Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Garnier Excerpts

Thursday 10th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

Ministers will be aware of how long it takes to get right down to Penzance in my constituency.

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

Too long!

[Derek Thomas]

Too long. They will also be aware that people very much depend on that form of transport. The truth is that average wages across my constituency are about a third of those in the rest of the country. Will the Minister give consideration to whether there can be some fairness for my constituents so that they pay less for travel, given their dependency on the network and the distances they travel?

--- Later in debate ---

[Jesse Norman]

I have not seen the report that the hon. Gentleman describes, but he will know that in July we published a written ministerial statement touching on the question of whether there might be delays. It is striking that the Secretary of State was not notified until the end of August, and there has been some suggestion that TfL was notified before that.

[Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)]

13. What assessment he has made of the effect of the revised EU motor insurance directive on innovation in the UK motorsport industry.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Jesse Norman)]

The issue of Vnuk and insurance is very important and my hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise it. Our assessment is perfectly clear: if it is not amended, the proposal has the potential to shut down UK and European motorsport industries. We take it very seriously. Of course, there would be further impacts on innovation throughout the UK automotive industry, and potentially more widely.

[Mark Garnier]

I am grateful for the Minister’s response. From my conversations with the Motorsport Industry Association, I know that it cannot sing the praises of the Department and officials more highly in respect of this incredibly important point. If the motor insurance directive comes into force, not only will it completely destroy the market for the most innovative part of our automotive sector, but during the transition period it may also destroy the UK domestic market. I know that the Minister is doing everything he can to try to sort this situation out, but I ask him to redouble his efforts and work as hard as he can to make sure that we do not lose the crown jewels of our motor industry.

[Jesse Norman]

I thank my hon. Friend very much for the recognition of the work that my officials and I have been doing on this issue, which we take extremely seriously. Lotus, Williams, McLaren—this country has a £10 billion motorsport industry. These ill-judged arrangements might put it at risk, and we are determined to do everything we can to prevent that.