Lord McCobb
Liberal Democrat - Life peer
Joined House of Lords: 3rd September 2026
Division Voting information
Debates during the 2024 Parliament
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Sparring Partners
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Lord McCobb has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debateLords initiatives
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Lord McCobb has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord McCobb has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Latest 4 Written Questions
(View all written questions)1 Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Questions
(View all Lord McCobb's BIST questions)The Department is in regular contact with Ineos about the idling of its assets at Saltend, Hull. This includes how we can work together to help support the business to remain competitive in the longer term. It would be inappropriate to say anything further publicly at this stage, given it is a private enterprise and a live commercial matter. We will continue to work closely with industry to support the chemical sector, this includes via the Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund which we expect to be available later this year.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
We expect to see a journey time improvement of 5-6 minutes between Hull and Manchester and up to a minute between Hull and Leeds in comparison to today.
New trains will be in operation on services to and from Hull by December 2034. They may be introduced on this route sooner, but this will need to be considered alongside the unit delivery schedule and driver training plan.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As set out in my answer of 29 September 2026 (HL3702), this Government is committed to ensuring Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) services reach Hull. The recently published Great British Railways Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy sets out the Government’s intention to progressively move away from diesel towards electric traction, principally through battery-electric trains with targeted electrification as seen with the announcement of new battery bi-mode trains as part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade.
The Department will continue to consider the case for potential future rail enhancements through its established investment processes, taking into account of strategic fit, affordability, value for money and deliverability in line with the Green Book.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As set out in the January 2026 Northern Growth Strategy, the Government is committed to ensuring Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) services reach Hull. The TransPennine Route Upgrade programme is procuring 29 new battery-electric trains for the TransPennine network, enabling electric train services to operate to Hull, and improved connectivity to Leeds, Manchester and beyond. The Department will work with Network Rail to ensure that the infrastructure required to support battery-electric operation is also capable of supporting future NPR bi-mode trains serving Hull. The case for other enhancements – such as connections to Sheffield - will still be considered, irrespective of NPR, in future years.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)