Alex Mayer MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Sept 2026 · Select Committee Chairs: Period of Leave · Hansard source

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  I was somewhat confused about the concept that after the period of seven months had elapsed the decision was then given to the Chair of the Liaison Committee, when the Speaker would have already deemed that that individual was entitled to leave from the House generally. I wonder whether the Leader of the House could provide clarification on why that decision was taken.

• 9 Sept 2026 · Bus Stops · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has a very snazzy station these days. Cambridge station has much improved over the period he has been the Member of Parliament. Having integrated transport matters. The Government’s strategy, Better Connected, talks to the fact that people use more than one form of public transport, so getting from the train to the bus matters greatly, which I will slightly address later. The Bus Services Act and accompanying guidance tend to focus on accessibility, which is very important.

• 9 Sept 2026 · Bus Stops · Hansard source

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  That is an anecdote that my hon. Friend tells often, and I absolutely agree with him. At completely the other end of the spectrum, I got the train to Stockport recently to make an onward journey to Manchester, for reasons I am sure most Members can understand. When I got to the train station at Stockport, I decided that I would get the bus to a campaign centre in Manchester. I went on a particularly circuitous route to get there, despite the fact that the bus station was actually rather near. That is because the signpost that I could have spotted said it was for Stockport Interchange, Viaduct Park. There was no mention of the word bus and no picture of a bus. As a visitor, I did not have the faintest idea that it meant bus, so I went on a long walk to find the buses. We need to make it simple for people, whether in a rural area or in a larger city. Sometimes we make public transport too complicated. I am also reminded of a time when a transport officer was trying to explain this snazzy new concept of a transport hub to me. He went round and round in circles until eventually I said, “So it is a bus stop with a bicycle pump.” He reluctantly agreed, but he really did not want to call it a bus stop. We need to talk in a language that passengers understand, so national standards should absolutely start with the basics: a recognisable stop, name and clear signage. We have found the bus stop, so what next? My second question is: “Does it smell?” It is really slightly broader than that: “Is it clean? Is it well lit?” As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned, is there somewhere I can sit? The Campaign for Better Transport ran a survey called “Bus Stop Stories”, and a man called Paul was quoted as saying: “The bus stop I use has a shelter, which is positive. However, the so-called seat is far too narrow for someone to actually sit down.” If the bus stop is just a pole, how does it look—dilapidated or delightful? At the bigger bus stops, are there other things passengers can do? Can I charge my phone or get wi-fi? Some bus stops allow people to call for help; is there CCTV to make people feel safer? I really welcome the requirement for all local transport authorities to use Transport Focus’s “Your Bus Journey” survey. That is absolutely a push in the right direction, and it will encourage some of the more recalcitrant authorities—perhaps authorities such as Central Bedfordshire council—to collect information on what local passengers actually think. The survey found that, overall, 81% of people were satisfied with their bus stop, but I think there might be a difference between actual passengers who use buses and would-be passengers. I am really bothered about the would-be passengers, because we will have a growing and thriving network only if we get those people on board. The Campaign for Better Transport says that 23% of people are put off using the bus because of poorly maintained shelters, and that 47% of people say that a clean and comfortable shelter would make them use the bus more often. My third question is: “Do I know when the bus is coming?” We could have an entire debate on things like real-time information, ghost buses and the like. A timetable really helps people to know whether the bus is coming, but currently only a third of bus stops have up-to-date timetable information, and only around 16% of stops have real-time information—the proportion is growing, which is good. The research in this area is really rather fascinating. If someone standing at a bus stop with real-time information has been there for 10 minutes, then the bus arrives, and they are surveyed afterwards, they say they have been waiting for 