Harriet Cross
MP for Gordon and Buchan · Conservative · United Kingdom
“Almost two weeks ago, the Prime Minister gave a speech about devolution in Scotland. Since then, the Government have not clarified anything. Is the Prime Minister suggesting more powers to Scotland, or does he think that just by asking nicely the SNP will stop hoarding so many powers at Holyrood?”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Oil and gas workers are fed up with the Government skirting around this. Some 25,000 linked oil and gas jobs have been lost since the general election. The Government know that new fields support jobs—they said that last week—and they know that UK production supports UK businesses.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Last week, the Government finally approved Jackdaw. The Secretary of State called that “a win for Aberdeen, a win for Scottish workers and a win for Britain’s energy security.” But there can be many more wins: Rosebank and other fields can also protect jobs and supply chains, secure investment and tax returns, and boost our energy securit…”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are in a global energy supply crisis, as oil shipments remain stuck; a fifth of global liquefied natural gas supplies have been disrupted by the war in Iran; and across Europe, gas reserves are at record lows as we head into winter. But there is good news: Jackdaw and Rosebank could be producing oil and gas this winter.”
House of Commons13 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What is important here is the reality and, as the Prime Minister said, being pragmatic. Some 24 million homes in the UK use gas, and that situation cannot change overnight. Whether or not we ban our own gas, that need does not change. The demand is what is important, not the supply.”
House of Commons15 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“May I first congratulate the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young) on securing today’s debate? As we have heard in a number of speeches today, including from the hon.”
House of Commons15 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“The Minister said that he and the Government want to comply fully, transparently and as quickly as possible with the Humble Address. I think we can all agree that is exactly what they should be doing, but when things will be released is a vital question. The documents should be released as quickly as possible, as he says, but so far we have had no information except that it will happen when the time is right, effectively. Is that because the Minister does not know, or because he does not want to say? If he does not know, can he give us an example or an expectation of the timescale? If he does not want to say, can he tell us why not?”
House of Commons12 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If this were happening in any other Member’s constituency, they would not be sitting silent; they would be fighting for the employment and future of their constituents. That is what I am doing, and it is what must be done if we are to ensure that place-based employment support is not needed in Aberdeenshire to the extent that it would be if the oil and gas sector were allowed to collapse. I certainly welcome robust place-based employment support, but I call on the Government to link it with broader economic changes that allow businesses to flourish and encourage them to take a chance on younger people and those currently out of work. I thank the Minister in advance for her response and the hon. Member for Southport again for securing this debate.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We want employers to feel comfortable in hiring people, not to impose hiring freezes because they are concerned about the state of the economy. I will briefly focus on my constituency, as others have today. I often talk in this place about the oil and gas sector and the impact that policies are having on jobs. Employment, particularly locally in north-east Scotland, is wholly reliant on the oil and gas sector. Every other sector and industry is related to it: hospitality, taxis, shops, and the housing market. Regardless of whether people support oil and gas or whether people believe in the energy transition, policies in this sector are having an impact on jobs. No other constituency in the country is seeing as many job losses in a single sector as we are across north-east Scotland.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I hear the impact from my constituents, and I do not believe that the Minister and others on the Government benches do not hear the same things too. A thriving economy and business confidence really is the best way to boost employment across the UK. That simply is not the case at the moment, with job vacancies down and unemployment up from 4.2% when the Government came to power in July 2024 to 5.1% today. There are 700,000 university graduates who are out of work and on benefits, and nearly 1 million NEET young people. These are sobering numbers and will impact on the constituencies and constituents of every Member in this room, across the length and breadth of the country. They impact people now, but also into their futures. Those numbers put a huge pressure on employment support programmes, and often overwhelm them.