Peter Soulsby: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important and timely debate on issues that he feels powerfully about and on which he is speaking again today persuasively, as he has spoken and written in the past. I encourage him to say some more about the need in Britain for a Bill of Rights and a written constitution. Although the steps that the Government are taking at the moment are...
Peter Soulsby: I warmly welcome the 1,300 additional rail carriages to which the Minister referred earlier, but is he aware that only three of them are currently earmarked for East Midlands Trains? Will he revisit the data and the predictions that that decision was based on, and will he ensure that this very successful main line gets what is necessary to meet the demands of the franchise and the needs of...
Peter Soulsby: Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that Postwatch is seen as totally ineffective in representing the needs of residential and commercial customers of the Post Office, as it was in my constituency in the closure of Francis street and Walnut street post offices? Will he take steps to ensure that Postwatch is made truly independent and give it the teeth to make sure that it can represent...
Peter Soulsby: I very much welcome the recognition again today by the Home Secretary of the enormous benefit that Britain as a whole and constituencies such as mine have gained from those who have chosen in recent decades to make their home in this country. They have enriched our community in every aspect of our lives. My right hon. Friend will, however, be aware that there is still considerable concern...
Peter Soulsby: In response to an earlier question the Leader of the House referred to the Select Committee inquiry into the post office closure programme. Given the concern about that programme in all parts of the House, will she ensure that we will have an opportunity to debate the Committee's report on the Floor of the House? Will she also ensure that I have an opportunity to talk about the total...
Peter Soulsby: With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I do not think that he replied adequately to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer). She made the point that the extent of under-registration in several areas can genuinely be addressed only by door-to-door canvassing. She asked what steps the commission was taking to ensure that such canvassing, which happens in many places,...
Peter Soulsby: As the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) said, I have added my name to amendment No. 9. I did so because, as he suggested in Committee, it makes good sense to clarify the clause's intention. It may seem a small point, but it is an important one, because, as he said, the clause as originally drafted would have left the ORR as judge and jury about what was reasonable in its own...
Peter Soulsby: I want to make the same point as I did when I intervened on the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond). The hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) makes the use of those platforms sound very easy. In fact, he spoke just a moment ago about reusing the platforms. Does he, too, not accept that it is not simply a question of reusing the platforms but a complex business, involving realigning...
Peter Soulsby: I was not suggesting that that was undesirable or that it would take a long time. I merely intervened, as I am doing now, to say that this is not a straightforward matter of reusing platforms. Extensive work on the line would be needed.
Peter Soulsby: The hon. Gentleman makes the use of those platforms—which is, indeed, very desirable—sound very simple. Does he not accept that it is a complicated issue that would involve alterations not only to the station, but down the track, and particularly at Clapham Junction, as has been suggested?
Peter Soulsby: I thank the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Vaizey) and the Minister for allowing me to speak briefly in this important debate. As I said in my intervention earlier, the cuts affect a wide range of institutions throughout the UK, but I am obviously particularly concerned about the one in my constituency, the university of Leicester, which has an enormous international reputation for its work on...
Peter Soulsby: rose—
Peter Soulsby: I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate on what he rightly describes as a crisis in the STFC's funding. Is he aware that the crisis affects not only the organisations and institutions in his constituency that he mentioned, but similar internationally renowned facilities elsewhere, including those carrying out physics and astronomy work at Leicester university, in...
Peter Soulsby: Another teacher, I am afraid, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Newly qualified, I started teaching in the early 1970s at what was then the Crown Hills secondary modern school in Leicester. I quickly learned my place in the school hierarchy when I was given the ROSLA class, which contained those who were there as a result of the raising of the school leaving age. More experienced colleagues were given the...
Peter Soulsby: I entirely understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making. I have experienced similar situations with young students, but I remain convinced that such students would not have been adequately susceptible to the persuasion that he or I—or those who now have these roles in education—could offer them. Only compulsion will make it possible for them to resist the pressures, whether from...
Peter Soulsby: There is no doubt that the rail industry in the UK is challenged by its own success. The 40 per cent. increase in passenger numbers that we have witnessed over the past 10 years and the projected continued growth in numbers is something that the rail industry in general and the Government need to respond to positively. I am delighted that the Government have indeed responded positively, with...
Peter Soulsby: As I have already indicated, I am firmly of the opinion that the arrangements that the Government have put in place for Network Rail are a dramatic improvement on what preceded them and that they have performed very well indeed, despite the lamentable failures of recent months. However, I repeat that we have not heard any alternative to that, to go alongside the criticisms that we heard from...
Peter Soulsby: Indeed. I recognise that such an alternative was put forward from the Liberal Front Bench; I was referring specifically to those on the Conservative Front Bench, who consistently failed to identify such an alternative, despite being challenged by Labour and Liberal Members. It is the Conservatives' motion that we are debating and it is they whom I criticise for failing to provide any credible...
Peter Soulsby: As one of those who did two years of penal servitude on the Select Committee on the Bill, I could speak at considerable length now that I am free. Some of us had become so institutionalised by the end of that process that we actually volunteered to go back inside and serve on the Public Bill Committee. None the less, I shall try to keep my remarks brief and simply make some fairly sharp...
Peter Soulsby: I will give way briefly, but only once, because other hon. Members are waiting to speak.