11 minutes. If exactly the same thing happens—someone waits for 10 minutes—but there is no real-time information at the stop, and the passenger is asked how long they have been waiting, they will say they have been waiting for 21 minutes. Obviously, I want all passengers to think they have been there for about 25 seconds, and that it all passes in the blink of an eye because it is so fun waiting at the bus stop. But the key point is that nothing has changed in terms of the clock, only the passenger experience. There have been positive developments on real-time information. The major bus operators are definitely sending out their pings as to where the bus is far more often than they used to. Non-passenger stops—rest stops or stops when drivers change over—have also been added to the bus open data service, or BODS, which is the national database. That makes it much easier for passengers to know when buses are actually coming. Challenges remain, though. In some ways we are slightly going backwards: some of the older buses in rural and coastal areas were using 3G, but they are now using 2G because 3G is being turned off. There will always be on-the-day challenges around roadworks and congestion, with bus operators making decisions to try to get their buses back on the timetable; that information also needs to be fed through. Will the Minister please update us on what is happening with the proposed disruption tool that the Department has been working on for some time? We have many examples of bus operators manually updating their records on the day because a bus is delayed, and then physically ringing up the local transport authority to tell them the same information, so that the authority can manually input it into their systems and it appears at the bus stop for passengers. Is any work going on, perhaps at the Bus Centre of Excellence, to overcome some of those issues, perhaps using AI? All those are issues we would like to see covered in a national standard. Throughout the country, some places are doing bus stops really well, including the award-winning bus stop outside Asda in Dunstable, which has a green roof, is really wide and spacious, and has seats. There is also a fantastic bus stop in Norwich—I have read about it but not yet visited—that apparently has a swing in it, and which also won a prize. I look forward to visiting. Given that the latest enhanced partnership manual has in effect recognised that best practice exists throughout the country—for example, on multi-operator ticketing—but that it does not necessarily happen without a bit of a carrot-and-stick approach, would the Minister consider including further national standards on bus stops in a future update of the manual? Finally, there is the parallel issue of who owns the bus stop. Currently, it is a complete and utter mess—read council websites and weep. This is from West Sussex county council: “The different elements that go to make up a bus stop are managed by one of 3 different organisations. Please ensure that you contact the correct one if you have a query or wish to report an issue”. This is from Cambridgeshire county council: “It should be noted that whilst bus shelters are located on the highway, they do not form part of the highway asset provided and managed by the County Council as the Highway Authority.” Mayoral devolution could make this even worse. Many unitary authorities are concerned about splitting up transport and highways powers. A strategic authority officer I spoke to yesterday told me that “Devolution by default” should include giving highways powers to the regional authority, not least to make sure that the revenue that some of the bus stops generate is not then diverted to something like adult social services. We brought track and train together; it is not beyond the wit of man to bring bus stop and bus together, too. The local transport authority clearly ought to have that responsibility. We also need to make sure there are resources on an ongoing basis. I very much welcome the multi-year funding settlements, but it is not always linear. For example, snazzy new real-time information screens were introduced in Lancaster and then turned off because money was not available for their ongoing upkeep. They are back on again now, but this remains an issue. Some in the industry are concerned that, because we have so much investment right now, in five years’ time—when the contracts end, when the screens need renewing or the batteries start failing—not everything will be in place to allow us to fix any issues. Fundamentally, we need national standards for our bus stops, because a really nice bus stop brings in more passengers and grows the network. They also give pride in place. They look different and they look good. I therefore urge the Minister to consider national standards for bus stops so that everyone can have a great British bus stop.

