Commons Chamber

Wednesday 11th June 2025

(began 1 day, 10 hours ago)

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Kemi Badenoch Portrait Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex, Conservative)
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Diego Garcia is a vital intelligence and strategic capability. It is clear that legal uncertainty would compromise it. uncertainty would compromise it. That is why they started the negotiations in the relationship. No responsible Prime Minister would let that happen. We secured the base for the long-term. That has been welcomed by our allies, US, NATO, Australia, New Zealand, India. The post by adversaries, Russia, China and Iran. In the second column we had Reform following Putin and the

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Tories following reform. The Prime Minister knows this is nothing to do with national security nothing to do with national security but his back negotiating. I have had but his back negotiating. I have had the security briefings, it was a bad deal before and it is still a bad deal before and it is still a bad deal before and it is still a bad deal. In half an hour the Chancellor will stand up and tell us everything is fine, but she has made bad choices.

The choices that mean higher inflation, bad choices that higher inflation, bad choices that have led to lower growth, bad choices that have meant jobs have been lost every single month since Labour came into office. Hundreds of Labour came into office. Hundreds of thousands of families who have lost their income in Stoke, in their income in Stoke, in Grangemouth, in Luton, their constituencies. Businesses across the country. The Chancellor has lost her dream, fallen out with the Cabinet, making unfunded spending Cabinet, making unfunded spending commitments which she promised not to do.

Isn't the truth that we have got the wrong Chancellor and the wrong priorities?

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The wrong choice they made was making her Leader of the Opposition.

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Belated birthday greetings to
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Leeds West and Pudsey, Labour)
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to succeed after 14 years of mismanagement and decline by the mismanagement and decline by the party opposite. Culminating in a £22 billion black hole in the public billion black hole in the public finances. That was their legacy, and the first job I faced as Chancellor the first job I faced as Chancellor the first job I faced as Chancellor was to set it right. So, at the budget last October, and again in the spring, I made the choices the spring, I made the choices necessary to fix the foundations of our economy.

We wasted no time in removing the barriers to growth. The removing the barriers to growth. The biggest overhaul of our planning biggest overhaul of our planning system in a generation. Launching Britain's first National Wealth Fund and reforming a pension system to unlock billions of pounds of investment into our economy. We are starting to see the results. The stability that we have provided has helped support for cuts in interest rates, saving hundreds of pounds a year for families with a mortgage.

Real wages have grown by more in the first 10 months of this Labour government than they did in the first 10 years of Conservatives. And the latest figures show that we are the fastest economy growing in the G7. The countries around the world lining up to do business with Britain again. New trade deals with India, the United States and with the European Union also. We are renewing Britain. I know that too many people in to many parts of our country are yet to feel it.

This government's task, my task as Chancellor, and the purpose of this spending review, is to change that. To ensure renewal is felt in people's everyday lives, in their jobs and on their high streets. The priorities of this spending review art the priorities of working people, to invest in Britain's security, Britain's help, and grow Britain's economy so working people are better off. Today I am allocating the envelope I set out in the spring. I am grateful to my excellent team of officials at the Treasury and my right honourable friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, for his tireless work throughout this process.

Crunching the numbers, looking at the assets and the liabilities. And on that note, can I thank all of my cabinet colleagues for their contribution to this process. They are all assets to this Labour government. In the spending review, total departmental budgets that will grow by 2.3 percent a year in real terms. Compare that to the Conservative choice of austerity. In contrast to our increase of 2.3 percent, they cut spending by 2.9 percent per year in 2010.

Let is be clear, austerity was a destructive choice for the fabric of our society. It was a destructive choice for our economy also. Choking off investment and demand, creating a lost decade for growth, wages and living standards. That is their legacy. My choices are different. My choices are Labour different. My choices are Labour choices. The choices in the spending review that are only possible because of my commitment to economic stability. And to the decisions this government has made.

The Conservatives's fiscal rules guarantee neither stability nor investment. That is why I change them. My fiscal rules are nonnegotiable. They are the foundation of stability and investment. My first rule is for stability, the day-to-day government spending should be paid for through tax receipts. That is the sound economic choice and it is also the fair choice. It is not right to expect our children and future generations to pay for the services that we rely on today. The first rule allows me, as I set out in the budget last year, to allocate £190 billion more to the day-to-day running of our public services over the course of this spending review compared to the plans of the previous government.

My second fiscal rule enables me to invest in Britain's economic renewal, while getting public debt on a downward path. The rule allows me to increase public investment by over £100 billion in the autumn and a further £13 billion in the spring. Investment to rebuild transport networks, rebuild defence capability and rebuild energy security. In short, to grow our economy. I have made my choices. Tough decisions, yes, for stability. Changing Britain's fiscal rules, yes will stop for investment.