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There is a clear balance to be struck, and I would like the Minister to explain how she will make sure that it happens. I would also be interested to hear the Minister’s view on private sector involvement. From my perspective, relying on state interventions alone does not work, and we will need to unleash private enterprise, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. One of the current problems in the British economy, and, indeed, in our jobs market, is that businesses of all sizes and in all communities do not have the confidence to hire in the current economic and regulatory environment. The Minister does not need me to repeat the impact on jobs of the Government’s decisions on things such as hiking national insurance or the Employment Rights Act 2025.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There are hard-working and committed people in communities across the country who are doing their utmost to improve the life chances of others. Effective wraparound support is essential in tackling those complex barriers to work that so many of our constituents are facing in their own communities. We certainly know that a one-size-fits-all approach from Whitehall is often not the answer, and that devolving power down to local people and local decision makers can be the best way to achieve real, tangible progress and outcomes. However, we recognise that core principles apply to helping people throughout the country when they are trying to get a job. We must also guard against a postcode lottery, where some areas have a good level of support and others are, quite frankly, left behind.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The scheme was inspired by the response to problems in the United States, and has been carried out in the UK through social landlords, and convened and organised by Communities that Work. These pilots were carried out in a diverse range of areas, such as Swale in Kent and Toxteth in Liverpool, as a useful road test for a scheme that would show how it would work in different parts of the country. The evaluation last autumn, written by the Institute for Employment Studies and Learning to Work, said that there had been “positive early indications that the JobsPlus model could be implemented effectively in the UK”. There is, of course, a long way to go. We hope for the success of place-based employment schemes and for each area to see an uptick in employment.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I appreciate that the current Government recognise the challenges of joblessness and that there is a genuine desire to tackle the problem. Whether through local authorities or the private sector, there are many ways of attempting to improve employment outcomes and get people into work. There is a clear difference between broader national schemes and localised place-based approaches. It is clear that employment challenges in Carlisle, for example, are very different from those in Cardiff and that tailored, localised support can be a more effective way of helping people in those areas to gain meaningful, lasting employment. The JobsPlus scheme—started by the previous Conservative Government—is an example of that, and has been mentioned a few times already this afternoon.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for Southport (Patrick Hurley) and congratulate him on securing this important debate. Getting people into work should be a core priority for any Government and I know Members across the House share that view. I, and the Conservative party, wholly believe that work is the best route out of poverty. Work brings independence, dignity, opportunity and the ability for people across the country to provide for themselves and their families. It gives meaning and purpose, and has real, proven mental health benefits. That is why successive Conservative Governments have put in place a lot of employment support schemes. The restart scheme was one example. Launched in 2020, it gave tailored, intensive support to jobseekers who were often in need of more support.”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. “Our Governments seem stricken, almost delusional, in the face of onrushing disaster,” and we are seeing “arguably the most destructive industrial calamity in our nation’s history”. Those are the words of the GMB’s Scotland Secretary about the Government’s determination to tax and regulate the oil and gas sector out of business. Does the Minister agree with the words of his union friend?”
House of Commons10 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“T5. Girls were raped and abused by grooming gangs in Scotland just as they were in England and Wales, yet girls in Scotland are excluded from the grooming gangs inquiry. Girls, no matter where they are in the UK, must get justice, and rapists, no matter where they are in the UK, must face the consequences. In response to an earlier question, the Minister said of perpetrators of violence against women and girls that she does not care who they are or where they come from. Will she please now do the right thing and also include Scottish victims in her inquiry?”
House of Commons9 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As my hon. Friend says, the Prime Minister knew, but he also stood at the Dispatch Box in September and said that he had “full confidence” in Peter Mandelson—Lord Mandelson—knowing what he knew. Does my hon. Friend not find that extraordinary?”
House of Commons4 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My right hon. Friend rightly talks about trust in politics and in politicians, but the issue is that the Prime Minister put so much blind trust in a proven liar that he was willing to forgo process and judgment when appointing him to one of the top diplomatic roles in the country. Why does my right hon. Friend think that the Prime Minister showed such a lack of judgment and such misplaced trust that it has caused this country to be a laughing stock on the international stage?”
