L

Lord Moylan (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 12 October 2026

Debate

Railways Bill

Contribution

My Lords, it is disingenuous for the Minister to say that. Whatever criticism he may level at that Government for trying in a post-Covid environment to implement the Williams review and not implementing it fast enough—of course one can say that—it is not the case that that is why we are nationalising the railways now. It might be why we had not implemented the Williams review in 2024 when the general election was called, and that might be a point of criticism, but he cannot say we are where we are now as a result of that. The Williams review and the concession model, which we would tend to support, is a perfectly valid and realistic way ahead for reforming the railways. We admit that there is a need for reform; I did that when we spoke on the rail passenger services Bill. There is a need for reform and change, but there is absolutely an ideological commitment, largely dictated by union funders, that we should have a nationalised railway on this model. It is not because of anything the previous Government did.

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