Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.
Peter Kyle (Labour)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is overseeing that transition; however, British manufacturing continues to have some of the highest electricity costs in Europe. That undermines our manufacturing base, impacts our manufacturing jobs, and damages the lives and livelihoods of cherished communities across the country. The Government were elected to halt and reverse Britain’s industrial decline. That is why our modern industrial strategy addresses high electricity costs for British businesses.
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Gareth Davies (Conservative)
High energy costs for British businesses did not start with the conflict in Iran. We all know that energy prices have been far too high for far too long, and we now have the highest industrial energy prices in the whole G7. We should look at the root of the issue at hand: the structural energy challenges that we face as a country. I am pleased that in the regulatory consultation launched today the Government have committed to the removal of carbon price support from April 2028. That is adopting one of the key provisions of the Conservatives’ cheap power plan, so I very much welcome that, but why wait until 2028, and why stop there? The Secretary of State could go further and adopt the plan in full, ending the carbon tax and green levies right now, as well as scrapping the 78% tax on North sea oil and gas companies. Those pragmatic and sensible steps are actionable right now, today. If he does those things, he will have our full support.
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John Cooper (Conservative)
The buzzword this morning is “bold”. Yet the reality is that, though this plan might be bolder than what went before, it remains with all the oomph of a 40W bulb. When electricity in Dumfries in my constituency is four times the price in Dumfries in Virginia, in the United States, this country has a major problem with competitiveness— I have a problem saying it. What industry in this country needs is the decommissioning—the unplugging—of the Energy Secretary and his dogmatic carbon taxes, which really lie behind the electricity prices that we face. Today’s announcement does nothing to address that.
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Richard Tice (Reform)
Is that it, Secretary of State? It has taken five months for the Secretary of State to come up with an energy price scheme which he has admitted here in the House today only supports 10,000 businesses. He seems to forget that there are millions of small businesses up and down the country—restaurants, fish and chip shops, pubs, ceramics or farmers. When will the Secretary of State admit that the reality is the reason this country’s economy has no growth is because of high energy prices? When will the Secretary of State do the right thing and scrap net zero so we can bring our electricity prices down?
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Steve Race (Labour)
The Secretary of State will know that the south-west and Exeter is home to a nationally significant cluster of high-value manufacturing businesses and is identified in the Government’s industrial strategy as a key region for advanced manufacturing, with critical clusters in nuclear, green energy, defence and critical minerals. The last Government had some choice words for business—I will not repeat them here, Madam Deputy Speaker, because they are unparliamentary—but can the Secretary of State set out how this Government are working in partnership with businesses, including those in my region of the south-west, to ensure that they can prosper and succeed into the future?
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