• 9 Sept 2026 · Bus Stops · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered standards for bus stops. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. This is my first time leading a Westminster Hall debate, and there was a degree of excitement in my office last week when the email arrived, alongside another email about a coach debate that I will lead in November. You wait ages for a Westminster Hall debate to turn up and then two come along at once. Many people in the House know that I bang on about buses, because I think they are brilliant. There are 3.7 billion bus journeys made a year. As is often said, they are the most used form of public transport. I assume that means that bus stops are the most used places for people to hang around waiting for public transport. That is why I believe we should lavish some attention on them, not least because they are all around us. About 86% of people live within a 10-minute walk of a bus stop. The Bus Services Act 2025 gives the Secretary of State brand new powers to look at the location, design and construction of stopping places—bus stops.

• 9 Sept 2026 · Bus Stops · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I want to encourage as many people as possible to use our bus stops and buses. Seating is important because waiting in comfort makes it more likely that people will choose to use a bus. I am concerned about accessibility, but I also want to ask another question. I want to move beyond, “Can I use the bus stop?” to “Would I like to or choose to use the bus stop?” I said in my maiden speech that bus stops were the window to the soul of buses— [ Laughter. ] I know: I am strange like that. But at least I keep to a theme. Each bus stop should give a promise of the journey ahead. I believe, therefore, that we should have national standards for bus stops. Whenever I suggest anything like national standards, Ministers tell me that local people are best placed to decide. I absolutely agree that Ministers should not be deciding whether one’s bus stop is here on the road or 25 yards further along, but national standards do reduce duplication. That is one of the issues that many local councils and transport authorities talk to me about. Portsmouth is often mentioned as an example of a place with very good bus stops. They have 579 bus stops, and they decided to do a 72-point audit of them. They checked them all and decided that they were going to improve them in four different ways. Interestingly, their transport lead says that they would have welcomed national standards, because they spent a quarter of their time and budget on developing their own local standards. They would much rather have ploughed that into actually making bus stops better. So even they believe that we should have national standards. I am not saying that one size fits all. It is obvious that a different kind of bus stop will be needed for a small rural area as opposed to a large hospital. Again, people have already done some of this work. Portsmouth has come up with six different varieties of bus stop. The Campaign for Better Transport has four. Norfolk county council has split its bus stops into bronze, silver, gold and platinum. A lot of that work has been done and could be implemented into some national standards. What do I think should be in those standards? The very first thing is: “Can I find the bus?” That is the first question passengers ask. The modern bus stop really came into being in London in the 1820s. The first buses were in Manchester, but the first bus stops that we would understand were in London with a pole and a flag. Yet over a century later, it is sometimes still quite difficult to find the bus stop, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) said.

• 3 Sept 2026 · Vaccination Rates: England · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. Over the summer, I had the pleasure of visiting Kingsbury Court surgery to find out about its big push on childhood vaccination. I met Dr Abdullah Khan, who told me that, like others, he was really worried about the return of measles, which he thought created an urgent need for action. He saw the outbreak in Enfield as a real warning shot and talked about the UK losing its WHO measles elimination status. Dr Khan told me his surgery had decided it needed a new approach—it is fairly similar to what we have heard today—built around confidence and convenience. I was introduced to the senior nurse, Elena Costache, who showed me a display she had made to rebut some of the myths that parents are seeing online. She also explained how staff go online to dispel those myths in the comments made on the surgery’s own webpage, doing so respectfully but directly, and always in plain English. Everything the surgery staff told me was useful and informative, although I have to say that one bit made me feel rather ancient: they said that one issue was that many parents seemed to think that measles, mumps and things like that were from long, long ago. I still have a childhood book called “Alex’s mumps book”, with lots of fun activities to do while I was a bit under the weather. Those at the surgery also talked about convenience—staff going into nurseries, children’s centres and crèches—about the active outreach they do and about the crucial point of following up again and again on missed appointments. All this is working. They are doing about 140 vaccinations a month and, importantly, over the last year they got their childhood vaccination rate up by 9%, which is fantastic, although they still plan to go further. One specific issue staff raised with me was keeping up with vaccinations in an area with an awful lot of new build housing. Can the Minister comment on specific measures the Government are taking to ensure that people can stay up to date with their vaccinations during the upheaval of a house move? I also hope she can join me in congratulating Kingsbury Court GP surgery on what I think is a jab well done.

