Since its publication I have heard many comments about the Serpell report and its cost. Many of the comments that I have received have been quite unprintable but the tone of all of them has been hostile and condemnatory. The Opposition motion rightly seeks to condemn the Government for their failure to reject the report outright. I hope that the House will support that motion in the lobby tonight.

I perfectly understand that the Serpell committee was under pressure of time and apparently believed also that it had restricted terms of reference. Nevertheless, the report deserves to be treated contemptuously because of its lack of coherence and its lack of erudition. Hon. Members who have spoken tonight and have analysed the report have shown that the report lacks erudition in every sense of the word.

It also deserves contempt for giving comfort and encouragement to the blinkered anti-railway lobby, which would close down railways completely and concrete over the railway tracks. It was interesting that when the Secretary of State said that he rejected the extreme option, option A, he did not actually reject option B. He said nothing about option B. The House should understand that option B would reduce the railway network to 2,220 route miles. The Secretary of State would apparently consider option B, since he mentioned only option A.

The House and the country deserve an absolute assurance from the Secretary of State that the railway network will not be slashed either before or after a general election. I hope that that assurance will be given tonight. Indeed, the right hon. Gentleman needs to give that assurance and make that assurance stick for the sake of many of his own colleagues with seats in the south-east and the south-west, whose constituents may lose railways or, if not, may find that fares are very much higher than they are at present.

The Secretary of State also expressed horror that the taxpayer provides nearly as much in railway revenue as is provided through fares. All other countries accept that railways are essential and must receive substantial subsidy. They recognise, as the Secretary of State apparently does not, that the benefits in a more efficient total transportation system and the considerable environmental gain are worth paying for through general taxation. In any event, if the Secretary of State is so worried about a substantial subsidy to a single industry, he should read the book about agriculture published by his hon. Friend the Member for Holland with Boston (Mr. Body). His hon. Friend shows that agriculture is subsidised to the tune of 166 per cent. of farm incomes, yet the Secretary of State's Government plan to expand agriculture, not to kill it. I hope that the Secretary of State will take that point on board.

My constituency of Swindon owes its existence as a great town to the railways. Although its continuing existence is not threatened by closure or rundown, like other railway towns with workshops, nevertheless, it would be a considerable blow to railway workers in particular and the town in general if there were a further rundown and final closure of the workshops. The fear of closure was there before the Serpell report appeared. The fear now, since the report has been published, hits been heightened by the spectres raised in the report. The sense of insecurity is enhanced for those employed in the workshops, their families and the town itself. They feel betrayed, because over the past two years the work force in Swindon, like work forces throughout British Rail and BREL, has co-operated more than fully with management to make enormous improvements in productivity, getting rid of restrictive working practices and reducing unit costs to very competitive levels. They have done that over a long period of time. They now feel that their reward to be thrown into the dustbin with the railway itself. They are faced with this report which, if it were implemented, they believe would close many workshops, indeed perhaps all of them, and kill their jobs stone dead.

Rail workers at Swindon and elsewhere can be excused for blasting a report that suggests importing locomotives and other railway equipment at a time when there are 3½ million people unemployed and new redundancies are being announced every day. As the hon. Member for Chippenham (Mr. Needham) pointed out, the report affects not only railway workers but many other industries, one of which is in his constituency, as the railways buy 60 per cent. of their goods from private industry. Therefore, it is not only railway workers who are threatened by the report, but a whole range of workers throughout Britain. It is little wonder that my people in Swindon consider the writers of the Serpell report to be insensitive, cruel, out of touch and anti-British.

Britain needs the Serpell report like a hole in the head. What it really needs is an expansion of the railway system and recognition of the fact that, without a good railway system, our transportation policy will not be able to deal with any expansion in our economy and our environment will be completely ruined.

Britain has the opportunity to provide a good transportation system—a good railway system. It is no good believing that the railways can carry more goods if the branch lines are closed down. It is because of the closure of branch lines that we do not carry so many goods now. We cannot get railway wagons to the new localities where the factories are.

I sincerely hope that the House will vote for the Opposition's motion tonight and, furthermore, that when the Under-Secretary of State replies he will give the assurances that hon. Members have asked for.