Chris McDonald
MP for Stockton North · Labour · United Kingdom
“This Bill will assist in that by ensuring that steel production is secured, helping to restore domestic production to sustainable levels and supporting the Government’s economic growth plans where the public interest test is met. The Lords amendments before us strengthen the Bill in several ways.”
“This Government are acting decisively and with purpose in the national interest, but the shadow Secretary of State is blinded by his ideological position on nationalisation. We believe that a steel industry, where necessary run by the Government and owned by the people, at least gives the opportunity to attract private sector investment.”
“I am acutely aware of the position in which the previous Government left us, with uncompetitive energy prices for industry. If he had been attentive in some of the debates we have been involved in, he would be aware of some of the measures that I have taken to address that.”
“Lords amendments 4 and 5 upgrade the parliamentary procedure relating to continuity obligations and enforcement, ensuring that Parliament has increased scrutiny of these matters.”
“I have listened carefully to the shadow Secretary of State’s remarks and those from the shadow Minister, and I will address them in a moment. I am grateful for the support of the Vice-Chamberlain of His Majesty’s Household, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin), and of the Minister without Portfolio, my right hon.”
“It is a pleasure to be back in the House today to see through the final stages of this Bill. The Government support all the Lords amendments before us. I wish to pay tribute to my colleague Minister Leong for so expertly guiding the Bill through its passage in the other place.”
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“My hon. Friend is right to point out the importance of finishing companies. I know that some spinning and weaving businesses are included in the supercharger, but finishing is often not, even though it is done in the same factory. Clearly, whether they are waterproofing sou’westers or fireproofing mattresses, these businesses are important. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the upcoming supercharger review and what options there may be for those businesses.”
“We now have record public sector investment in the development of this technology, with £86 billion to 2030. As a techno-optimist, I agree with the International Energy Agency that we can now solve 75% of these problems using technology, and I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the matter further.”
“We are supporting private sector investment in Buckingham and Bletchley by working with partners across the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor to find new opportunities for businesses. I acknowledge the work of my hon. Friend in launching the Bletchley investment taskforce, which is bringing together private capital and local partners, using infrastructure such as East West Rail to improve connectivity, and working with OxCam partners so that local businesses benefit from innovation, skills and inward investment.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend on his work with the Bletchley investment taskforce. I know that businesses in his constituency, such as Envisics, Carnot and Pulsar, have benefited from the work he has done, and I would be very happy to ensure that he gets a meeting with the relevant Minister.”
“I thank my hon. Friend, who is an advocate and champion of businesses in Lichfield. As I am sure he is aware, we are making sure that the UK is the best place in the world to invest by backing priority sectors through our industrial strategy. The advanced manufacturing sector plan will strengthen UK supply chains in sectors such as automotive, aerospace and clean energy industries, ensuring that businesses in Lichfield, such as its manufacturing and logistics businesses, get the skills, technology and new commercial opportunities that they need.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his work in establishing the all-party parliamentary group on quantum technologies. He is right to identify these technologies as very important for the future, and to put his finger on the particular problem that we have in the UK: while we are brilliant at innovating and investing in research, we have historically struggled with scale-up. That is not something that this Government are prepared to accept. Just as we are investing in critical minerals and automotive connected mobility technologies, we are investing in this area. The British Business Bank is doubling its annual investments to ensure that we can support scale-up and bring forward at least 10 new-to-market growth-stage funds so that we can leverage pension investments and help British businesses to stay and grow in the UK.”
“The Government recognise the importance of the defence industrial plan, which will be brought to the House as soon as it can be. On private sector investment, £10 billion of investment came in from the regional summits, and £79 billion of investment was identified in the last industrial strategy quarterly report. Investors are voting with their money, and they are investing in the UK.”
“The Minister responsible for the Post Office and the Royal Mail, my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall), is sitting beside me. Just yesterday, he spent 90 minutes in the House answering questions from Members who have had problems with the service across the whole of the country; I have seen such problems in my constituency as well. The Government are clearly not happy with the level of service from the Royal Mail, and the shadow Minister will hear a full response to Question 15, when my hon. Friend will stand at the Dispatch Box and tell her everything that she needs to know about that particular meeting.”