House of Commons4 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does my hon. Friend agree that, if she struggles today to get answers to those very basic and straightforward questions, we can draw our own conclusions as to the answers?”
House of Commons4 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Let us suppose that the Minister was appointing a new member of staff and he knew that a candidate had twice lost his job in the past because of misdemeanours. If he also knew that that candidate had continued a relationship with a convicted paedophile, would the Minister give him a job?”
House of Commons4 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“China is helping to fund Russia’s war on Ukraine via the shadow fleet and Russian oil. First, can the Prime Minister unambiguously confirm that he brought up Russian oil and the shadow fleet, because they are not mentioned specifically in the statement? Secondly, what steps will China now take to end its importation of Russian oil, which is funding death and destruction across Ukraine?”
House of Commons2 February 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Obviously, the ability to use public transport is vital to allow disabled people or others who are less mobile to access work. Inverurie station in my constituency has just been removed from the Access for All programme, which provides mobility aids in stations—in this case, a lift will now not be installed. I completely appreciate that Access for All is not a responsibility of DWP, but access and allowing disabled people to get to work is. What conversations has the DWP had with the Department for Transport regarding the removal of Access for All funding, and does the Department share my concern that disabled people and those who are less mobile in my constituency will now have less ability to get to work on public transport?”
House of Commons26 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Last year, in their UK-EU trade deal, the Government sold out British fishermen, giving away 12 years of access to our fishing waters, and we have seen that the Government have form in using our fishermen as pawns in negotiations. Will a Cabinet Office Minister please confirm that, in any trade negotiation or sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, no part of our fishing industry will be returned to the common fisheries policy?”
House of Commons22 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Mid-Wales is beautiful, but plans for 200 metre tall wind turbines in Radnor forest—turbines twice the height of Big Ben—will blight the landscape, impact local communities and harm the area’s vital tourism sector, and we are seeing similar proposals across Brecon and Radnorshire. The concerns of local communities, businesses and councils must be properly considered in planning decisions for energy infrastructure, not simply overridden by Government Ministers in Cardiff Bay to meet their own agenda. Does the Secretary of State agree?”
House of Commons21 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend the shadow Minister asked whether or not Chinese supply chains—slave labour supply chains—will be allowed in the procurement of any part of the solar panels involved in this scheme, but the Secretary of State did not manage to answer. Can he please confirm that not a single aspect of this project will come off the back of slave labour supply chains?”
House of Commons21 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Minister said that the intelligence services are engaged, but she has not given any information about whether they are happy or able mitigate any risks. Why can she not give us that information? On the timeline, the first application was rejected in 2022; the revised application was submitted in 2024, and was called in; and we are now in 2026. A decision has been made within a week, based on the unredacted plans we saw a week ago. Why such a quick turnaround?”
House of Commons19 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Putting money back into people’s pockets is vital for economic growth, but today the Government have signed the country up to the highest energy bills for offshore energy for the next 10 years, and to bills that we will be paying for 20 years. Can the Secretary of State explain how this will put more money into people’s pockets for them to spend in high streets, rather than just spending it on higher bills?”
House of Commons14 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Secretary of State mentioned the rollercoaster of prices. We obviously understand that gas prices go up and down, but they do come down. We are now stuck at the top of the rollercoaster he has talked about for 20 years. How is that going to reduce bills?”
House of Commons14 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It has been many, many months since the agricultural property relief and business property relief changes were first announced by this Government. In that time, they have had so many representations from farmers, the farming industry, small business groups, family business groups, Members of this House, industry sectors, the National Farmers Union Scotland, the Country Land and Business Association, Scottish Land & Estates, Labour Back Benchers, Opposition Back Benchers and the public at large. Everyone was telling the Government that this was a bad policy. Why did it take them so long to change it?”
House of Commons12 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the children who have been digging out their neighbours’ driveways. It has been a massive effort in Aberdeenshire, and it will continue. We are getting freezing temperatures, and once the masses of snow start to melt, ice and flooding will be the next issue. We must be prepared. We need assistance and funding to make sure that when this happens again, which it will, Aberdeenshire and other rural counties are properly prepared.”
