"Setting aside the usual form, Mr Turner, it is a genuine pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I hope, in this short Adjournment debate, to outline the case for investment in the Great Eastern main line.
I know that you are aware of the possibilities in East Anglia, Mr Turner—you …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech
"Does the Minister agree that letting the franchise in 2016 is a critical moment for ordering new rolling stock? If that were delayed, the report’s contents could not be delivered...." Ben Gummer - View Speech
"Of course, Mr Leigh. Thank you; I intend to speak for only a minute or two. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) for giving me a little time, and the Minister for allowing me to speak. I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech
"When Thomas Telford was invited at the end of his career to help with the engineering of some new railway projects, the inventor of this country’s modern road network declined the offer, not because he did not admire railway engineering and the extraordinary speeds that these amazing new machines could …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech
The system would not be with us today were it not for the massive investments—many of which failed as a result of the risk of capitalism—that made this extraordinary invention possible. Before I allow the hon. Lady to intervene, I recall that in a previous …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech
"The hon. Lady did not admit to the role of the private sector when I spoke to her about German railways. Of course, there is a role for the state—that is what we are discussing. Any railway has a necessary monopoly: only one train can travel at a time and …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech
"The hon. Gentleman is a marvel of this House and is respected deeply by many Members on both sides of the House. However, he must see that the graphs of declining rail use up to 1995, for both freight and passenger, were turned on their heads after privatisation. That is …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech
"This is an interesting parlour game and we should pursue it at greater length outside the Chamber. The hon. Gentleman is right that the railways were on their knees after the war. That was partly a result of the war and partly a result of the rise of the car.
The Government are continuing a strategy. There are, rightly, arguments about whether the franchising process was got exactly right, but to my mind, John Major’s privatisation of the railways was one of his most significant acts. It has transformed the …..." Ben Gummer - View Speech