“My hon. Friend is right: Cornwall has loads of critical minerals. They will be beneficial in driving not only the UK economy but great businesses and export opportunities. As we have said before, we want companies to scale and grow in the UK, to be headquartered and listed in the UK, and to provide great jobs in the UK. That is why I am working with my hon. Friend and his Cornish Labour colleagues, and with the industry and capital markets in the UK, to corral capital into Cornish critical minerals.”
“The Government are incredibly concerned about the gradual erosion of UK domestic steel production compared with imports. I ask my hon. Friend to wait a very short time until the steel strategy is published, and after that he might like a further discussion with me.”
“I would direct Laura towards our plan for small businesses, which includes legislation on late payments, a business growth service and tailored support for high streets, which, hopefully, she will find helpful.”
“As for the amount that it will have to pay, it is important for the inquiry to complete its work and publish all the volumes of its report so that we can establish the level of compensation. In respect of small business support, a number of issues were raised in connection with energy efficiency and energy costs. My hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury mentioned the British industrial competitiveness scheme. There are a number of other kinds of support for energy efficiency in small businesses, but I have already committed myself, at the Dispatch Box, to looking further at what can be done in that regard. The hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mr Reynolds) asked what we could do for Laura.”
“Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North and the members of his Committee for their support and their challenges on these issues. The Government welcome that scrutiny. My right hon. Friend said that the Committee would publish a new report in the coming days, and we stand ready to review and respond to it. I can confirm that we have now paid redress to more than 11,300 postmasters and made redress payments of £1.2 billion. My hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough (Justin Madders) and the Chair of the Committee were concerned about Fujitsu, as am I. Fujitsu has accepted that it bears a moral responsibility for what has happened, and has expressed its willingness to contribute financially. Let me make it clear that Fujitsu will have to pay.”
“Funding and financing for steel companies is being delivered via the National Wealth Fund and direct support, including an additional £500 million grant for Tata Steel at Port Talbot and support for the official receiver’s sale process for Speciality Steel’s UK sites in Rotherham and Stocksbridge. Separately, the Government have committed an additional £420 million to new investment in Sheffield Forgemasters to expand capacity further as a direct result of the AUKUS submarine deal, bringing our total investment in Forgemasters to over £1.3 billion. That was the first item; the second is the Post Office. I should begin by acknowledging the sub-postmasters who were impacted by the Horizon scandal, and, again, thanking my right hon.”
“I understand the concern, but I note that that is still less than half the amount that the previous Government spent last time British Steel was in great difficulties. They simply flipped the business out to Greybull, a company that could not even run Rileys snooker halls without Rileys going into administration. This Government are developing a steel strategy, and planning to ensure that we maintain our ironmaking capacity at Scunthorpe as well. More broadly, the Government are committed to providing up to £2.5 billon to support the UK steel industry.”
“In difficult circumstances, they have achieved an excellent health and safety performance in stabilising operations. I also commend the commercial team at Scunthorpe for their high-speed rail order from Turkey. I think we can all take great pleasure in steel exports from the UK to Turkey. The shadow Minister was concerned that the Government did not have the know-how to support the industry. I can tell him that, having worked for 29 years in the industry myself, I am exercising very careful oversight of the production and operational activities of British Steel. Several Members queried the numbers. To date, the Government have spent approximately £370 million on support for British Steel, covering items such as raw materials, salaries and unpaid bills.”
“Government officials are continuing to provide on-site support in Scunthorpe, ensuring uninterrupted domestic steel production and carefully monitoring the use of taxpayer funds. Several hon. Members mentioned the steel strategy, including my hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance). We have a commitment to publish the strategy early in 2026. We had hoped to publish it before Christmas but we thought it best to publish it alongside the trade measures following changes in trade arrangements. We have worked carefully with the industry, UK Steel and the trade unions, and I hope that we will bring the proposals on trade and on the steel strategy to the House in a very short time. I commend the management, the trade unions and the workforce at Scunthorpe on their diligence in this period.”
“Our steel industry is of course strategically important as part of British heavy industry, supporting the UK’s industrial base, our construction sector and our national and economic security, as we heard in the earlier estimates debate on the Ministry of Defence. Transforming the steel sector is essential for securing a competitive, modern and sustainable industrial base, ensuring the UK can meet its long-term net zero commitments while maintaining critical domestic capability. Our commitment to the sector is evident in the intervention we made in April last year at Scunthorpe to ensure uninterrupted steel production and avoid the permanent and disorderly closure of the UK’s last operating blast furnaces, the Queen Anne and the Queen Bess in Scunthorpe.”