Today delivering that investment for the delivering that investment for the renewal of Britain. Now it is time for the party opposite to make their choices. The spending plans I am setting out today are only possible because of the decisions I took in the autumn to raise taxes. And the changes to our fiscal rules. Everyone of those changes was opposed by the parties opposite. So, today they can make an honest choice and they can oppose these spending plans, as they opposed every penny I raised to fund them.

Or they can make the same choice as Liz Truss, spend more, borrow more, with no regard for the consequences. And in their clamour, to cut taxes for the richest, the Conservatives crashed our economy, they sent mortgage rates spiralling and they put our pensions in peril. I will never take those risks. And Reforming our Business, they are itching to do the same thing all over again. The Member for Clacton may be playing the friend of the workers now -- reform.

Some of us remember when he described the Liz Truss budget is 'the best Conservative budget since the 1980s.' After the damage is done he still nods along. They have learnt nothing. And his party have been in parliament for less than a year. Yet they have already racked up £80 billion of unfunded commitments. They are simply not serious. Every day it becomes clearer that it is labour and only labour that has a credible plan for the renewal of Britain.

As I said in my Spring Statement, the world is changing before our eyes. Since the spring, the challenges we face have The signs of insecurity are everywhere, we are acting on plans to change. Building renewal on foundations of national security, border security and economic security. As the Prime Minister said earlier this month, a new era in the threats we face demands a new era for defence and security. That is why we took the decision to prioritise our defence spending by reducing Overseas Development Aid.

So that defence spending will now rise to 2.6 percent of GDP by April 2027, including the contribution of our intelligence agencies. That uplift provides funding for my right honourable friend, the Defence Secretary, with £11 billion increased in defence spending. In £600 million uplift for our Security and Intelligence Agencies. That investment will deliver not only security but also renewal. In Lincoln, Portsmouth, on the Clyde, investment in Scotland, jobs in Scotland, defence for the United Kingdom, opposed by the Scottish National Party, delivered by this Labour government.

As we invest in , our military technology and supply chains, that also brings huge opportunities. £4.5 billion of investment in munitions, made in factories from Glasgow to gas -- further afield. Supporting thousands of jobs in the nuclear submarine production, supporting jobs in Derby and elsewhere. Making Britain an industrial superpower, with the skills and pride that comes with it. The more unstable world presents challenges at borders, conflict has opened the way for organised criminal gangs, the British people expect us to have control of who comes into our country.

The party opposite said they would take back opposite said they would take back control. They lost control. With one failed policy after another, no In the Budget last year I announced £150 million to establish the new border security commands, and to support the integrity of our borders, I can announce that funding will increase with up to £280 million more per year by the end of the Spending Review for our new border security commands. Alongside that, we are tackling the asylum backlog, the party opposite left behind a broken system.

Billions of pounds of taxpayers money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels. Leaving people in limbo and shunting the cost of failure onto local communities. We will not let that stand. I confirm today that led by the work of the Home Secretary, we will be ending the costly use of hotels to House asylum seekers in hotels to House asylum seekers in this Parliament. Funding I have provided today, including from the transformation fund, will cut the asylum backlog, here more appeal cases and return people who have no right to be here.

Saving the taxpayer £1 billion a year. That is my choice. That is the Labour choice, that is the choice of the British people. If we want national security in a dangerous world, that does not stop at the strength of our Armed Forces or at our border. I have long spoken about what I call secure economic, the basic insight that in an age of insecurity, government must step up to provide security for working people and resilience for our national economy. Put simply, where things are made Put simply, where things are made Take energy, the Tories neglected nuclear and renewables and close gas storage facilities, leaving us exposed to hikes in energy prices when Russia invaded Ukraine and it was working people who paid the price for their mistakes.

On this side of the House, we understand energy security is national security. Because it is the right choice for bills, jobs, growth, this government is investing in the biggest rollout of nuclear power for 50 years. A commitment of £30 billion to the nuclear-powered future. Yesterday, my right honourable friend the Energy Secretary and I announced £40 Secretary and I announced £40 million to produce the -- £14 billion to support more than 10,000 jobs, including 1500 apprentices to build the nuclear workforce of tomorrow.

That is not all, Mr Speaker. We are investing over £2.5 billion in a new small modular reactor program. The preferred partner is Rolls-Royce. That is a great British company based in great British company based in derby. This is just one step towards our ambition for a full fleet of small modular reactors as well as providing a route for advanced modular reactor projects led by the private sector. We are making the land available in Sellafield to attract private investment and create thousands more jobs and I thank my honourable friend for his work in this area.

