Chris McDonald
MP for Stockton North · Labour · United Kingdom
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow and Gateshead East (Kate Osborne) for securing this debate. She follows in the proud footsteps of her predecessor Ellen Wilkinson, who was the MP for both Jarrow and Middlesbrough.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Unemployment and poverty also result in cramped and squalid housing conditions, such as those found in Jarrow at the time. There were high levels of ill health among young people, particularly tuberculosis, and there was a shortage of food, as was noted at the time by the very low consumption of milk by children in the local area.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What the town council in Jarrow did do with the resources that it had available was always put education first because it knew, as we know, the success of our country and industry depends on the next generation of people who will build, design and operate the industries of the future. I know my hon.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government are expanding the role of the National Shipbuilding Office to oversee civil shipbuilding decisions and to use procurement more strategically to give British yards and supply chains a clearer pipeline.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Together, our reforms ensure that economic progress is shared by the people and communities who create it. Ninety years ago, the men of Jarrow walked to demand something fundamental: the chance to work, to contribute and to build a better future for their families.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“More than 18 million employees are expected to benefit from the new protections, with lower-paid workers in sectors such as social care, hospitality and retail seeing the biggest gains. Analysis suggests that the north-east is likely to be one of the UK regions that benefits the most from the measures in the Employment Rights Act.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026. I am grateful to you, Sir Jeremy, and to the Committee for its consideration of the draft order, which was laid before Parliament on 13 January 2026. The UK ETS was established under the Climate Change Act 2008 by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 as a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme contributing to the UK’s emissions reduction targets and net zero goal. The scheme was established to increase the climate ambition of the UK’s carbon pricing policy, while protecting the competitiveness of UK businesses. The scheme is run by the UK ETS Authority, a joint body involving the UK Government and the devolved Governments.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Of course, the carbon border adjustment mechanism is precisely there to protect British industry from unfair competition from imports from more polluting industries in countries without such regulations. The Opposition’s objections to the carbon border adjustment mechanism, which we heard in this room last week, actually put British industry on the block. I do wonder whether they have fully thought through their policy, because when the statutory instrument went to the Lords, their spokesperson was not clear about whether the Opposition opposed the carbon border adjustment mechanism. Perhaps the shadow Minister might want to say whether that is Opposition policy.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank all right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions to the debate. I hope to be able to respond to them. We heard, from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, the Opposition’s clear objections to the emissions trading scheme. We also heard them last week, in a statutory instrument debate about the emissions trading scheme and the future introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism. This is clearly a significant change in policy from the Opposition, as they line themselves up with the climate deniers in the hope that they might scrounge some votes back from Reform, but— [ Interruption. ] It absolutely is a desperate measure. The shadow Minister talks about protection for industry. We discussed that extensively in this Committee Room last week.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“No, the shadow Minister does not. Well, perhaps he needs to think about it a bit longer. The shadow Minister talked about the administrative burden placed on maritime companies, which is of course something of which the Government are very conscious. He mentioned some of the information that would need to be recorded, such as port of departure, fuel use and so on. I do not know when he last spoke to somebody who actually operates a vessel, but a lot of this information is routinely recorded. Perhaps his ignorance of maritime operations is second only to his ignorance of the United Kingdom.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Gentleman anything that he does not know, but I want to be clear that we have thought very carefully about this. The hon. Gentleman and a number of Members mentioned the opportunity for decarbonisation. In my opening remarks, I mentioned a number of ways that that could be done, including more fuel-efficient operating practices and various other things. We have set aside £448 million of Government funding to support that, which was announced previously. If the hon. Gentleman would like to meet with me to go through more of that in detail and represent the views of his constituents, I would be happy to do that.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“First, regarding the situation on the Isle of Wight versus the ferry operators in Scotland, one of the key considerations for us was that the population on the islands in Scotland is considerably lower than that of the Isle of Wight. There is also no competition generally between the ferry operators, but there are there are a number of routes operating to the Isle of Wight, as the hon. Gentleman will know very well. The scheme will affect only two vessels, from one operator, on the Isle of Wight: one is a diesel vessel and one is a hybrid vessel. Clearly, the impact of the scheme will be felt more on the diesel vessel than the hybrid vessel, and that is because of the 5,000 gross tonnage limit. I am sure that I am not telling the hon.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I looked very carefully at the issues around the Isle of Wight before we tabled this statutory instrument, because those were a significant concern for me as well, and I am happy to offer some additional information now. I am grateful to my colleague my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley), who requested a meeting with me before this statutory instrument was laid. I was happy to have that conversation with him, and I offer that courtesy to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East as well, if he would like to have such a meeting after this debate. Perhaps I can in some way put the hon. Gentleman’s mind at rest.