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Crossrail Bill [Instruction No. 2]

I shall come on to political playthings in a moment. I believe that it is the Secretary of State, rather than I, who regards Crossrail as a political plaything. If the Committee is being allowed to consider two possible alternative routes, I share my hon. Friend’s disappointment that it cannot discuss fully the views of others. On political playthings, what we are engaged in today is simply talk: this is a process that will lead not to action, but to more talk. I say directly to the Secretary of State that this Bill, Crossrail and these motions are set to become just another chapter in the growing volume of Government broken promises on transport. I do not believe that the Government have any intention whatever of seeing this scheme through to fruition. They are leading the people of London and its businesses, and those Members who have thrown their weight behind the scheme, up the garden path. We must remember where we started from. In the 10-year plan document, the Government not only promised that the people of London would be travelling under the capital in brand new Crossrail trains by 2010; they also said that they had the cash to pay for the scheme. The document states that,"““assuming the broad approach set out above, the following could be delivered with this level of investment””." The bullet point list in that document includes"““An eastwest rail link, such as CrossRail””." Of course, that statement is now history and has clearly long since been abandoned. That is why I am so doubtful about the Government’s motivation in respect of today’s motions and this scheme. We now know that the Government’s estimate of the scheme’s cost is heading rapidly past £15 billion, and that their finances are looking increasingly shaky and under pressure. A comprehensive spending review is just a couple of years away, and all independent expectations are that the Chancellor’s spending options are much more limited than in the past few years. Do we honestly believe that from 2008 onward—the year in which the promoters say that they hope construction of the scheme can begin—the Chancellor will start issuing financial guarantees or writing cheques to get Crossrail off the ground? Will the Secretary of State give a clear, categorical public assurance today that the current Government intend to fund the lion’s share of the construction of Crossrail, as they once said they would? Can he still make the same commitment that he made in the original 10-year plan document—that the Government would provide the funding to make Crossrail happen? [Interruption.] There is silence from the Government.