First Great Western Franchise

: My right hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. No doubt he will have heard, as I have, from the redoubtable Melksham Without parish council about its concerns regarding the siting of Melksham station and its facilities. The line from south Wales to Bristol to the south coast is extremely important. It runs through a number of wards that have some of the highest indices of deprivation in our country. The Minister probably shares the prejudices of many in his party in believing that such wards exist only in the midlands and the north. That is simply not the case. From the suburbs of Southampton right up to the Severn estuary and Bristol, such wards exist in large numbers. Public transport is important to many of our constituents.