And to strengthen the British position at the forefront for new nuclear technologies which is a cause championed by the Mayor of the West Midlands and it supports pioneering work taking place in west Burton and Nottinghamshire and we are investing £2.5 billion in nuclear fusion. To back British industries, pioneering work in carbon capture and storage will take place. Last year, we announced funding for two sites, on Merseyside and he said, building the first commercial-skill CCUS plan. I first commercial-skill CCUS plan.

I can now announce a further project in Aberdeenshire, supporting Scotland's transition from oil and gas to low-carbon technology but is a challenge and opportunity well understood by I Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour. And the Scottish Secretary. We are backing the Viking project in Humberside which is backed by my honourable friend. Because I am determined to make sure the energy technologies of the future are built here and that the jobs come to Britain with spending review decisions, it means we can invest in the publicly owned Great British Energy with the headquarters in Scotland.

These are investments to make sure towns and cities which permit the last Industrial Revolution will play the part in the next industrial revolution. It will reduce reliance on overseas oil and gas and protect working families from price shocks. A new generation of energy industries for a renewed Britain. That is my choice. That is Labour's choice and the choice of the British people. Economic security relies upon our ability to buy, make, sell more here in Britain.

In April, this government faced a choice - to let British Steel in Scunthorpe go under or intervene. We heard representations intervene. We heard representations from workers... That choice was a choice not of the metal trader but the Labour Government. We heard representations from workers, trade unions, my honourable friend, the member for Scunthorpe. My right honourable friend the business secretary and I were not prepared to tolerate a situation in which steel capacity was undermined. We were not prepared to see another working- class community lose pride, prosperity, deputy that industry provides.

-- Dignity that it is to provide. We intervened to save British Steel and the jobs that come with it. I am proud of the decision and the government will invest in the long-term future of Scunthorpe and the future of steelworks across our great country and in a vote of confidence in homegrown steel, Heathrow Airport, where we are backing London by backing a third runway, we are sailing charter, a multibillion pound endeavour by Labour and built with British steel.

As we build train and tram lines, military hardware and new power structures will mean orders for steel or stop in Sheffield Forge Masters investing in nuclear-made to steel and with the £500 million grant has been confirmed to Carter's deal. A future for steel made in Britain and a pro-future for steel community. Things built to last, built here in Britain and that is my choice and the choice of Labour and the British people. This government is backing British business.

There will be more to come in the weeks ahead with a 10-year infrastructure strategy at the modern industrial strategy was not a plan drawn up in partnership with businesses and trade unions and when I speak to business people and entrepreneurs about what they need to succeed, they say that they need the chance to innovate, access to finance, and a deep pool of talent and they have said they will take action. First, innovation, a great British strength. Our universities are world leading and we are proud of them.

We want high-tech industries in Britain to continue to lead the world in years to come. In car production, aerospace, life sciences. We are backing innovators and researches and with R&D funding rising to a record high of £22 billion a year by the end of the Spending Review. Because homegrown AI has the potential to solve diverse and daunting challenges as well as the opportunity for good jobs and investment in Britain, I am announcing £2 billion to back the AI action plan, overseen by my right honourable friend, the Secretary Of State for Science and Technology.

Secondly, to champion small businesses seeking access to finance as they look to grow, I am increasingly financial firepower of the British Business Bank with a two thirds increase, increasing financial capacity to £35.6 billion, to help pioneering businesses start up. -- £25.6 billion. It is backing entrepreneurs and wealth creators. Thirdly, as we invest, if we are to thrive in the industries of the future, we must give young people the skills that they need to contribute to national success as scientists, engineers, designers, builders, welders, electricians.

I know the ambition, drive, potential of young people. It cannot be right that often those ambitions and that potential are stifled. When young people who want training fine courses are oversubscribed and are turned away at the door, forcing growing businesses, eager to recruit, to look elsewhere. The potential wasted and enterprise restricted. Today, I'm providing record investment for training and upscaling, £1.2 billion a year by the end of the Spending Review to support over 1 million young people into training and the printer ships, so that their potential, drive, ambition is frustrated longer.

-- Apprenticeships. On the subject of skills, we should all recognise the commitment of the Leader of the Opposition to lifelong learning. At the weekend, she promised to learn and get better on the job. I am sure that the members on the benches opposite will be supporting her in that endeavour. Good luck with that. As we build a strong, secure, resilient economy, working people must feel the benefits. It starts with the security of a proper home.

