Diana Johnson
Main Page: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)Department Debates - View all Diana Johnson's debates with the HM Treasury
National Infrastructure Plan
Diana Johnson Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Danny Alexander
I think that “dreary” is rather a positive description of what the shadow Chief Secretary had to say, but I welcome the fact that he was given the opportunity to show from the Dispatch Box what a good plan the Government have, including the east-west line, and what a hopeless contribution the Opposition are making to this debate.
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
On rebalancing the economy, why is the Chief Secretary able to spend £1 billion to put two extra Northern line tube stations in prosperous parts of London but not able find the money to fund the electrification of the line to Hull, and why is he spending £30 million on a new Thames garden bridge but nothing for putting a bridge over the A63 in Hull? Both those things are needed, following our successful 2017 city of culture bid.
Danny Alexander
I think that the hon. Lady is being unkind to the Government. We have cut the tolls on the Humber bridge, which I know she and other Members from that region welcomed. Under this Government, 880 miles of railway are being electrified in this country, compared with a full 9 miles during Labour’s 13 years in office. The chair of the Humber local enterprise partnership, Lord Haskins, recently raised with me the importance of the electrification of the Selby to Hull line, which is something I am looking at right now.