• 16 Jul 2026 · Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment · Hansard source

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  First, I have to say to the Leader of the House that I have a complaint about this Labour Government: it has entirely messed up the pattern of my life! At the beginning of every year, I used to know what I was going to be doing: I would be standing outside a train station, complaining about Tory fare rises—but no more! This Labour Government have introduced the first fare freeze in 30 years, alongside bringing in Great British Railways. Come Easter, I would be campaigning about hens and eggs, as we would all be thinking about them. I have always thought that it is unfair that it should be allowed for hens to be in cages no bigger than the size of an A4 piece of paper, with no ability to display their natural behaviours, flap around and do the things that hens should be doing. They are called enhanced cages; I always thought that the marketing people had really earned their stripes by calling them that, because they are absolutely confinement cages. But again, this Labour Government are sorting it out. They are ensuring that, as part of the biggest change to animal welfare in a generation, we are going to get rid of those cages. I even heard today that the Government are consulting on fireworks, so I have no idea what I will be campaigning about come November! There is a summer campaign, though, that this Labour Government still need to sort out. In the first month that I came to this place, I asked about maximum working temperatures and was told by the Minister that they were going to work to bring forward discussions with the Health and Safety Executive. By 2025, I was told by Ministers that they had given approval for the HSE to look into it, and this year I was told that the HSE is looking into it and that there would be a consultation in due course. I would say that is slow and steady—perhaps a little too slow, because there is a climate emergency. I do not think many people would deny that, except perhaps for some on the opposition Benches I have heard story after story from my constituents over the recent heatwaves of unsafe working temperatures in factories, shops, offices and classrooms. I was looking back at some of the previous debates on this subject, because Parliament has actually been talking about temperatures for workers for many years. The brilliant people in the Library actually showed me Hansard reports from the 1930s, which was the first time MPs were really talking about monitoring temperatures in workplaces and ensuring that there was a thermometer in every factory. It was at that time that the idea of minimum working temperatures was put into place. Today we absolutely have to ensure that there is a maximum temperature in place as well. It is something that there is widespread support for. It is very similar to the minimum working temperature. Looking at the debates from the 1930s, we can see that workers were feeling unwell and were actually unproductive in temperatures that are not acceptable. Fast forward to our changed climate now, and the same is true today. I think this is something we really must get our teeth into at speed. The climate has changed, and so must our laws.

• 14 Jul 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. The Houghton health hub, which I recently visited, is very well located in the town centre next to a library. It is owned by the council and leased by NHS Property Services, which in turn is paid by the integrated care board for the modern clinical rooms, which are on the right as people go in. So far, so good. The problem is that those clinical rooms are empty. Public money is going around in circles but is not creating any health provision or helping patients. Will the Minister meet me to see whether this sorry saga can be sorted out?

• 6 Jul 2026 · Police Leadership Commission Report · Hansard source

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  Page 39 of the report says that the college is hampered in its quest for reform by the constant attempts to try to reach consensus. In the light of that, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that the governance of the national police service will be fit for purpose?

• 22 Jun 2026 · East Midlands Railway Collision · Hansard source

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  This was a hugely tragic incident, and my thoughts are with all those affected. The Secretary of State was right to say that we should wait for the investigation and not jump to any conclusions. Will she join me in thanking the local residents who heeded the calls not to visit A&E at Bedford and Luton and Dunstable hospitals unless there was a real emergency, and in praising the independent coach operators—the ones of which I am aware are Johnsons, Tates, Britannia and Angie’s Tours—which, as ever, have jumped in and quietly put all hands to the pump?

• 18 Jun 2026 · Cruelty-free Cleaning Products · Hansard source

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  2. What steps the Commission is taking to reduce the number of cleaning products used on the parliamentary estate that are not certified as cruelty-free.

• 18 Jun 2026 · Cruelty-free Cleaning Products · Hansard source

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  I very much welcome the progress that is being made; we are going in the right direction, from the figure of nine when I originally asked to three today. Would my hon. Friend be willing to meet with the body that runs the international approval programme for cruelty-free products, to see whether we can speed this up and make Parliament fully cruelty-free?

• 18 Jun 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  During the recent heatwave, bus drivers reported soaring temperatures in their cabs and steering wheels that in some cases were literally too hot to handle. Will the Leader of the House consider bringing forward a debate in Government time on maximum working temperatures? As the climate changes, this issue will be of increasing importance to workers across the country.

