Infrastructure Bill [Lords]

I want to take the Minister back to what she said about the use of secondary legislation. She wil...

I am only sorry that the hon. Gentleman did not have time to listen to the Committee, where we sp...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Will you please rule on the Minister’s view, because she seems t...

I do not think that that is a matter for the Chair. Members must make their own assessment. The h...

Thank you for that clarification, Mr Speaker.

On the announcement I made in Committee, the ...

Earlier in the Minister’s speech, she mentioned that she would use the Health and Safety Executiv...

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. It is essential that the HSE can do its job well. ...

In the Minister’s assessment prior to coming to the House, did she look at whether the Environmen...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is essential that the Environment Agency and Heal...

Will the Minister give way?

I am going to make progress.

On fugitive emissions, I have spoken about the report produced...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

I may be wrong, but I just have a slight sense that this might be a point not of order but of fru...

There is a lot of frustration in the debate, Mr Speaker. In Committee, the Government made an ext...

That is not a point of order.

No, but it is on the record.

All sorts of things are helpful and all sorts of things are unhelpful, but they usually have one ...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The hon. Gentleman is right and asks an interesting question. I reassure h...

Where is the letter?

It was sent to every member of the Committee.

With regard to industry reporting commitments...

rose—

I am going to make substantial progress. I am concerned that other hon. Members will not be able ...

How can the Minister assure us about fugitive emissions and the safety of fracking when she propo...

The hon. Gentleman raised that in Committee. We share his concern about safety and care for the c...

Will the Minister give way?

I wish to make some progress.

A company looking to develop shale or deep geothermal will ne...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not: I am going to make some progress.

There is no question of changing the existing...

Does the Minister yet have a definition of “community” in this instance?

My hon. Friend has raised that issue before and I hope that we will hear from him later. As he wi...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Earlier in the Minister’s speech, she referred to a lette...

That is not a point of order for the Chair, but the hon. Gentleman has clarified what he believes...

The letter came from the Minister of State, Department for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Me...

Will the Minister indicate why she is not taking the opportunity to regulate and impose environme...

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. I hope he will find that it will be dealt with la...

What the Minister has said, essentially, is that DEFRA should not do research that might possibly...

I do not think the hon. Lady quite heard my comments. If somebody in another Department has prepa...

I think my hon. Friend would wish to put a message out to rural communities today that we take th...

Of course, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government take very seriously the security, t...

I am concerned that I still need to cover several amendments. If I may, I shall move swiftly on, ...

rose—

I shall not take any more interventions, as I must finish my comments.

Amendments 50, 68, 6...

On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

I will not, I am afraid, as I need to finish. I am sure other Members would like to speak.

...

I have to say at the outset that if Members and those watching our proceedings were short of conf...

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that I was not a member of the Committee, but if it provides him...

The right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns) will be well aware that the Minister to whom he r...

The Minister said that she had commented on every single amendment put forward from all sides of ...

I thank my hon. Friend, who makes an important point. We are here to scrutinise this Bill, and we...

I have no desire to embarrass the hon. Gentleman—I regard him almost as a protégé, so I would nev...

I am sorry to disappoint the Minister, given that I seem to have just been anointed his protégé. ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller) ...

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman, who has himself tabled amendments to this part of the Bi...

The hon. Gentleman is being very courteous in giving way, but may I appeal to him, on behalf of m...

The hon. Gentleman is usually a stickler for procedure. This is about scrutiny of the Bill, and w...

Does my hon. Friend agree that this is also about potential applications that are due to be submi...

My hon. Friend has made an important point in a very cogent fashion.

Let me now deal with s...

Has my hon. Friend had a chance to read the report that was published today by the Environmental ...

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I did indeed have a chance to read her Committee’s r...

On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am responding to an intervention. I have said I will not have time to give way again, as I know...

rose—

To be fair, I did say I was not going to give way again. I am conscious of time.

The Govern...

I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and in particular t...

We will be pushing new clause 9 to a vote this evening to ensure that we have a proper moratorium...

No, I will not support that. A moratorium would not serve Britain’s national interests.

Far...

Does my hon. Friend accept that it is arguably safer to take a cautious approach before proceedin...

We should proceed as fast as possible, consistent with environmental safeguards, which the Govern...

