Digital Economy Bill

Debate between Kelvin Hopkins and Claire Perry

Tuesday 13th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

My hon. Friend is right, although the intention of many of these commercial sites is indeed finally to extract money from the customer either for a single view or a subscription.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

I have expressed serious concerns about compulsive-addictive gambling, which is exacerbated by online gambling, as well as fixed odds betting terminals. Are the Government seriously going to address the problem of online gambling and its contribution to gambling addiction?

[Claire Perry]

That is a separate debate for a separate Department, I believe, but I do take that point, and of course anything that is served up on the internet into our homes becomes ever more accessible, whether it is gambling or legal adult material, or indeed illegal adult material, where the Government have taken such great steps to intervene.

In conclusion, I urge the Minister to be bold. It was telling when we started these conversations so many years ago that there were howls of outrage from many of the same people who have responded to the consultation, and the idea that somehow we were debating a masturbator’s charter by asking for ISPs automatically to have parental filters turned on. The rhetoric does not marry with the reality.

I know the Minister to be highly logical and sensible and bright—[Interruption]—and all the other things that mean that I clearly would like him to listen very hard. He must be bold and resist attempts to wrap up what is very sensible policy in rhetoric. It is not about nudge; it is about leadership and direction. I am proud we have come so far in this country, and I welcome the progress that will be made in this Bill.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kelvin Hopkins and Claire Perry

Thursday 28th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry)]

My hon. Friend knows that I think it is inexcusable that some customers on that part of the network are not receiving the service they deserve. Interestingly, the national rail passenger survey this week said that three out of four passengers on the franchise were in fact satisfied with the service they were receiving. There are problems, which are being fixed, such as driver shortages and old trains, but Network Rail has to do better when it comes to fixing faults and communicating with passengers. It is a fact that these lines are very old and successive Governments failed to invest in them. We are all completely committed to getting all parts of the franchise back to high performance by 2018.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

T6. In the light of the recent proposal to build a railway line from China to Europe with capacity for freight as well as passenger traffic, will Ministers consider what further rail investment is required to ensure that the regions and nations of Britain are effectively linked to the continent?

[Claire Perry]

I recently had one of the most interesting and informative meetings with the hon. Gentleman, who has been a long-standing campaigner for lorries on freight trains. As he knows, I think the idea is appealing in concept, but it needs to be examined in a lot more detail, and a stronger economic case made. I would welcome his and others’ involvement in putting a more substantive business case before me.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kelvin Hopkins and Claire Perry

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

T4. Some 85% of internal and cross-channel freight goes by lorry. A substantial modal shift of freight from road to rail cannot happen unless and until full-size lorry trailers can be carried on trains, which is impossible on the existing network. When will the Government look seriously at investing in new large gauge rail capacity to accommodate lorry trailers on trains and linking the regions and nations of Britain both to each other and to the channel tunnel?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for his long-term promotion of this large rail project, the G8 freight project. He will know that I was delighted to renew the modal shift grant. We are very focused on getting freight off the roads and on to trains. One freight train saves 72 HGV journeys. I am happy to meet him on this. I understand that the proposal has been looked at several times and was declined about 10 years ago. If he has new information, I would be delighted to see it.