• 17 Jun 2026 · Steel Tariffs · Hansard source

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  FMC and Dynamic Metals, both of which are in my constituency, have no alternative but to import specialist steel, because if it is not made in Britain, they cannot buy in Britain. What message does the Minister have for those businesses, and will he look at changing harmonised system codes so that customs can better distinguish between generic and specialist steels?

• 15 Jun 2026 · Road Adoption · Hansard source

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  9. What steps his Department is taking to expedite road adoption.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Road Adoption · Hansard source

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  Residents in Fossett Grove have been battling for 10 years for the adoption of a piece of land that is strewn with litter. Elsewhere in my constituency, roads are not gritted during the winter months, in Bidwell West we have an area where they cannot get a post box and, where a car crashed into a house, we cannot get any speed humps. What can the Minister do to put pressure on the council to hurry up?

• 10 Jun 2026 · Railways Bill · Hansard source

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  I warmly welcome the Bill. It is fantastic that the vast majority of residents—passengers—in the east of England are travelling on trains in public ownership. This is the next piece of the jigsaw. I note that the amendment paper appears to be longer than the Bill, so as somebody who has contributed to that, I will turn to some of my amendments. New clause 20 is a simple amendment on promoting integration between trains and everything else—buses, coaches, trams, walking and cycling. I agree that there is nothing in the Bill that prevents that, but I feel there should be something to actively encourage it. We will all have been at a station when the mainline train has been delayed and, helpfully, the connecting train has been held back for a little time. However, and interestingly, I recently asked somebody at the Transport Committee who ran a bus company whether he had ever come across a situation where the train had been held because his bus had been delayed, and the answer was absolutely not—and vice versa. In fact, there are lots of incentives to stop that happening within the transport system as a whole—after all, a bus company can get fined for having delayed buses. That is why we need something in the Bill that promotes active integration. Amendments 39 to 42 are about devolution and consultation. Under the Bill as drafted, the Secretary of State and GBR will consult with Scottish and Welsh Ministers. By contrast, elsewhere they will consult with mayoral strategic authorities. The difference is that in one place they are consulting with a person, and in the other they are consulting with an organisation. I strongly believe that consultation should take place with the mayor as the person with that democratic mandate to enable us to have stronger, quicker decision making and ensure that what is happening is clear. I turn to new clause 2, tabled by the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover), on the customer loyalty programme. I cannot say that I agree with the Secretary of State having to lay a report on that within a year—she probably has better things to do. However, the concept of a customer loyalty programme is something I have long called for, and I have had constructive discussions with the Minister on that. Encouraging passengers and would-be passengers to build a loyalty to our railways matters greatly. As has been said, that happens with air miles and with Tesco Clubcard. We could get all kinds of different benefits for passengers, and GBR could use such a programme to try to flex demand.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Community Pharmacies · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour) on securing this timely debate. Community pharmacies and the people in them are the backbone of our NHS. They are a fixture on our high streets, dispensing our medicines, providing confidential, expert advice and helping people with everything from colds and tummy bugs to allergies and ear infections. Increasingly, through Pharmacy First, they are also prescribing prescription medicines without patients having to see a GP, which absolutely has to be the way to go. I am full-square behind Pharmacy First, with one small caveat: I have to say to the Minister that I think it has completely and utterly the wrong name. We could say that it does what it says on the tin: “Go to the pharmacy first.” However, to me it is a name that has been dreamed up by health insiders, not by people thinking about how patients actually see our services. When I think about going to the chemist, I think about a place where we probably pay for our prescription and maybe pick up some shampoo or, if it has suddenly started chucking it down, an umbrella. I do not think enough people will be thinking of highly trained clinical professionals who are on their doorstep. Crucially, they will not be thinking NHS. My suggestion for the Minister today is to change the name of Pharmacy First to something else, maybe “NHS+”, and to include compulsory rebranding in every contract, so that the shopfront would scream NHS. NHS means free, trusted and quality, and the plus sign would look a bit like a chemist’s anyway. A knock-on effect would be sprucing up our high streets, creating pride in place, which I know this Labour Government stand full-square behind. I would absolutely shout about it from the rooftops. Ahead of today’s debate, I went on the NHS pharmacies website to find out which of my local pharmacies provide Pharmacy First services. I am afraid that I came away none the wiser, but I did learn the seven common conditions that Pharmacy First chemists can help me with, from sore throats to shingles. Before that, I did not know that there were seven. I tried this out at a meeting of party members recently, and it turned into a terrible round of “Family Fortunes”. No one had the faintest idea what they were. We absolutely need a nationwide campaign so that people understand what services they can get from their pharmacies. If people do not know that these NHS services exist, they just will not use them. We have to stop hiding them in plain sight, and ensure that people understand what every community pharmacy already is: the NHS front door on every high street.