My hon. Friend is talking about the extent to which we are increasingly dependent on imports. By ...

My hon. Friend is exactly right. I was very tempted to sign his new clauses on that point. Improv...

Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that, according to all the projections produced by the Departm...

I do not entirely agree. The fall in gas consumption in the UK will not take it below the level a...

It is worth pointing out that the hon. Gentleman’s arguments about safety are supported by the Ro...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that extremely pertinent point.

We have probably al...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I should now make progress, because other colleagues wish to speak, but I give way to my hon. Fri...

I am concerned about the potential impact of subsidence from fracking. I represented Cannock and ...

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. I am glad to have the opportunity to say how welcome...

I am conscious of the fact that we have about 20 minutes left for the debate, and that there are ...

An application was made last year in Lound, in Bassetlaw, a former munitions site. The county cou...

That is exactly the point—no one knows who has overall responsibility. The Environment Agency app...

My hon. Friend is right that we should be discussing that—actually, now is not when we should be ...

I agree with my hon. Friend about having more time. People in this country will not forgive us fo...

I endorse the comments the hon. Lady is making. I am now on to dealing with my fourth and fifth s...

As we heard from the Minister just now, there may well be time for further amendments, because cl...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Minister has referred to the potential for further am...

Let me help by saying that it would be possible for the Lords to look at that and do something ab...

I am interested in that point of order because it sets out for us the situation we are in: we are...

I will try to be brief, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stoke-o...

rose—

I will give way only the once.

Does the hon. Gentleman share my concern that there is no obligation to make sure that renewables...

Indeed; we should be seeing a quest for more renewables. One of my concerns about the dash for fr...

rose—

I will not give way, because many Members wish to speak.

Other concerns have been mentioned...

Let me reassure the hon. Gentleman that we take this matter seriously. We will introduce a furthe...

I thank the Minister for that welcome news. I was going to talk about water usage, but I will tur...

I rise to speak in support of amendment 117, which is in my name. In Committee, I brought to Memb...

Let me give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. If the letter was not clear that is my fault, not ...

I am extremely grateful to the Minister, and ask him to clarify that matter in the Bill.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the amendments standing in my name, which were tabl...

I am sorry that there is such a lack of time to make a serious response to the amendments still o...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No—I am sorry, but I am short of time.

Labour’s new clause 19 does not offer the kind of pr...

I welcome new clause 7 and the Minister’s comments on new clause 19(a), (e) and (m). I have chalk...

I rise to voice my support for new clause 19, which I believe provides a substantial series of ba...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 3—National Infrastruct...

The group touches on an incredibly wide range of issues, but I shall concentrate my remarks on th...

May I welcome the new clause and thank the Minister, along with the Minister of State, Department...

I thank my hon. Friend, a former Minister in the Department, for his intervention. We did indeed ...

In Committee, I brought hon. Members’ attention to the fact that, while we were debating the Bill...

In recent weeks and months, the question of whether to set up a separate body has been much debat...

In the light of those remarks, will the Minister tell the House whether the Government were right...

It is tempting to debate whether there should be a third runway at Heathrow or whether it should ...

Will the Minister reassure my constituents in public, as the Minister of State, Department for Tr...

I can repeat the reassurance—because he has just given it to me—that my right hon. Friend the Min...

The Minister just mentioned the Bill’s relevance to the roads investment strategy, which I take t...

My right hon. Friend is an astute parliamentarian and he takes every opportunity to raise the dua...

Is not the argument that the Minister has just made the perfect argument for new clause 16?

It is not, because the planning use class orders deal with the totality of asset use classes righ...

This news will be warmly welcomed in Mid Sussex, where we have had some real trouble on this fron...

The Localism Act 2011, the regulations, the guidance issued by the Department and statements by M...

I am interested in the Minister’s comments. My concern is that where a council chooses not to det...

My hon. Friend came to see me to discuss a particular example in her constituency. I believe the ...

My hon. Friend should be proud of his record in supporting local pubs, both nationally and locall...

I hear what my hon. Friend says. I can assure him that the Government have not pulled this rabbit...

CAMRA fully supports new clause 16, which provides for a simpler, cheaper, less bureaucratic way ...

I think that my hon. Friend—who has a good record of campaigning on behalf of beer drinkers and c...

Let me begin by drawing attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.