Westminster Hall — sitting of 3 November 2026: transcript & video · Polyfact

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Westminster Hall

3 November 2026

Contents updated on 4 Nov 2026

Westminster Hall debate on how increasingly extreme weather affects rail reliability and passengers across the network.

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Impact of extreme weather on train services

15:25

Opening statements

15:25

Josh Newbury MP (Labour) — opening speech on impact of extreme weather on train services

15:25

Shockat Adam MP (Independent) — intervention on Leicester–Nottingham services during heatwave

17:18

Josh Newbury MP (Labour) — continued speech on extreme weather and the Chase Line

17:41

Contributions from Members on regional rail impacts and climate resilience

33:36

Charlotte Cane MP (Liberal Democrat) — Fenland rail unreliability and need for climate-resilient infrastructure

33:36

Jayne Kirkham MP (Labour) — Vulnerability of Cornwall’s rail link and stalled resilience works

38:35

Steve Darling MP (Liberal Democrat) — Dawlish cliffs funding gap and poor rolling stock in Devon and Cornwall

44:50

Joe Morris MP (Labour) — Tyne Valley rail resilience and rural service capacity

49:59

Jim Shannon MP (DUP) — Northern Ireland perspective on extreme weather and transport disruption

55:33

Richard Foord MP (Liberal Democrat) — West of England Line disruption from heat and need for passing loops

01:05:43

Opposition and ministerial responses on extreme weather and rail resilience

01:15:26

Rt Hon Richard Holden MP (Conservative) — opposition response on rail performance, resilience funding and Network Rail priorities

01:15:26

Minister Simon Lightwood MP (Labour) — government response on extreme weather and rail resilience

01:25:03

Markus Campbell-Savours MP (Labour) — West Coast Main Line disruption from Scottish weather

01:27:15

Steve Darling MP (Liberal Democrat) — challenge on Dawlish line closures

01:33:21

Josh Newbury MP (Labour) — closing remarks on extreme weather and rail disruption

01:36:35

Vote on the motion — impact of extreme weather on train services

01:40:22

Use of agricultural land for solar panels

01:45:26

Debate on use of agricultural land for solar panels

01:45:26

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — introduction of concerns over solar farms on prime farmland

01:45:26

Jim Shannon MP (DUP) — Northern Ireland perspective on loss of prime land

01:46:44

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — response on permanent loss of food-producing land

01:47:19

Rt Hon Graham Stuart MP (Conservative) — call to keep solar off best and most versatile land

01:47:44

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — impact on local communities and critique of net zero approach

01:48:20

Dr Roz Savage MP (Liberal Democrat) — compulsory acquisition and grid siting concerns

01:49:29

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — scale of solar development on farmland

01:49:51

Helen Whately MP (Conservative) — examples of large solar schemes in Kent and planning guidance

01:50:36

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — balance between energy and food security

01:51:10

Intervenant 38 — need to prioritise brownfield and rooftops in practice

01:51:40

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — gap between policy and practice on land quality

01:52:00

Intervenant 39 — Green Hill Solar Farm, loss of arable land and policy inconsistency

01:52:26

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — evidence of prime land being used for solar

01:52:50

Intervenant 40 — wider economic and environmental harms from large solar farms

01:53:28

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — criticism of ‘net zero zealotry’ and call to heed public

01:54:04

Intervenant 41 — Forced labour in Chinese solar panel supply chains

01:54:28

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — Protecting agricultural land and criticising current solar planning

01:55:24

Adrian Ramsay MP (Green) — Call for integrated land use and spatial strategy for solar

01:56:06

Michael Shanks MP, Minister (Labour) — Opening response on solar, planning and infrastructure needs

02:01:46

Rt Hon Graham Stuart MP (Conservative) — Tightening rules on best land, cumulative impacts and slave labour

02:03:30

Michael Shanks MP, Minister (Labour) — Land take statistics and UK solar supply chain strategy

02:04:30

Rt Hon Sammy Wilson MP (DUP) — Competition with cheap and forced labour in China

02:06:54

Intervenant 41 — Adopting a US-style presumption against slave-made solar imports

