Katie White

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairwomanship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) for securing this important and timely debate. After years of waiting, we are finally getting a mass transit network worthy of a great world city, thanks to the Government’s support for West Yorkshire transport and the tireless efforts of our Labour Mayor, Tracy Brabin. This investment must benefit everyone, including my constituents in Leeds North West. Let us make sure there are no delays in moving from phase 1 to phase 2, establishing strong connections across our region. Leeds Bradford airport is welcoming thousands of travellers this summer with a new terminal, offering a more comfortable start to their holidays, but it remains poorly served by public transport and has no proper rail link to the city centre and communities. As we embrace mass transit, we must seize the opportunities to connect the airport to the network, ensuring that the Weaver network is ready for take-off with no delays. Beyond those large-scale projects, our communities need reliable, affordable bus services, as my hon. Friend said. Towns and villages such as Otley and Pool-in-Wharfedale deserve fast, frequent connections, and those heading to Horsforth—recently and rightly voted one of the best places to live in the UK—should not have to rely on taxis for a night out. That is why I support the moves by the Government and the combined authority to bring our buses back into public ownership, and I will back national and local efforts to make that happen.