“Fundamentally, that is partly built into the structure of the British Business Bank. In order to provide the bank with the level of in-year flexibility that it needs to work with fund managers and draw down investment in businesses, it is important that the bank is not restricted at the outset and that we do not overcompensate or undercompensate the bank. That is one of the primary reasons why the Department is an outlier among the estimates. It is actually a sign of a well-functioning Department and a very well-functioning element of the British Business Bank. I turn to some of the specific items. Given the scale of the support for the steel industry, I shall start there. It was raised by the Chair of the Select Committee and many other Members.”
“There has been a £1.351 billion increase in the annual managed expenditure budget, recognising that additional provisions are needed for postmaster compensation. That covers funding for the capture redress scheme, and for redress to family members of postmasters impacted by Horizon. There is a £626 million increase in capital department expenditure limits, largely for two reserve claims. The first is £375 million of funding for the Department’s support for British Steel, and the second is £200 million for growth sector businesses via the British Business Bank, to help more firms to scale up and become home-grown success stories. The reserve claim will ensure that we do not unnecessarily restrict the bank. The shadow Minister queried why the Department is coming back with estimates, as it also did last year.”
“I will start with the overarching strategy of the Department and why it has produced these estimates. The Department has reset our programme of spend around our growth mission and our industrial strategy. Our major investments in key sectors, combined with efforts to attract private capital, will ensure that taxpayers’ money is used effectively. At the same time, we are ensuring that the right resources are going into delivering our small business plan, creating the right conditions for small businesses to grow. I will say more on that shortly, as I know that many Members are concerned about small businesses. I also need to explain, as it was mentioned by several Members, the rationale behind the in-year budget increase. It is primarily for three activities—British Steel, the Post Office and the British Business Bank.”
“I thank everyone who has participated in today’s debate. I particularly thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne) for opening the debate, as well as for his work as Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, and the members of that Committee who have spoken in today and produced a number of reports in this Parliament. I have very much enjoyed reading those reports, and they have been drawn on extensively during this debate. Members have made some incredibly important and pertinent speeches, and in the time available, I will try to trot through some of the answers at pace. Forgive me in advance if I do not manage to respond to everyone: I am happy to write and fill in any detail that might be missing afterwards.”
“Look out for our plan for high streets, which will be published shortly. My hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell) and for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) mentioned the gas-intensive nature of ceramics businesses. I am aware of that, and am looking at it very carefully. I hope that I have been able to trot through some of the main issues. I now want to leave some time for the Chair of the Committee to make some concluding remarks.”
“We recognise that high energy costs remain a significant pressure on UK businesses. We are acting now through the British industry supercharger and the new British industrial competitiveness scheme to reduce electricity costs for energy-intensive sectors, while delivering our clean power 2030 mission to cut bills for good. We also intend to consult on further options to reduce costs and make low-carbon heat economically competitive.”
“It is exactly that disparity in international energy prices for industry, which the previous Conservative Government left us with, that we are addressing through our clean power 2030 mission. However, we recognise that as clean power is coming online, industry will need further support. Both Ametek and SSS Gears are exactly the sorts of manufacturing businesses that this Government wish to support through initiatives such as our British industrial competitiveness scheme. The consultation for that scheme has just closed—I do hope both of those businesses responded to that consultation—and we will publish the results shortly.”
“The hon. Gentleman is quite right to point out the impact of energy costs on small businesses. As we have seen, that has been largely driven over many years by the linkage between energy costs and gas prices, which is something that this Government are determined to deal with as we pile on renewable energy as part of our clean power mission. UK gas costs are competitive with Europe after policy costs are included, but of course we want to remove businesses from having to rely on the whims of the fossil fuel market and enable them to rely on low-cost, secure, home-grown energy.”
“Of course, it is central to the Government’s policy that businesses are incentivised to invest in renewable energy and electrification where that is possible, so that they can access the lower-cost electrical energy that is coming on stream as part of our 2030 clean power mission. The hon. Lady mentioned that the business was a manufacturing business, so it is possible that it could qualify for our British industrial competitiveness scheme, which we will bring forward in 2027. The results of the consultation on that scheme will be published shortly.”
