Oral Answers to Questions

Tommy Sheppard Excerpts

Thursday 24th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

1. What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the rail industry.

[Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP)]

3. What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the rail industry.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

The Government’s rail sector report was published in December and included an analysis of the rail industry. We keep our analysis under constant review. Our future relationship with the EU on rail will be a matter for the negotiations. Both the UK and the EU have greatly benefited from investment in each other’s rail markets. We want that to continue as the UK leaves the EU.

[Chris Grayling]

I am not sure quite what that has to do with our future relationship with the EU, but I want the rate of increase of rail fares to come down. The biggest barrier to that is the Labour party’s and the trade unions’ insistence that the RPI measure has to be at the heart of every pay increase in the rail industry. The industry collectively needs to move to RPI, but the training manuals for the unions that back the Labour party insist that it is unacceptable to negotiate on anything except an RPI increase.

[Tommy Sheppard]

The Government often cite EU regulations on state aid as a constraint on their agency. Can we therefore look forward, after Brexit, to innovative new approaches to the public ownership of the railways, or will the Secretary of State continue to sell rail services to the state-owned companies of other EU countries?

[Chris Grayling]

We have a diverse rail market, with investment from the UK and international investment. I hope very much that after Brexit we will not become a country that does not welcome international investment. We are an outward-facing global nation, and I hope that will continue.