House of Commons7 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They are bringing people who are stuck and who need medical attention in their cabs to the main roads to try to get them to hospital. Our rural communities pull together in times of need and when it is time to take action, and they have done that for years. They will keep doing that, and they deserve our support, but support is not enough. We must ensure that rural communities are properly funded and supported, and able to act and prepare for situations like this. I end with a thank you to everyone in Aberdeenshire who has lent a hand in the last week—farmers; council workers; organisations; volunteers such as the Community Off-road Transport Action Group, or COTAG, which has been amazing in getting people out of tough situations; and neighbours and passers-by who have pushed cars or dug roads.”
House of Commons7 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They are all important, they are all part of our rural matrix, and they are all being let down by the family farm tax. Given the snow this week in north-east Scotland and Aberdeenshire, I will focus on what is happening there, and on support for our rural communities. Aberdeenshire is the fourth-lowest-funded council in Scotland, and the lowest-funded rural council. Because of that, Aberdeenshire council has had to make awful decisions in recent years on the provision of services. Many of those focused on our roads, gritting and winter preparedness, and we are seeing the results of that. Aberdeenshire is under not a dusting of snow, but a few feet of snow. Our farmers are literally walking through waist-deep snow to dig their sheep and livestock out of snowdrifts. They are then getting in their tractors to clear the roads for communities.”
House of Commons7 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I am really grateful to have been called to speak in today’s debate. In any other week, I would focus on more substantive day-to-day, week-to-week rural matters such as the family farm tax. I am grateful that there has been a partial U-turn on the tax, but it should not have taken this long. It should not have taken the pain, frustration and hurt that it caused our farming and rural communities. The Government must go further—we must get a full U-turn. We have to protect our rural communities. There is a reason why over 6,200 farming, agricultural and forestry businesses have closed since this Government came to power. It is not just farms that are impacted by the family farm tax; it is our rural communities as a whole, including the suppliers and contractors.”
House of Commons7 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In the consultation paper on the future of the North sea, the Government defined windfall prices as $90 a barrel for oil and 90p a therm for gas. Can the Minister tell me the prices of oil and gas today?”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Either the Minister does not know the current price or he does not want to tell us. Oil today is $62 a barrel and gas 72p a therm—up to a third lower than what the Government themselves define as windfall prices. Despite that, they are still punishing our oil and gas industry with massive windfall taxes. The cost is 1,000 jobs lost every month, production set to halve in the next four years and almost complete dependence on foreign imports of oil and gas by 2030. This Government are going to be responsible for the death of one of our most important industries. Will the Government now end the oil and gas supertax, scrap the mad ban on new licences and finally back the North sea?”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“12. What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on the potential impact of a nationwide digital ID system on levels of digital exclusion.”
House of Commons17 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The parliamentary petition against digital ID has been signed by more than 3 million people, including many in my Gordon and Buchan constituency. It is the fourth most signed petition in history. Why does the Minister think digital ID is so unpopular?”
House of Commons17 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“First, like everyone else, I welcome 500 jobs having been secured, but 500 jobs a fortnight are being lost from the oil and gas sector because of this Government’s policies. The Minister has spoken about the supply chain, but those jobs and skills in the supply chain are being lost and will not be there for the transition because of the energy profits levy. The Government have defined what a windfall is. There are no longer windfall prices or windfall profits, but there is still a windfall tax. When will the Government get rid of the windfall tax to protect the supply chain, the oil and gas sector and our vital industries?”
