Stephen Byers: If the hon. Gentleman can rein himself in for a few minutes—I know that he finds that difficult—I will address the matter of the regulator. Following Railtrack's letter of 16 March 2001 about its view of the value of the shares, it produced, on 31 March, its business plan for the five years to March 2006. The judge in the case called it a remarkable document. He said that it accepted...
Stephen Byers: I want to deal with Mr. Winsor's view of Railtrack, but I will give way later. Tom Winsor was the rail regulator at the relevant time and, on the evening of 12 June 2001, he made a speech to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which painted a bleak picture of Railtrack. He said that the west coast main line project had not been properly worked out and that things had got...
Stephen Byers: I shall talk in detail about what happened but I want to address that point head on, as the politics of the decision are key. The hon. Gentleman and the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe seem to hold the view that once the Conservative Government had created this being called the rail regulator, with all his rights, responsibilities and duties, a new Government—a Labour...
Stephen Byers: It is clearly not the case that we were legislating to make the company go bust. The court was clear about that. Mr. Justice Lindsay, talking about the evidence that he had received from the chairman of Railtrack, commented: "In his evidence to me Mr. Robinson accepted that without government support Railtrack was unable to pay its debts and that that had been true for a long time." That was...
Stephen Byers: We do not know whether it was additional because we do not know what the rail regulator might have decided in an interim review, so we cannot answer that question. However, we are now in a far better position with Network Rail, which can deliver in the public interest, as opposed to Railtrack, which had that fundamental flaw. The company was failing in management terms and it can also be...
Stephen Byers: Of course I give way to a former Railtrack shareholder.
Stephen Byers: I appreciate that the hon. Lady has only just come into the Chamber, but we have covered that issue extensively earlier in the debate. [Hon. Members: "Answer!"] I shall repeat it all if hon. Members want me to. It is a strange logic of what democracy is all about to suggest that, because a Conservative Government have created an edifice, a Labour Government cannot come in and change it. Yes,...
Stephen Byers: I was the Secretary of State only from 9 June and some people say that I acted far too quickly, but the Government did act. We were trying to make the structure work, but it became very clear that that simply was not the case. That is why I took the decision. It is interesting to read the view of Mr. Justice Lindsay in the High Court, where he was taken through the arguments about my...
Stephen Byers: All the relevant details were provided to the court, as far as I am aware. I refer once again to the point made by Mr. Justice Lindsay. In referring to the making of the order, he says: "The learned judge"— Mr. Justice Lightman— "accepted that the Company either was or was likely to be unable to pay its debts. In his evidence to me Mr Robinson", who was the chairman of Railtrack,...
Stephen Byers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will extend the disabled persons council tax reduction to those who suffer from profound deafness.
Stephen Byers: With your permission, Mr. Speaker, I wish to make a personal statement concerning the evidence I gave to the Transport Select Committee at its hearing on 14 November 2001. As the House will be aware, the High Court has recently heard the case of Weir and others v. Secretary of State for Transport and the Department for Transport. The action was brought on behalf of the Railtrack Private...
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claimants aged (a) 20 to 29, (b) 30 to 39, (c) 40 to 49 and (d) 50 to 59 years were awarded incapacity benefit in (i) each standard English region, (ii) Wales and (iii) Scotland in each of the last five years; and what percentage this represented of the population in each age group in each year.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend the provisions of the Limitation Acts to permit claims from those who have suffered from historic physical and sexual abuse.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the UK is due to pay into the Global Environment Facility in 2005; how much has been contributed to date; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount of council tax benefit that was unclaimed by pensioners in the latest year for which figures are available.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce his response to the public inquiry into the second Tyne tunnel crossing.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers have been prosecuted for employing people who are in the country illegally in each of the last five years.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the support vessels that form part of the MARS programme will (a) be regarded as warships and (b) be built in the UK.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will issue a letter confirming her status to Mrs. Maliheh Sadeghi Boroujerdi, of Newcastle, following the decision of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal of 2 February (appeal no. TH/07220/2004) not to grant the Secretary of State permission to appeal against the earlier decision of the adjudicator.
Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to define motorcycle trials as an activity with greater restriction for the purposes of the guidance on the single payment scheme and non-agricultural use.
