• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

What discussions have you had? How many times have you met the private sector to try to persuade them to lever in some finance into this project?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

Do you know if the Montague Review is considering that scheme?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

They have said they could build the core tunnel for £3.2 billion of private money. What do you see as the arguments against their proposal?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

The Government has been saying it supports the Bill throughout the whole of the year, but on 17 July Alistair Darling (Secretary of State for Transport) made it quite clear that there would not be an immediate go ahead and he could not announce the funding structure. We now have the Montague panel looking at the funding structure, and on 1 November it was revealed that there was a £3 billion funding gap. What progress is that?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

In your talks with the private sector, did you actually get any firm commitment in terms of helping to fund Crossrail?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

Well perhaps when you are back in the Labour Party you will have a word with the two Members who talked the previous Bill out before you start coming up with that sort of nonsense.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

Forgive me, but we have been close to having it finalised every time you have spoken about Crossrail. Like on 9 March, work was going on to commence by summer of next year. What happened to that?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

At the end of the year, where in January we were told there was significant progress, we have still not the foggiest idea what the private sector contribution will be, where it will come from, what form it might take, how much it might cost, or what the timescale is for delivering it, have we?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

What is the state of those discussions? What came out of them?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

What about when standing as an independent, then?