02:07:19

Michael Shanks MP, Minister (Labour) — UK solar supply chains, net zero and planning safeguards

02:08:06

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP (Conservative) — Call to tighten solar planning oversight

02:10:48

Michael Shanks MP, Minister (Labour) — Defence of current planning framework and climate risks to food security

02:11:07

Intervenant 39 — Limits of combining sheep farming with solar

02:12:55

Michael Shanks MP, Minister (Labour) — Agrivoltaics, biodiversity and community benefits

02:13:07

Conclusion of debate on use of agricultural land for solar panels — motion agreed

02:14:41

Potential merits of adding gynaecological conditions to Equality Act 2010 guidance

02:14:54

Opening statements

02:14:54

Tulip Siddiq MP (Labour) — Opening speech on workplace protections for gynaecological conditions

02:14:54

Helen Maguire MP (Liberal Democrat) — Call to extend Equality Act protection to gynaecological conditions

02:17:39

Tulip Siddiq MP (Labour) — Lack of understanding and petition for legal recognition

02:18:13

Jim Shannon MP (DUP) — Need for healthcare as well as workplace protection

02:19:35

Tulip Siddiq MP (Labour) — Case for explicit Equality Act guidance on gynaecological conditions

02:20:21

Contributions from Members on Equality Act guidance and gynaecological conditions

02:33:46

Rt Hon Sir Alec Shelbrooke MP (Conservative) — Need for recognition and understanding of endometriosis

02:33:46

Imogen Walker MP (Labour) — Inequalities in gynaecology waiting times and impact on Scottish patients

02:38:51

Hannah Spencer MP (Green) — Lived experience, employment impact and call for explicit Equality Act guidance

02:41:50

Gill Furniss MP (Labour) — APPG findings and need to update disability guidance

02:45:16

Sureena Brackenridge MP (Labour) — Workplace protections and explicit reference to gynaecological conditions

02:47:59

Michelle Welsh MP (Labour) — PMDD, endometriosis and the cost of delayed diagnosis

02:52:19

Opposition and ministerial responses on Equality Act guidance and gynaecological conditions

02:55:53

Marie Goldman MP (Liberal Democrat) — Delayed diagnosis, workplace impact and need for Equality Act recognition

02:55:53

Joy Morrissey MP (Conservative) — Personal experience and call to prioritise women’s gynaecological health

03:00:24

Minister — Initial response on Equality Act guidance and wider employer support

03:05:47

Rt Hon Sir Alec Shelbrooke MP (Conservative) — Call for explicit listing in the Equality Act

03:09:44

Minister — Reply to intervention and outline of government initiatives

03:10:21

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Westminster Hall

3 November 2026

Westminster Hall Wed, 4 Nov 2026 Actual start 01:15 House of Commons

Follow its sittings

15:25 - 15:27

Speaker 1

Order. Order.

15:27 - 15:31

Speaker 3

Order, Josh Newbury to move the motion.

15:31 - 16:36

Speaker 2

Thank you very much, Ms Jardine. It's a pleasure to open this afternoon's debate with you in the chair. As we all know, the great British weather is something that we love to talk about, but it isn't particularly predictable, and it's becoming more and more extreme as a result of climate change. Although I was motivated to apply for this debate by the impact of this summer's heatwave on train services in my constituency, I suspect that honourable members will have come to this debate with a huge range of weathers in mind, and I'm sure will be hearing something akin to the ten plagues of Egypt this afternoon, reflecting the diversity of our great nation. And I suspect that for many passengers on the Chase line, the turning of the seasons into the warmer months now brings a familiar question: will the train make it to Rugeley?

That's not quite the seasonal tradition people have in mind. We might have hoped for a little sunshine, a trip away or an afternoon in the garden, but we now all probably have to check whether or not we can get a train home. Passengers along the Chase line know the problem well. As temperatures rise, delays and cancellations become more frequent. Services are cancelled at short notice, journeys are cut short and the trains that do run are often overcrowded.

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