(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab): Hull has had an excellent start as the UK’s city
of culture, with nearly 350,000 people attending in the first
week, and I hope that you, Mr Speaker, might be able to attend
during the course of 2017. Many of those visitors arrive through
the railway station, so imagine my surprise when I learned that
TransPennine Express, which operates the station, has decided to
close the waiting room and toilets at 7 pm due to antisocial
behaviour. After the three Hull MPs made representations, the
operator said that the facilities will be kept open until 9 pm,
but only if there is no more antisocial behaviour. May we have a
debate about when we decided that yobs could dictate what
facilities passengers and members of the public can use? This
would not happen anywhere else in the country.
Mr Lidington: First, may I congratulate the city
of Hull on its first weeks as the city of culture? I hope that
many hon. Members from both sides of the House are able to go
there this year. I remember visiting city hall the last time I
went and being hugely impressed by the architecture and the sense
of civic pride in Hull.
On the particular question about antisocial behaviour, I have a
lot of sympathy with what the hon. Lady says. I very much hope
that the franchise holder, the local police and the local
authority can work together to find an effective solution, so
that those facilities can remain open when tourists will want to
use them.