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I commend the hon. Gentleman for his service in the Royal Navy, and I am happy to withdraw that remark. Perhaps there was an oversight on his part in relation to that particular issue. I absolutely do withdraw that remark. On the shadow Minister’s comment about the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man is a Crown dependency, as I am sure he knows, so it is not covered by the scheme. He mentioned the Isles of Scilly. The vessels to the Isles of Scilly are not covered by the scheme either, because they are below 5,000 gross tonnage. The shadow Minister also mentioned the Isle of Wight, and I want to respond to the comments from the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“and learned Member for North Antrim might be surprised to know that there are actually quite a number of things on which we agree, and one of them, for certain, is that the United Kingdom must be the United Kingdom of equals. I am quite clear about that. I wanted to clear up a couple of points about the situation with Northern Ireland. The 50% reduction that applies to Northern Ireland is there to create parity between vessels that operate between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and those that operate between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. If we had not offered the 50% reduction, Northern Ireland would be disadvantaged in that way, and I want to be clear about why that is.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments. Perhaps we can go through some of the assessments of the impact of cost inflation in more detail when we meet. Our modelling shows that that could largely be eaten up by normal inflation and normal operating practices, but there are decisions there for the operators to take into account. The hon. Gentleman made some pertinent points about the operators, and we can discuss those in more detail. He also mentioned international shipping through the Solent. Clearly, international shipping is not covered currently by this measure, but it is covered in the EU ETS. Finally, I come to the points raised by the right hon. Member for East Antrim and the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim. The hon.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The fact that this pollution is not observable to the naked eye does not make it any less important to tackle it. These environmental regulations—and the Government’s policy on net zero—are about tackling that pollution and providing a stable and predictable regime so that industry can invest.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is not what I am saying at all. I am saying that it was important to us that Northern Ireland was not in any way disadvantaged, which is why the 50% reduction was offered. The hon. and learned Member mentioned Rathlin island in his constituency; I remind him of the 5,000 gross tonnage limit and how that applies. The hon. and learned Member, the right hon. Member for East Antrim and the shadow Minister all made a general point about the cost associated with the changes. There is a cost to not tackling climate change. If operators of vessels were spilling oil into the Solent or the Irish sea, then I am quite sure that the hon. and right hon. Members’ constituents would be clamouring for the Government to introduce regulations to do something about it.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Yes, I am very happy to extend that invitation for a further meeting with any Members of the House who wish to discuss the matter. Of course, there has been extensive consultation on this statutory instrument.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have given way multiple times, which I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will appreciate. I think it is time I brought the debate to a close. These changes have the support of all four Governments of the United Kingdom, and consensus in advancing carbon pricing policy to include domestic maritime is key to delivering our decarbonisation goals and driving green investment across the United Kingdom. I commend the draft order to the Committee. Question put.”
House of Commons3 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government recognise the challenge of high industrial energy costs. From April we will raise the discount on electricity network charges from 60% to 90% under the network charging compensation scheme, supporting around 550 electricity-intensive businesses. This year we also plan to review eligibility for the British industry supercharger and the energy-intensive industries compensation scheme. From 2027 the British industrial competitiveness scheme will cut electricity costs by around £35 to £40 per MWh for around 7,000 manufacturing businesses.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for championing the businesses in his constituency. One such business, GS Yuasa Battery Manufacturing in Gwent, is receiving support from the supercharger, exempting it from several renewables levies and electricity network usage costs. This is all part of the Government’s clean energy superpower mission, which will cut costs, boost energy security and accelerate grid connections.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The right hon. Gentleman knows that I share his concerns about the ceramics industry. He is quite right that many ceramics companies failed to qualify for the supercharger. There will be a review of the supercharger this year, and I have asked officials to look very carefully at the potential to include ceramics companies in it. I discussed that with the ceramics industry at an event in Parliament this week, which the right hon. Member attended—as, I think, did the Yorkshire brick company that he mentioned. I can also inform him that I and my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade will meet ceramics industries in the near future.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Department is driving economic growth by delivering the long-term certainty that businesses need and by supporting the growth of businesses across the UK, including in Lancashire, where the Lancashire business growth hub is ensuring that businesses in Morecambe and Lunesdale have the advice to grow, to scale up and to succeed.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for her work in championing small businesses in her constituency, particularly the Electech cluster, where businesses such as Teleplan Forsberg, Like Technologies and Mazuma are working in the clean energy sector. Our clean energy industry sector plan focuses on capitalising on the strengths of these businesses and doubling investment levels across our frontier industries to more than £30 billion a year by 2035. That will directly support businesses in that cluster. I would of course be delighted to come and visit.