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Animal Testing · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I must be the night owl of this debate. I have long believed that replacing the use of animals in experiments is the right thing to do. Indeed, it is the mark of a civilised society that we treat animals well. It is ethically sound, but can also be economically beneficial. Replacement technologies are a real growth opportunity for the life sciences sector. Human base models are more accurate and relevant, saving time and aiding profitability. A KPMG UK life sciences report argued that, if new technologies are employed, they have the potential to accelerate market entry for innovative products by up to two years, potentially saving up to £7.8 million. What is more, the UK is well positioned to lead. We have a really strong life sciences sector, especially across the east of England, as well as expertise and infrastructure. If we unleash our scientists alongside a Government with really clear objectives, the future is bright. That is also what people want. Petitions like the one we are debating, poll after poll, and the number of people in the Public Gallery show that the UK public really want to see action. A statistic I find interesting is that 76% of people want to see funding diverted from animal experiments to animal-free methods. They do not want animals to suffer. We have heard so many examples of that suffering throughout the debate, like the 2,646 dogs used in experiments in 2024. That led to horrific outcomes: vomiting, diarrhoea, bleeding, organ failure and, ultimately, death. We can do better, and I welcome the Government’s leadership on this issue. We can learn from the ban on animal testing for cosmetics, which was brought in in the UK in 1998—under a Labour Government, of course—and introduced across the EU in 2013. That cosmetic testing ban pushed science to meet the legal deadlines. It accelerated work to develop and approve new non-animal methods. The ban also stimulated big investment in non-animal methods: over €238 million in EU funding was spent on those between 2007 and 2011. Without the legal deadlines set by those bans, it is likely that many of the non-animal methods we know today would simply not exist. Whenever I read research websites or documents, I am struck by how often many of them are at pains to point out that they stick to the letter of the law, no more, no less—perhaps more importantly, no more. That is why the law must be a key driver of change. As we have heard, science is moving at pace, with organ-on-a-chip systems, human cell-based models, computer models and AI, which we hear about in all kinds of debates but can particularly take heart from here. When the astronauts went off to the moon recently, I saw that they took some of those organs on chips with them. That is progress. We used to take monkeys, dogs and mice and blast them into space, and now we are taking an organ on a chip instead. Back down on Earth, this is clearly an area where Britain can lead, but it also involves a truly international approach. Back in 2018, I went to the United Nations alongside Cruelty Free International. We handed over a petition with 8 million signatures from across the world, calling for a global ban on animal testing for cosmetics. I was struck by a couple of things. First, it was hard to find where in the UN the responsibility for that sat; it spans different Departments in the UK, and that is an issue across the world too. Secondly, we have not yet even managed a global ban on cosmetics testing on animals—only around 45 countries have secured that to date—so we need British leadership on that, as well as on testing for medical procedures. This matters because many of the testing procedures carried out in the UK are done to meet overseas requirements for pharmaceuticals, so it is not something that we can tackle alone. I would be very grateful if the Minister could outline how we are working with our international partners to achieve harmonisation, more international co-operation, consistent frameworks and transparent data exchange. [Graham Stuart In the Chair ] It is also important that we are positive about our scientists. We abhor it when we see researchers carrying out experiments that we do not think should be done on animals, but we must never be anti-scientist, because it is the scientists who will make sure we have these brand-new methods. We need them, so we have to be relentlessly pro-scientist. I have no doubt that our amazing scientists can rise to this challenge, especially when the Government set out really clear expectations. Together, we can ensure that the UK is at the forefront of innovation and meets the expectations of the public that we serve.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Transport Accessibility for Disabled People · Hansard source