House of Commons17 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“To hear that the Prime Minister does not even understand the policy that he is imposing, which is causing so much harm, is a complete slap in the face for energy communities across the country. Can the Minister confirm for the record that the Prime Minister was wrong to say that the windfall tax kicks in when there are excessive profits? Will she confirm that there is no longer any windfall left to tax?”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“How can UK companies possibly compete when paying tax at 78%? There are no longer windfall prices or windfall profits, so why are companies still having to pay windfall taxes? The Government’s short-term and idealistic policies on the North sea have an impact everywhere: they impact jobs, livelihoods, households, businesses and industries across the country. Does the Minister understand the anger and frustration in communities like mine in Gordon and Buchan, and throughout the energy sector, at the Prime Minister’s words about the EPL last week? People are losing their livelihoods and their ability to support their families because of the Government’s political choice to shut down the oil and gas sector.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We cannot run a refinery on warm words about net zero and promises of green jobs that never materialise. We need crude oil and natural gas, so let us consider what is happening to the domestic oil and gas sector under this Government. Production is down, and falling at an accelerating rate; the cessation of production and decommissioning is being brought forward; investment is going overseas; 1,000 jobs a month are being lost from producers, operators and the supply chain, and no exploration wells were drilled in the UK North sea last year, for the first time since the 1960s. Why is this happening? Because the Government have banned new licences and continue—choose to continue—to keep the energy profits levy and tax UK oil and gas production at a higher rate than any other comparable basin.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Minister explain how refineries are supposed to survive when the Government are planning to increase the carbon tax between now and 2050? Is it the Government’s plan to have a carbon tax of £147 a tonne in 2030, as set out in the National Energy System Operator report? If not, will she disown her party’s claim that the NESO report shows that the clean power 2030 plan is achievable? Will the Government scrap their plan to align with the EU carbon tax scheme, which would lock us into ever higher carbon prices with no control? Will the Minister commit to increasing the number of free allowances given to the refining sector to shield it from at least some of the burden? Refining is viable only when the raw product to refine is abundant and cheap.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Increasing the carbon tax is a political choice that is already causing production costs to soar at refineries in Pembroke, Fawley, Stanlow and the Humber, and that has increased the cost of everybody’s electricity bill, too. Labour Members should know that electricity bills have increased by £2 billion this year alone because of the Government’s choice of alignment. The carbon tax is charged on gas-fired power generation too, and it is passed straight through to our constituents in wholesale electricity prices. That is exactly why the Conservatives have said that we will axe the carbon tax as part of our cheap power plan, to cut everybody’s electricity bills instantly by 20%. The soaring carbon tax is crippling the refining sector.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Brigg and Immingham, the cost of the carbon tax alone amounted to 120% of the operating profit. How on earth can any refinery survive in that environment? Things would be bad enough, but Ministers are not intent on making them even worse. Their decision to align the UK carbon tax with the EU’s more expensive one has increased the price that our industry pays by about 70% in the space of just a year. Why are they doing this? Ministers talk about EU alignment as if it is inevitable, but it is not. They control the market. They choose how many allowances they release. They could choose not to align with the EU and keep control of our own carbon market.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“At the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee recently, he said: “the majority of…petrol and diesel imported into this country, is produced in the US, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and India…They have lower energy costs, lower labour costs and zero CO 2 costs…Fawley refinery this year will spend between £70 million and £80 million on CO 2 costs alone. In the next four or five years that will increase to £150 million. You tell me of another industry where you can afford to have a £150 million cost burden on a single producing unit and expect it to remain competitive for the long term. It is an absolute catastrophe waiting to happen”. In his report for the Prosperity Institute, Rian calculates that at Prax Lindsey, in the constituency of my hon.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When refineries use natural gas to produce their products, they are subject to a carbon tax on every unit of CO 2 they release. Refineries have no choice but to use natural gas, because no other fuel can do the job that natural gas does in their processes. Many other countries charge a much lower carbon tax, or—when it comes to our competitors for refined products, such as in the US, India or the Gulf—charge no carbon tax at all. The carbon tax imposed on our industry through the emissions trading scheme makes it significantly harder for refineries to do business in the UK, increases costs for consumers and makes our industry less competitive. Hon. Members do not have to take my word for it; they can listen to the UK chair of ExxonMobil, which runs the Fawley refinery in Southampton.