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for the work she is doing to highlight the north-east’s role as a key part of our life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. She mentions Organon in her constituency. Its Cramlington site was singled out by the leadership of that business at the J. P. Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco recently. In two weeks’ time, I will be opening Fujifilm’s biotechnology factory in Billingham in my own constituency—a £400 million investment in north-east biosciences. Our life sciences sector plan is backing the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry with £2 billion of investment and our UK-US deal is delivering zero-tariff access for UK pharmaceutical exports.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that the British industrial competitiveness scheme will provide a significant discount to up to 7,000 manufacturing businesses of up to 25% of their energy costs. It will certainly help manufacturing businesses in his constituency and across the whole UK. I encourage businesses in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency to contribute to the consultation, the results of which we will announce in due course.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for so clearly representing the importance of the ceramics firms in his constituency. I heard the message loud and clear from the ceramics industry this week about the impact of energy costs and, as I mentioned earlier, in the review of the supercharger scheme, I have asked my officials to look carefully at the opportunities for including the ceramics sector.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his positive and constructive engagement on this issue. I do understand the concerns of the steelworkers in Scunthorpe. I know precisely the projects he is referring to; they were not procured under public procurement rules, and the developers and tier 1 contractors involved have followed their own rules and commitments. However, it is the case that this Government want to see more British steel used in both public and other projects around the country, which is a matter both for developing steel capability and, potentially, for reviewing our procurement rules.”
House of Commons29 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The changes in the draft order will deliver on commitments made by the UK ETS authority, improve the fairness of the scheme and increase certainty for both regulators and operators. They will ensure that free allocation continues to provide meaningful support to UK industry while maintaining the incentive to decarbonise and rewarding efficient installations. The amendments to the UK ETS will support its role as a key pillar of the UK’s climate policy. They demonstrate that we will take action to improve the scheme where necessary. I commend the draft order to the Committee.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The free allocation review consultation ran from 18 December 2023 to 11 March 2024, seeking views on proposals to alter the free allocation methodology for the UK ETS stationary sectors to better target those most at risk of carbon leakage and ensure that free allocations are fairly distributed. The free allocation review carbon leakage consultation ran between 16 December 2024 and 10 March 2025. It sought views on a draft UK-focused carbon leakage list, compiled by applying UK data to the existing carbon leakage list, as well as the trajectory for phasing out free allocations for sectors that will be covered by the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism. The relevant responses to those consultations were summarised in the authority’s response.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Installations that permanently cease to operate are required to report on their activity in the final year of operation so that free allocation can be recalculated to reflect the cessation of activity. The amendment clarifies that operators are required to report on the activity levels of a sub-installation, whether that is due to permanent cessation, as is currently provided for, or the surrender or revocation of the operator’s permit. The intended changes follow comprehensive engagement and consultation with stakeholders. The UK and devolved Governments carried out consultations that covered the provisions included in the statutory instrument.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The instrument also provides for the ability to update the benchmark values used to calculate free allocation for the years 2028, 2029 and 2030 of the 2027-to-2030 allocation period. Maintaining current benchmarks for the 2027 year will allow time for industrial participants to adjust to the changes. Legal change is needed to the free allocation regulation because, under existing legislation, there is no provision to update benchmarks during an allocation period. The in-principle intent is to use the updated EU ETS phase 4 benchmarks in the 2028, 2029 and 2030 scheme years. That will be decided once the EU benchmark values are available, and subject to assessment of the impact.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Legal change is needed as operators only classify their sub-installations by a specific benchmark and the corresponding carbon leakage status of that sub-installation. The instrument also requires operators to classify each sub-installation as relevant or not to UK CBAM. Benchmarks are the efficiency standards used to calculate each installation’s free allocation entitlement. Installations closer to their benchmark have a higher proportion of emissions covered by free allocation, rewarding more efficient installations and incentivising decarbonisation. The third change that the instrument makes is to use current benchmarks for the purpose of calculating free allocation for stationary installations for the 2027 scheme year.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Using activity data for those years could result in historical activity levels that do not reflect normal activity, meaning that operators would receive fewer free allocations than they would otherwise be entitled to receive. The second change that the draft instrument makes is gradually to phase out free allocation for sectors covered by the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism, or UK CBAM, starting over the 2027-to-2030 allocation period. That phase-out will be implemented through applying a UK CBAM reduction factor to the calculation of free allocation and will apply at sub-installation level. To do that, operators will be required to report which of their sub-installations serve the production of goods within the UK CBAM, which will enable regulators to apply the UK CBAM reduction factor to the relevant sub-installations.