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  I am always pleased to speak in debates about transport. I want to paint a picture for the Minister of Leighton Buzzard station—he is, of course, welcome to visit too. There are two lifts, which is fantastic, and I do not knock those lifts at all, because I know that many people want them. At the moment, a person can walk in from the ticket entrance side, get into one of the lifts, go up, go across and go down again, but then they hit a slight problem. They then have to walk all the way along the platform, passed the locked gate, whereupon there are a few steps to go up and a few steps to go down to get out of the station on to the other side, where many people want to go—it is a place called Linslade. As I said, there is a locked gate on that route. Were that gate to be opened, they would have entirely step-free access to get to the outside world. I know that it is not that simple, because I have had a lot of conversations with people about it—there is some greenery in the way, some cables and there are issues with public rights of way—but it really does not seem impossible. My last discussions were with Network Rail and it said that it was talking to London Northwestern. Given that they are both now in public hands, it does not seem that there are many people to pass the buck between. Will the Minister suggest how we can make best progress on that local issue? Moving on, I will talk briefly about a couple of points in the Transport Committee’s “Access denied” report. The first is the recommendation in paragraph 105 on a unified complaints system. I am in favour of unification and standardisation, and I think that Great British Railways offers a real chance to do that in many ways, not least on lost property, which I spoke about on Second Reading of the Railways Bill. I also think that as we establish more and more regional transport brands—the example of the Weaver brand has been discussed—that will be what customers think of as the portal gateway to many different types of transport. Indeed, that may well be the place where people ought to be pointed towards if they want to make a complaint—or, actually, if they are going to give somebody a compliment, because it is not always bad news. I also highlight paragraph 25 of the report, which focuses on neurodiversity. It mentions various issues, including ambiguous signage, which nobody wants. I personally find the Thameslink boards at Blackfriars to be particularly confusing, and I never know which side the train is coming in on. Great British Railways offers us perhaps a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create familiarity and consistency right across the network. There are reports from Tokyo that on its metro, the Ginza line, colour-zoned boarding areas have been introduced and that has been cited as an example of neurodiverse-friendly design. It is also a design that has improved passenger circulation overall and meant far fewer last-minute dashes by everybody to the platform. Because this is, as the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) mentioned, the good thing about accessible design: improved signage can help tourists or commuters rushing to make a connection and banishing steps also helps anybody with a suitcase or a pram. For society to thrive, we need to make use of the talents of everybody. If we do this right, we do not just remove barriers; we raise the standard of travel for everyone.

• 26 Mar 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The clocks change this weekend, and at a stroke we will have light in the evenings. We could have light at evenings all year round if we adopted Churchill time; it would also cut bills, reduce road traffic accidents and boost the hospitality industry. Given that this is a cross-departmental issue, how can I best get traction on this, so that we can be the Labour Government who really light up everybody’s lives?

• 11 Mar 2026 · Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation · Hansard source

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  Lots of letters are late. One that stood out to me, which a constituent raised, was a parking fine that had almost doubled in price by the time it arrived. Locally, the Royal Mail tells me that it is recruiting 12 new postal workers, but if that does not fix the problem, what should we try next?

• 5 Mar 2026 · World Book Day · Hansard source

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  I recently ran a survey in a local school and asked the children what they thought they would be doing if they were not spending as much time on smartphones. About a third of them said they thought they would be reading more if they were on social media less, so I am really pleased that the Government are running a consultation and are about to take serious action.

