Brock being deployed in emergencies, and reassurances were given that that would happen. However, it is still being regularly deployed as a precautionary measure, and it will come into force once again later this week. The petition states: “The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Transport Select Committee to launch an inquiry into the decisions taken by Kent County Council and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to regularly deploy Operation Brock, and into what work is being undertaken to find a long-term alternative. And the petitioners remain, etc.” Following is the full text of the petition: [The petition of residents of the constituency of Ashford in Kent, Declares that the deployment of Operation Brock by Kent County Council and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to queue freight lorries on the M20 causes severe disruption for residents and local businesses; further that although reassurances had been given that Operation Brock would only be deployed in emergencies, it has been used regularly as a precautionary measure; and further that a better, long-term solution needs to be found. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Transport Select Committee to launch an inquiry into the decisions taken by Kent County Council and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to regularly deploy Operation Brock, and into what work is being undertaken to find a long-term alternative. And the petitioners remain, etc.] [P003095]