“My hon. Friend does a grand job of championing the critical minerals industry in Cornwall and the potential for floating offshore wind in her constituency. She highlights a great opportunity, where investment in energy and industry side by side can reduce the cost of capital for both parts of the supply chain and so create an economic opportunity. I thank her for the representations that she has made to me on behalf of her constituents prior to today. I will continue to work with her in trying to realise this opportunity.”
“I am very concerned about gas-intensive industries, and the Government’s policy is intended to ensure that they are given the support to decarbonise by electrifying, where that is possible, whether that is through confidence in long-term energy prices owing to the delivery of our clean power mission or through support to invest in their business.”
“I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for engaging with me on this topic in advance of the recent changes to the emissions trading scheme to include maritime emissions. It is incredibly important that domestic maritime emissions are included, so as to incentivise the investment required to decarbonise. I am aware of the issue in the Isle of Wight. On one route, two vessels will be affected. I know that he has invited me to visit the Isle of Wight and meet the businesses concerned, and I am allowed to make the commitment from the Dispatch Box that I will do that.”
“In fact, the Government are taking an approach across the whole United Kingdom to deliver the energy infrastructure and energy generation capacity to guarantee low-cost, home-grown, secure energy for the future, ensuring that the jobs and benefits from that are seen across the country. I would have thought that the hon. Member might wish to welcome those jobs in Scotland. There will be 20,000 additional jobs by 2030 in clean energy industries in his community and mine.”
“My hon. Friend is right to champion the small manufacturers in her constituency, which I know well from the time that I spent working in south Wales. It is important to note the announcement from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State this morning—it will shortly be the subject of a statement to the House—about allocation round 7. It demonstrates our commitment to putting on new solar farms, new onshore wind and new offshore wind. Every single one of those installations contributes to our energy security and to reducing the cost of energy for domestic consumers and industry alike.”
“The hon. Lady and I agree that more needs to be done to alleviate the high energy costs for small businesses. I used to run an energy-intensive small business myself, and I know how difficult that is. She is also right to point out that this is the legacy that the last Government left us. We are pushing forward to 2030, when we will have lower energy costs and more secure energy in the UK, but we recognise that more needs to be done to support small businesses—although we are already helping with measures such as our zero carbon services hospitality trial, which is now delivering support for 600 hospitality SMEs across the UK, and the provision of £200,000 to fund improvements in the UK business climate hub and help SMEs with their carbon emissions.”
“The carbon pricing emissions trading scheme is set by the market, rather than the Government. The price is effective at driving investment in carbon abatement measures, but it is for individual operators to decide whether the costs of abatement in a project are effective for them.”
“The Government do not comment on or interfere with the carbon price. Ultimately, the price is set by the market to ensure that the ETS drives decarbonisation where it is cheapest. In this way, it can act most effectively as a financial incentive to decarbonise, without specifying the particular technology.”
“I am not sure if the shadow Secretary of State is conflating the various carbon taxes with the emissions trading scheme, but to be clear: the Government do not set or comment on the value of the carbon in the emissions trading scheme. That is a matter for the market. It is of course a policy on which the previous Government were very keen, because it drives the most efficient forms of decarbonisation. Ultimately, it places a price on carbon emissions that ensures private capital floods into the right places to decarbonise, as we have seen so successfully with the power sector in the UK.”
“My hon. Friend does a good job of standing up for workers in his constituency and, following the statement that I made in the House before Christmas, he will know very well the views of the Government on this closure. I was pleased to attend the local taskforce recently with my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward). Along with the investment that the Government are making in Grangemouth and the guarantee of an interview for workers from Mossmorran at Grangemouth, our focus is on supporting the workers and the local community. A significant investment by the Government in the local area stands in stark contrast to the SNP Scottish Government, who have limited their support to £3 million a year.”
“The right hon. Member and I debated this at length in the Delegated Legislation Committee last week. On the impact of this measure on Northern Ireland, I am sure he will be pleased to welcome the fact that we are providing a 50% reduction on the carbon tax associated with the extension to domestic maritime for journeys to Northern Ireland, to ensure that they are not disadvantaged when compared with journeys to the Republic of Ireland.”
“That was an extremely sweet question, and I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the issue further and outline many of the initiatives that the Government are taking to support small businesses. Perhaps it would be best to do that on site, where I can get my favourite chocolate limes.”
“The Government were pleased to provide an exemption for the islands around Scotland for a number of reasons, but particularly because of the small populations on those islands and the non-competitive nature of the ferry services.”
