Tom Harris
Main Page: Tom Harris (Labour - Glasgow South)Department Debates - View all Tom Harris's debates with the Department for Transport
(12 years, 2 months ago)
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Justine Greening
The Labour party may not be prepared to rule out nationalisation, but I am.
Mr Tom Harris (Glasgow South) (Lab)
I am disappointed in the statement. In the time I have been in the House, I have never heard a ministerial statement so lacking in substance. This is not a statement; it is a coincidence of ink patterns on a bit of paper. The Secretary of State says that she wants £3.5 billion of efficiency savings by 2019, but she has not given us a single way of saving one penny. Was she even in the House yesterday when the Prime Minister told the nation that government was about making tough decisions? Where is a single tough decision in this statement? She does not have any solutions; all she has come up with is a series of clichés and warm words put together by civil servants not wanting to offend anyone.
Justine Greening
I recommend that the hon. Gentleman read the documents that we have published, which have a lot more of the detail that he wants. I am not going to take any lectures on tough decisions from someone who, when asked about Network Rail bonuses, said:
“Bonuses … are a matter for the company’s remuneration committee, not for Ministers.”—[Official Report, 24 June 2008; Vol. 478, c. 174W.]
I do not think that showed any backbone whatsoever.