Mr. Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con): I congratulate Frank Dobson on securing this important debate. I associate myself entirely with his words. As he will know, we have tried to work together, along with Meg Hillier. Underlying much of what the right hon. Gentleman said is the fact that the Crown Estate has traditionally been a very good landlord. The communities that it has built have been more stable than many of...

Mr. Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con): I congratulate the hon. Member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush (Mr. Slaughter) on initiating the debate. As he will know, I have raised my general concerns regarding housing provision in the capital a number of times over the past year in the House. However, I would be grateful if you allowed me to take a slightly more parochial approach on this occasion, Mrs. Humble. ...

Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster, Conservative) I am a lifelong supporter of Bury football club, which beat Macclesfield Town only last night to record a sixth consecutive victory. I was not going to bring up that sore subject. I congratulate Tony Lloyd on securing this extremely timely debate....

Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster, Conservative)The hon. Gentleman rightly makes the case for the benefits of extending Thameslink to each and every one of the 50 stations from the Sussex coast up to mid and, indeed, north Bedfordshire, but does he recognise that ensuring that we have sufficient capacity in the centre of London-this obviously applies to the Crossrail debate as well as to the Thameslink debate-is of crucial importance if there is not to be the overcrowding to which he referred earlier?