Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 11 Jan 2012 Rail Fares
"Irrespective of what the legal agreement was, does the Transport Secretary personally believe that it would have been a good idea to renegotiate a further period for which the flex would not have been in force?..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"Since the Secretary of State spent some time talking not about rail fares but about the economic legacy of the last Labour Government, I wish to make one brief point first. As an Opposition Member, she was a member of the shadow Treasury team and, up until November 2007, the …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"That says quite a lot about the Secretary of State’s reluctance to accept her own culpability for supporting the spending plans of the previous Labour Government.
I do not believe that the railway industry is broken, or a basket case. I was proud to serve as a railway Minister in …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"I am sure that the hon. Gentleman, who also sits on the Transport Committee, is as much of an expert as any other Member, and I will agree to consider his comments.
The Prime Minister was wrong today and failed to give the facts about the policy of the last …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"I only have six minutes and the Minister will have plenty of time to wind up at the end of the debate.
I hope that the Secretary of State will not take the same path as has been followed in Scotland, where the SNP Government—for the first time since the …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"Most fare-paying passengers would not agree that it is a good thing that that policy was got rid of, because they are paying more as a result. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman represents constituents who are very wealthy and can afford to pay unlimited increases in fares. If he is claiming …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"“Many families are feeling the pinch because of stratospheric fare increases—racing ahead of inflation—inflicted by the Department.”—[Official Report, 24 July 2007; Vol. 463, c. 691.] Those are not my words, but those of the Minister in this House. Can she point out any improvements that have been …..." Tom Harris - View Speech