“They will help to reduce the risk of carbon leakage by retaining critical manufacturing investment and jobs in Britain. I commend them to the Committee.”
“The draft regulations aim to further close the electricity price gap, ensuring that British foundational manufacturing can thrive and grow. They will help to ensure that the 550 companies that currently benefit from the scheme will continue to attract new investment and preserve well-paid jobs and crucial supply chains across Britain’s manufacturing heartlands. The draft regulations will amend the Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy Regulations 2024 to make provision for increasing the level of relief offered through the network charging compensation scheme. In conclusion, the draft regulations will help to reduce electricity costs for the most energy and trade-intensive industries such as steel, chemicals, cement and battery manufacture.”
“While the supercharger package of measures has been successful, the Government recognise that there remains an electricity price gap between Great Britain and comparable industrial economies in Europe, which places British energy-intensive industries at a competitive disadvantage while increasing the risk of carbon leakage and the offshoring of vital manufacturing jobs and investment. That is why the Government’s modern industrial strategy included the commitment to increase from 60% to 90% the level of relief offered by the network charging compensation scheme. That will reduce electricity bills for currently supported energy-intensive industries by a further £7 to £10 per megawatt-hour, bringing the total reduction to £65 to £87 per megawatt-hour, and will deliver up to £420 million of electricity price support per annum.”
“The supercharger is made up of three measures: the energy-intensive industries exemption scheme, which offers 100% exemption from contracts for difference, the feed-in tariff and the renewables obligation electricity policy levies; the capacity market exemption, which offers 100% exemption from the costs of funding the electricity capacity market; and the network charging compensation scheme, which provides 60% compensation on an energy-intensive industry’s electricity network costs.”
“Energy-intensive industries include foundational manufacturing sectors that are critical to the UK’s economic security and the delivery of the modern industrial strategy. They include steel, chemicals, cement, electrical components and gigafactories. The British industry supercharger was introduced in 2024 to reduce the electricity price gap between Great Britain and comparable industrial countries in western Europe, such as France, Germany and the Netherlands.”
“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2026. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 12 January 2026. I acknowledge the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, which provided a helpful review of the regulations but did not draw them to the special attention of this House or the other place, and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which has reported the regulations as an instrument of interest to Members. The draft regulations aim to deliver one of the Government’s commitments in the modern industrial strategy: to increase electricity price support to energy-intensive industries through the British industry supercharger.”
“We must focus instead on low-cost energy for consumers and industry, on energy security and on good jobs, and that is what renewable energy delivers. Through this mechanism, we will ensure that our energy-intensive industries continue to be competitive in Europe. Question put and agreed to.”
“The Opposition might not be keen to acknowledge it, but not only are solar, onshore wind and offshore wind the cheapest forms of energy available to us, but they create demand for foundational industries and offer great jobs. We have outlined an increase of 400,000 jobs in clean energy industries—good jobs for people across the whole of the country. Of course, that home-grown energy offers energy security too. Many Members across the House—not only those on the Government side, but Liberal Democrats—are content to bask in the warm glow of solar power, onshore wind and offshore wind. I appreciate that the Opposition are feeling a chill breeze up their right flank and are tacking across to the climate-denying policies of Reform, but that cannot be the basis on which the country’s energy policy is determined.”
“He described energy-intensive industries as the backbone of our economy. I could not agree more. Having worked in the steel industry for a long time, it is so nice to hear such warm words, even though the Opposition are perhaps late converts. The former Prime Minister scrapped industrial strategy; he was not keen on it, although a previous Conservative Prime Minister was, which is nice. Maybe we have consensus on industrial policy now; that would be very pleasing to see. The shadow Minister described the environment around energy as hostile. I thank him for laying out so clearly the failure of his Government’s energy policy. Ultimately, this is a result of our reliance on gas in the system.”
“Over the past few months, as she will understand, I have laid out improvements in energy costs for energy-intensive industries, through the supercharger, and for manufacturing more generally, through the British industrial competitiveness scheme. Some of those manufacturing businesses will be small businesses, but I appreciate that she was talking about the small business sector more widely. I, too, am concerned about that, but I am leaving no stone unturned in looking at how we can help all businesses across the country with their energy costs. That takes me back to the general point that the shadow Minister made about the level of uncompetitive energy in the UK. Fundamentally, this policy is designed to provide a measure of support as a consequence. I am grateful that the shadow Minister welcomes the draft regulations.”