• 5 Mar 2026 · World Book Day · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I want to put it on the record that Paddington is my favourite bear, and I have a large poster of Paddington in Westminster in my office, so I do not want people to get the wrong end of the stick and think he is only liked by certain other parties. In the early years of the 20th century, a young girl was growing up in a Georgian house at the end of the high street in Leighton Buzzard. As a child, she would often wonder why things went missing or were not exactly where she remembered leaving them: a stamp that had disappeared, a safety pin that turned up somewhere entirely unexpected, or maybe a missing potato. She imagined that tiny people were living quietly in the corners of her home, borrowing things. She was Mary Norton, who became the author of the world-famous book “The Borrowers”, putting Leighton Buzzard on the map for readers forever. Today, the house that Mary Norton grew up in is part of Leighton middle school, which I had the pleasure of visiting recently, where I met enthusiastic, curious and thoughtful pupils. I love going to schools across my constituency—it is one of my favourite things to do. In Lime Tree academy in Houghton Regis I recently met Fatima, who told me that she had read every single book in the school library. Sadly, not all her peers are such strong readers. Less than half of white working-class pupils in central Bedfordshire reach the expected standard of reading in year 6—that is the lowest figure in the entire country. Can the Minister tell me what bespoke help is available for schools that have been let down for decades by Tory Governments and the council’s local education authority? I know from visiting classrooms that the teachers are just as dedicated and the children are just as eager to learn as elsewhere in the country. There are systemic problems that need to be sorted out, including the three-tier system that we have. I welcome the new National Year of Reading. I note that it is the third: there was one in 1998, one in 2008 and now one in 2026. Those years are linked, I think, by the fact that we had Labour Governments in all of them. The campaign asks families across the country to read together for just 10 minutes a day. As has been noted before, there are fantastic places to read, including local libraries. Over the summer I went to Dunstable library, which is a fantastic facility. I met a young girl there who was reading all about Arrietty, star of “The Borrowers”. My constituency also has brilliant bookshops, including Book Leighton Buzzard, an independent bookshop that is bringing authors into classrooms throughout 2026 as part of the Year of Reading. One thing that I do rather a lot is turn to a little part of a book that people may not always read—the bit that says where it is printed. I have a reason for that, which some hon. Members may know about. In my constituency there is a facility run by Amazon, which prints books on demand. When I went there for the first time I found it a fascinating place, because they print lots of individual books. It looks like a shelf, a bookshop or a library, because all those books are different shapes, sizes and colours. I flicked through a book at the facility and it said in it, “Printed by Amazon in the UK.” I thought, “That’s not good enough, is it? I want people to know exactly where in the UK it was printed.” I asked the bosses whether they would change it, and I think they thought I was being a bit daft about the topic. I thought, “Well, I am going to keep on asking about this,” but I kept on being ignored for a little while. Then I stumbled upon an idea. I thought, “I know— I am going to write my own book: a little children’s book about a book with an identity crisis, who goes all around the country trying to find out where he was printed.” He goes all the way to the west of England to see if he was born—printed—there, and he goes all the way up to Scotland. He goes to Liverpool and finds out about the Beatles, but does not think he was published there. Finally, the local MP intervenes, and thankfully, the book finds out that he is actually from Dunstable. I sent the book to the Amazon bosses to be printed, and said, “All the best stories have happy endings, so please make my story have a happy ending too,” and they did that for me. Now every single book printed on demand by Amazon proudly says, “Printed in Dunstable” on it. The self-publishing industry is really changing: the number of self-published books now exceeds the number of traditionally published ones. My office manager has penned one called “Ash”, a thriller set in Iceland, and I have a friend called Stephen Rogers who wrote about a nuclear disaster in the Bristol channel. In Dunstable, publishing has truly been democratised. More than a million books have now flown off the printing press there, all proudly saying, “Printed in Dunstable”, which has put the town on the map and is a phrase that I will always enjoy reading.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Young coach drivers are severely limited in the distances they are allowed to drive. Trying to get to London from your constituency, Madam Deputy Speaker, they would only make it as far as Sheffield. The Government have recently closed a consultation on this issue. Could the Leader of the House let us know when we will get a response? It seems very strange that people of the same age are able to drive a 44-tonne lorry, but not a coach for any considerable distance.