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Rian Chad Whitton has produced a fantastic report for the Prosperity Institute in which he explains in detail how high energy costs and carbon taxes are crippling heavy industry in the UK, but particularly our refineries. We spend a lot of time in this House talking about electricity—as we should, because our electricity prices are the highest in the world, and this Government are locking us and our constituents into higher prices for longer in the upcoming allocation round 7 auction—but what we often miss in our debates is that only a small proportion of our current energy consumption is from electricity. The vast majority of it comes from other fuels such as natural gas, and that is particularly true for our heavy industry and refining sector.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We will offshore our carbon, offshore our jobs and offshore our security, all so that the Secretary of State can boast of global leadership at COP. No one is going to want to follow our lead if we make ourselves poorer and less secure. We will become a warning, not an example, to the rest of the world. It is ideology over national interest. As Labour’s friends in the unions say, it amounts to exporting jobs in order to import virtue. The production at Prax Lindsey will now be replaced by imports from other countries. Ineos will retain its ethylene and propylene production at Grangemouth, but will now import ethane on huge diesel-chugging container ships from across the Atlantic. Perhaps the Minister would like to explain how that is going to reduce global carbon emissions.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Grangemouth and Prax Lindsey have closed, but not because we need any less petrol, diesel, jet fuel or heating oil—just as we will not need any less ethylene after the Mossmorran plant closed in Fife, or any less oil and gas when this Government wilfully shut down the North sea, destroying jobs in communities such as mine in Aberdeenshire. As the Minister knows, we will simply become more dependent on foreign imports, lose billions of pounds in tax receipts that could support our public services, and destroy hundreds of thousands of skilled jobs in parts of the country that need them the most. We will, as the Minister also knows, strangle our domestic production and then import more products from countries with far higher emissions.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I congratulate and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) on securing this timely and important debate. I pay tribute to him for his work in standing up for workers, not just at Prax Lindsey but across his constituency and his region—his energy estuary. I also thank the Father of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) for his wise words. We can support all energies; it is not an either/or. We must not run down the oil, gas and liquid fuel sector just for the want of achieving a target. In 2025 alone, we have lost two of the UK’s six remaining refineries, with thousands of well-paid workers losing their jobs in the supply chain.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I absolutely will, so I will end on that point. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I find the what-aboutery from Government Members extraordinary. They seem to think that because something has happened in the past, it is okay for something else to happen now. The Government are shutting down the UK oil and gas sector because they keep taxing it. Jobs such as those lost at Grangemouth are being lost every single week across the country as a result. If the hon. Member thinks that is okay, he should say so, but I do not think it is okay, and that is why I am fighting against it.”
House of Commons11 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As I am sure the Minister and the rest of the Front-Bench team know, we are seeing huge redundancies and mass unemployment within the oil and gas sector increasing every week. When did any of the Front-Bench DWP team last meet the oil and gas sector to discuss that?”
House of Commons8 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Every job loss from now on is on this Government, because they know exactly what the oil and gas sector has been saying to them—it has been saying exactly the same to me, too, but I have chosen to listen. Why have the Government decided on the back of the OBR forecast to keep the EPL, when they know the impact it is having on jobs, investment and production and the future of the North sea?”
House of Commons1 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The forecasts are meant to help the Government to decide what to do, but there was nothing in this forecast of oil and gas revenues, which explains why the energy profits levy was kept. We have seen a £6.2 billion downgrade in the expected revenue from oil and gas to the end of the Budget period—a 40% decrease in just a year from what it was bringing in—while production is down 55% and 33% for gas and oil over the period. None of that is to do with the size of the basin; it is all to do with the fiscal and regulatory regime that this Government are imposing on the North sea. It was announced today that 100 jobs are going at Harbour Energy, and there will be more to come.”
House of Commons1 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are talking about £150 off energy bills that are already £200 higher than when the right hon. Gentleman came into government, and £300 was meant to come off those bills. Will bills be higher or lower than when he came into government last year?”
House of Commons1 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