00:00in your plan? It's really exciting because we're unveiling the new branding today for Great British
00:06Railways. So from next year people will see the new train delivery, the new posters going up at
00:12stations and this is going to be rolled out over time. We're also announcing a new app so that
00:18people will have information about fares, ticketing, timetables, things like whether the lifts are
00:23working at stations, all in the palm of their hand, no booking fee, added to the fares freeze
00:28that we announced a couple of weeks ago for next year. I think this signals a new way of doing
00:35things when it comes to the railways and we're determined as a government as we bring the train
00:39operating companies into public ownership and have a nationalised service once again that we build a
00:44railway that people can rely on and people can be proud of. And whilst of course this is like a first
00:49step there is a risk that some of the measures being announced today might just look a bit like
00:53sort of changing the outside of trains a little bit extravagant without sort of real tangible changes
00:58when can we sort of expect to see the real impact of Great British Railways in our services and our
01:04train services? So as soon as we came into office this government was determined to take action on
01:10improving our railways. We've already brought three train operating companies back into public
01:15ownership this year, South Western, C2C, Greater Anglia and we've got another four that are coming into
01:21public ownership next year. Recent data shows us that the number of cancellations amongst the directly
01:27operated services by the public sector is much lower than the services that are run by the private
01:34sector still, about 3.6% cancellation rate compared to 4.8%. Now we want to go further, get those
01:41cancellations down more because I know that the most important thing for the travelling public is to be
01:47confident that their train is going to turn up on that platform when they're waiting for it.
01:51And just on the cost of sort of railway journeys, obviously you've not said that Great British
01:58Railways will necessarily get the cost of our fares down in the long run. So what's the point in doing
02:04all of this and re-nationalising the railway if it's not going to be cheaper for people?
02:08We took a historic decision in the budget to freeze railfares for the first time in 30 years next year. That means
02:16that people who are using season tickets, who are making off-peak return journeys between big cities
02:22in England and also those peak returns, won't see their fares go up. Under the last Conservative
02:29government, fares rose by 60% between 2010 and 2024, so it was high time that we took this decision.
02:37There's going to be really significant savings for people because if you're commuting on a flexi-season
02:42ticket, for example, between Milton Keynes and London three times a week, if fares had gone up by
02:47RPI plus one, which they have done in the last couple of years, you'd have been spending £300
02:52more. So savings between Bradford and Leeds is about £57 a year, thanks to this historic fares freeze
02:59of the Labour government. And so we want to simplify ticketing going forward as well. I'm acutely aware
03:05of how important affordability is for the travelling public, but we've also got to make sure that we're
03:11providing value for money for the taxpayer at the same time.
03:13And just on that freeze, our colleagues at ITB London sort of want to know why tube fares
03:18haven't been included in that, and is that not a bit unfair on Londoners that you've got this
03:23nationwide railway freeze but it doesn't apply to London transport?
03:26So people who are just using the rail network in London, who are perhaps making a point-to-point journey
03:32from stations on the outskirts of London into places like Charing Cross, London Bridge,
03:38they will still benefit from the national rail fares freeze. Decisions about the tube and buses are a devolved
03:47decision for the Mayor of London, and he and I had some really good conversations during the spending review
03:53when we agreed £2 billion worth of investment into London's transport network. That's the largest single
04:01capital settlement in a decade. And so the Mayor did agree that he would look at how London could
04:08make a contribution to that as well. I don't think he's made his final affairs decision yet, but we've
04:14worked closely together to make sure that we're getting the investment into the transport system
04:18that London needs.
04:19And just a final question on the transport announcement. I just wanted to ask a little bit
04:23about the Northern Powerhouse Rail. How early into 2026 can we expect that decision? Is there anything holding it up?
04:30So we are going to push ahead with Northern Powerhouse Rail because for far too long
04:35people in the north of England have had to put up with a second-rate transport system, and that's simply not good enough.
04:43So I'm continuing my conversations with our brilliant mayors in the north of England.
04:48We do want to improve connectivity between the great cities of the north of England, because the only way
04:54we're going to get our country's economy firing on all cylinders is if we unlock the potential of the north
05:01of England. So we will have more to say on that. We're working hard on it at the moment, and I look forward
05:07to talking to you again when we've got an announcement to make.
05:10Amazing. I just wanted to ask about Russia and Ukraine. Will you guarantee that you will not back any deal
05:15that the Ukrainians are not 100% behind? So the Prime Minister has always been clear that it is
05:21the Ukrainian people that need to determine their own future. You will have seen the Prime Minister
05:27hosting President Zelensky in number 10 yesterday, along with Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz,
05:35also continuing those really important conversations with President Trump, who is trying to broker a peace
05:42deal. But it is vital that the voice of the Ukrainian people are central in this.
05:46And then just two follow-up questions on that. So obviously Trump last night sort of accused European
05:52leaders of impotence, of not doing enough. You're effectively quite sidelined from the discussions
05:58of the people. Is that not true to say?
06:00The Prime Minister has had multiple conversations with President Trump about how we can secure a ceasefire and
06:07how we can deliver a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. We are hopeful that we might be closer
06:15than at any point in the last four years to finding a positive way through on this. But it is really
06:22vital that dialogue continues, both with President Zelensky of Ukraine, with other European leaders,
06:31with the United States. And clearly President Trump does have some dialogue as well with Russia.
06:36But we need to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine. I think all of us watching on our television screens
06:42feel the same way about Ukraine as the horrors that we saw in Gaza when we want to bring that conflict to an end.
06:49And just finally, what is your message to Russia? What would you say to them about what they need
06:56to be doing to get this deal over the line? There is one actor in this conflict that can end the war
07:02tomorrow, that can end sending missiles and drones into Ukraine. And that's Russia. Russia are also
07:10losing thousands of soldiers in this conflict every day, every week. There's horrendous bloodshed,
07:17and we've witnessed horrific devastation in Ukraine. And so this does need to end.
07:22And just a couple of questions on other topics. The head of the Navy said yesterday we could be at risk
07:26of losing the North Atlantic to Russia. Can you guarantee that we will meet our defence
07:34spending commitments as Rachel Ruth has laid out? The first responsibility of any government is national
07:40security. And you will have heard the Prime Minister in the last year set out how we are going to meet
07:48our commitment to be spending 2.6% of GDP by 27, 3.5% by 2035 on defence. We're committed to doing that.
07:58And we will make sure that the security of the British people always comes first and foremost.
08:05And finally, Australia has just announced a ban on social media for all under 16. It's quite a radical
08:12strategy. But RPM sort of just got tick-tock. Are we not being brave enough in terms of what we're doing
08:18in terms of regulating social media companies? I think the Online Safety Act is really the first
08:24step in making sure that we do everything that we can to keep children safe online. We won't leave
08:32any stone unturned in considering what we can do to make sure that children are as safe virtually as they
08:42are in reality. And it's a big priority for this government. Amazing. Thank you so much.
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