"My Lords, I appreciate that the Minister did not write the Statement—it is somebody else’s—but it contained a somewhat inaccurate précis of what happened to the railways after privatisation. There are two problems: one is that only central government is capable of providing the sustained level of investment needed to …..." Lord Darling of Roulanish - View Speech
"The Commission appears to be recommending another runway at Heathrow, which is exactly where we were 10 years ago. The proposal on Gatwick appears to be “in addition to” rather than “instead of” the proposal at Heathrow. I notice that the Secretary of State studiously avoided expressing an opinion and …..." Lord Darling of Roulanish - View Speech
"Will the Secretary of State tell us whether Mr Laidlaw considered the implications of the decision to make this a 15-year franchise? He will know that when I had his job I reduced the franchises to seven years, because after that time trying to speculate on the state of the …..." Lord Darling of Roulanish - View Speech
"Does the right hon. Lady accept that in this industry successive Secretaries of State have found that announcing efficiencies is much easier than actually achieving them? If we do not achieve them, fares will go up or investment will suffer. Does she accept that it is absolutely essential to continue …..." Lord Darling of Roulanish - View Speech