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Such operators will be able to notify their regulator during the second stage of the 2027-to-2030 free allocation application, which runs from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026, that they wish to have their activity data for 2020, or 2020 and 2021, excluded. Legal change is needed to the free allocation regulation, because existing legislation would require regulators to calculate historical activity levels using activity data from all five years of the baseline period, or 2019 to 2023. If amendments are not made, there will be no legal basis for regulators to exclude 2020, or 2020 and 2021, data from the historical activity level calculation for any applicant.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Sub-installations represent operations carried out at an installation in respect of which operators that receive free allocations are required to report activity levels for the purposes of the UK ETS. We have brought forward this draft statutory instrument to enable important changes and improvements to the scheme. The first change that the instrument makes is to enable operators of installations to be able to notify their regulator that they wish to have their activity data for the 2020 scheme year, or 2020 and 2021 scheme years, excluded from the calculation of their historical activity level for the 2027-to-2030 free allocation period. That is in recognition of the fact that production levels may have been impacted during the covid-19 pandemic.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Under the UK ETS, operators are required to monitor, report on and surrender allowances in respect of their greenhouse gas emissions. While most allowances are purchased at regularly held auctions, operators in certain sectors at risk of carbon leakage are given a number of allowances for free, referred to as free allocations. Free allocations reduce exposure to the carbon price for those sectors at risk of carbon leakage and reduce the risk that decarbonisation efforts could be undermined by production, and the associated emissions, moving to other countries. Under the UK ETS, an operator is the person or company that has control over an installation. Installations are stationary units at which regulated activities take place.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026. I am grateful to you, Sir Desmond, and to the Committee for their consideration. The draft order was laid before the House on 16 December 2025. The UK emissions trading scheme, the UK ETS, was established under the Climate Change Act 2008 by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 as a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme contributing to the UK’s emissions reduction targets and net zero goal. The scheme is run by the UK ETS authority, a joint body comprising the UK Government and the devolved Governments. Our aim is to be predictable and responsible guardians of the scheme and its markets.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On the question of power and the impact of the instrument on energy bills, the important point is that the ETS applies to power that is produced from fossil fuels, not renewable energy. This Government’s policy is to pursue our clean power mission by 2030, which involves investing in the cheapest forms of power available, in onshore and offshore wind, solar power and nuclear energy. The purpose of the ETS is to incentivise that. The carbon price incentivises investment; it provides the incentive in power and in industry to invest in new green technologies.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We managed to adopt requests to include ceramics on the carbon leakage list, no tiering of free allocations, and greater engagement with the ceramics sector, which is why we set up the UK ETS working group. My hon. Friend asked me specifically if we could reallocate free allocations from other sectors to ceramics. That is not possible within the current rules, but that does not mean that I am not aware of the issues surrounding the ceramics sector. We can use the UK ETS group to look at ETS issues, but we should also look more broadly at the concerns of the ceramics sector. I look forward to starting that conversation over dinner with my hon. Friend and the ceramics industry later this evening.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Possibly one of the main points to recognise is that it is important through the whole decarbonisation process that industry manages to maintain access to its key markets, and clearly one of the key markets is the EU. That is where we come to the discussion about linking the EU ETS and the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism with the EU to enable our UK industries to continue to trade there. Negotiations with the EU started in November, but I want to be clear that they will only conclude in this way if it is in the UK interest to do that. We will continue to consult with UK industry on that matter too. In relation to points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central, the ceramics industry made three specific requests during the consultation.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will start by addressing some of the specific points in the draft order and then talk a bit more generally about some of the points that Members have raised. I appreciate the concerns on both sides of the House about the impact on industry and the risk, when we are decarbonising industry, of deindustrialisation. I know that this concern is sincerely felt by everybody in this room, even if we might differ at times on what we think the best approach is. That is why we have been so careful to consult industry on these measures, as I outlined in the long catalogue of dates in my opening speech. We have consulted carefully with industry and made sure we have listened to what they have said. Some of the issues here run quite broadly around industrial competitiveness.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank everyone for their contributions to the debate, which was considerably more fulsome and energised than is usual for a 4.30 pm Committee. I am incredibly grateful, because Members in all parts of the Committee made a number of points, giving me the opportunity to clarify some details of the workings of the scheme. The shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for East Surrey, said that it was a very dense report with a lot of governmentitis. I know that she understands the details of this subject well, because she is the former Secretary of State, but I appreciate that it is technical, and it behoves all of us to try to explain as clearly as possible what the draft order means.