Business of the House

Marie Goldman Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Marie Goldman (Chelmsford) (LD)]

If you will indulge me, Madam Deputy Speaker, I join the shadow Leader of the House and the Leader of the House in thanking you, the other Deputy Speakers and Mr Speaker, as well as the Clerks of the House and the House staff, for all the amazing work that they do to support us in our jobs. It is not an exaggeration to say that we would not be able to do it without all of them and all of you.

I also join the shadow Leader of the House in thanking the Leader of the House for the responses that she gives to business questions, which I see every single week. It has been a pleasure to get to know both of them on the various Committees and boards that we serve on, and I thank them for that.

Turning to a slightly more serious matter, last week the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the Government have cancelled the A12 widening scheme between Chelmsford and Colchester. That is incredibly disappointing news and a real blow to my Chelmsford constituents, Essex residents and the east of England as a whole. The A12 is a crucial link for communities across Essex, which supports logistics to the major international ports and airports in the region. It is also dangerously congested.

The scheme would have addressed both of those problems and improved the journeys of the approximately 90,000 vehicles that travel on the road every day. More critically, the cancellation’s impact on house building could be profound. Local plans, including that of Chelmsford city council, are reliant on the A12 widening scheme going ahead. The cancellation could severely hamper the building of an estimated 55,000 new homes in the area.

With Labour pledging to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this Parliament, this issue cuts across party lines. While I appreciate the financial constraints under which the Treasury is operating, it is notable that the two major road schemes that were cancelled in the recent announcement were both in the east of England, yet this region is a net contributor to the UK economy and has huge growth potential. Will the Leader of the House ask the Secretaries of State for Transport and for Housing, Communities and Local Government to meet me and a cross-party group of MPs so that we can discuss how we might still find ways to move forward with this vital project that will help the Government to deliver on their promises?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the hon. Lady for working with me over the last year in her role as the shadow Leader of the House for the Liberal Democrats. We work very closely together on the Modernisation Committee, the House of Commons Commission and a number of other Committees and boards, and I feel like she has been here for a long time, because she has really got into the detail of some of the issues, particularly the restoration and renewal programme. She has dedicated a huge amount of her time and energy to that, and I thank her for that. Hopefully, it can finally move forward. Now that she is shadow Leader of the House for the Liberal Democrats, I hope we see a change in MO over the recess, and that we do not get the first press release calling for a recall of Parliament a week yesterday, as we generally do. If she could arrange that, I am sure that she would be very popular with the House.

The hon. Lady raises a really important issue. We must make sure that we have the transport infrastructure that we need in our communities, especially to deliver our ambitious house building programme. She will be aware that the previous Government announced a raft of projects—including some in her constituency and in Essex—without having any plan to pay for them. We have had to look at all those projects and make sure that only those that are fully costed and affordable are given the green light. I hope she understands that, but I recognise that she, her constituents and many in the surrounding area will be frustrated about A12 expansion not progressing as they had hoped. I am very happy to arrange for her to have a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss options for the way forward.