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I think what the shadow Secretary of State has outlined is exactly the success of this policy—it has driven coal out of the system in favour of cheaper power. That is exactly the point of the ETS and the industrial investment. Of course, as we said, we are pursuing our clean power mission for energy security and to lower energy bills, as well as to ensure that we also have green energy.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What can be true is that there are both costs and savings for industry, particularly the savings for industry associated with being a member of the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism, which will come into force in 12 months. If we link the UK and the EU ETS, that will enable UK industry to trade freely within the EU, as it has done in the past.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is certainly not the case for the steel industry, where investing in green technology results in lower production costs. The Government’s policy framework gives industrial companies a clear investment framework.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“No, no—I have dealt with that. The hon. and learned Member for North Antrim asked me about the issue in Northern Ireland, which is a separate electricity zone. Electricity generators in Northern Ireland have not historically received a free allocation, and in future, the free allocation rules on electricity generation will apply in the same way for the UK and EU operators, assuming that there is linkage. I will return to the point about industry that was made by the shadow Secretary of State, among others. Clearly, the drive is to incentivise investment in industry, and that is precisely what the policy does; that is precisely the mechanism of the carbon price. It is a fallacy to assume that the investment in industry will result in less efficient or more expensive industrial products.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is primarily a result of the policy of the previous Government to leave us at the mercy of petrostates and fossil fuel dictators, on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices. The shadow Secretary of State said that my priority is decarbonisation. I happen to be in a place where there is a happy coincidence between energy security, decarbonisation and the lowest cost of energy. That is recognised by industry, and that is why it is Government policy.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The shadow Secretary of State and I are clearly both concerned about the same thing. I know that that concern is shared across the House, but deindustrialisation and decarbonisation need not be in competition. Sadly, under the previous Government, there was a 30% reduction in UK cement production, a nearly 50% reduction in automotive production and a 30% reduction in chemicals production. That is why, alongside the ETS policy, we published our industrial strategy; it is why I introduced the British industrial competitiveness scheme to reduce energy costs for 7,000 manufacturing businesses; and it is why we increased the supercharger to 90% for energy intensive industries. Clearly, we recognise that energy costs have been too high in the UK for industrial businesses as well as consumers.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I feel I have detained the Committee for too long, so if the right hon. Member will excuse me, it would be a good idea to draw the debate—and we have had a good debate—to a close. The statutory instrument will give certainty to the industry around benchmarks and free allocations. The free allocations reduction is specifically for those sectors that are part of the carbon border adjustment mechanism, so some other sectors will not be affected. The legislation needs to be in place for applicants to apply for their free allocations for the period to April 2026. The statutory instrument will implement the proposed improvements to the scheme.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“These changes have the support of the four Governments of the UK. That consensus on advancing carbon pricing policy adds to the strength of the UK ETS. I therefore commend the draft order to the Committee. Question put.”
House of Commons27 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Happy new year and happy Epiphany, Mr Speaker. Alongside my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and for Business and Trade, I am committed to slashing energy costs for British businesses. From April, eligible energy-intensive industries will see an uplift in compensation for electricity network charges, with 90% of costs being covered. We are also consulting on a British industrial competitiveness scheme that includes our plan to exempt over 7,000 businesses from covering the costs of some our historic renewables levies.”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman raises the issue of energy volatility. I hope that it was clear in my previous answer that the Government are not satisfied with the position as it is. Of course, that energy volatility has historically been caused by our reliance on oil and gas and on petrostates and dictators. Clearly, the Conservatives wish to return to that policy. This Government’s clean power mission will ensure that we have energy security for the future. Unlike the climate-denying policies of the Conservatives and Reform, which would destroy jobs and investment in this country, our policies will deliver energy security and green energy for our small and large businesses, and for domestic consumers.”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I think this shows how committed the Government are to supporting a reduction in costs across all our services, including education and health, through the installation of solar panels. We saw a massive increase in solar installations in the UK last year—equivalent to enough energy generation to power 2 million homes. Not only do solar installations benefit our domestic consumers and enable the creation of green energy, but by installing solar on rooftops such as those of schools and hospitals, we are taking maximum advantage.”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In the autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced the transfer of the £2.3 billion reserve to members of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme. Almost 40,000 former mineworkers and colliery staff received their first bonus increase before Christmas, with an average uplift of £100 a week, or a one-off £5,500 lump sum for backdated pensions. That is the difference that this Labour Government are making for coalfield communities.”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