Our planning forums have opened up the opportunity to build and now we must act to make the most of those opportunities and to plan to match the scale of the housing crisis must include social housing. Neglected for too many decades but not by this government. Led by my right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister, we are taking action. I am proud to announce the biggest cash injection into social and affordable housing in 50 years. A new, affordable homes program which I am investing £39 billion over the next decade.

Direct government funding to support housebuilding, especially for social rent. I am pleased to report that towns and cities, including Blackpool, Preston, Sheffield, Swindon, have plans already to bring forward bids to build homes in their communities. I have gone further. Last autumn, I enabled greater use of financial transactions to support investment in our infrastructure. Alongside strict guardrails to ensure money is spent wisely through public financial institutions. And so, in line with that commitment, and providing additional £10 billion for financial investments to be delivered through Homs England to help with private investment and unlock thousands more homes, built by Labour Government, for working Is no good investing in new skills, jobs, homes, if they are not properly connected.

That is why last week, with the support of the Transport Secretary, I announced £15 billion of investment to connect cities and towns, the biggest ever investment of its kind. Investments in losses in Rochdale, translations in Merseyside and Liverpool. -- In buses in Rochdale. And Metro extensions in Birmingham, Tyne & Wear, Stockport. Alongside that, we are backing Doncaster airport. I am Singh a 4-year settlement for transport for London. -- I am announcing. It will provide the stability for the largest transport network to plan for the future.

For other ridges, I am providing for a fourfold increase in transport grants by the end of Parliament typically improvements that, for far too long, have been lacking to improve the journeys people make every day and unlock the potential of all parts of Britain, we are going further. Investing in major rail projects to connect towns and cities. I announced funding for the TransPennine upgrade, the backbone of travel in the North, linking God, Leeds, Manchester. -- Linking York.

25% is expected by this summer. I know the commitment of the members for Huddersfield, and Cole Valley to this issue and I can announce a further £3.5 billion of investment for that route today. My ambition and the ambition of people across the North is greater still. In the coming weeks, I will set out the government plan for taking forward our ambitions for Northern I have heard representations of the members for Milton Keynes north, Milton Keynes Central, and Buckingham and Bletchley and I can tell the House that to connect Oxford and Cambridge and back the tech sector in Milton Keynes, I'm providing a further £2.5 billion for continued delivery of East-West Rail and I trap I know is of importance to the members for Lichfield, Birmingham Northfield, Birmingham, I can announce funding for the Midlands rail hub which is the most ambitious scheme for generations, strengthening connections from Birmingham, across the West Midlands, into Wales.

For 14 years, the Conservatives failed the people of Wales. Those days are over. Following representations from the Welsh Secretary, the first Minister for Wales and Welsh Labour MPs, I am pleased to announce £445 million for pleased to announce £445 million for real -- real base in 10 years including new funding. That is the difference made by two Labour governments working together to undo a generation of underfunding and This government takes seriously its commitment to investment, jobs and growth in every part of the UK.

I have heard the concerns of my honourable friend's, and the mayor of the Liverpool city region. The of the Liverpool city region. The Under invested in towns and cities outside of London and the south- east. They are right. I'm today publishing the conclusion of the review of the Treasury's Green Book. The governments manual in assessing value for money. Our new Green Book will support place-based business cases and make sure no region has Treasury guidance wielded against them. I said we would do things differently, I said we wanted growth in all parts of Britain, and I meant it.

Backing our nations and regions means backing our devolved government. The Spending Review provides the largest settlement in real terms since devolution was introduced. £52 billion for Scotland, £20 billion for Northern Ireland by the end of the Spending Review. £23 billion for Wales. And having heard representations from many Welsh Labour colleagues, and because I know the obligation we go to our industrial communities, I'm providing a multi-year settlement of £180 million to keep coal tips safe in Wales.

I know that private people feel in their communities, I see it everywhere I go. For too many people there is a sense of something having been lost. High Street declined, community spaces closed, jobs and opportunities have gone elsewhere. The renewal of Britain must be felt everywhere. Today I am so announcing further funding to support up to 350 communities, especially those in the most deprived areas, funding to improve parks, youth facilities, spoonfuls and libraries. Supporting councils fightback against graffiti and fly-tipping, including in Blackpool South, Stockport, Stoke Central, Swindon North, new parcel upon Tyne East -- Newcastle upon Tyne East.

Job creation and Tyne East. Job creation and community assets are vital to... We are establishing a Growth Commission fund to expedite local projects important for growth. Projects like Southport P, a symbol of coastal heritage which has stood empty since 2022. Cook Aldi seafront and High Street, where investment can create jobs and investment opportunities. And Peter Bruce sport centre to drive cohesion. People deserve a government that shares their ambition for their communities, to deliver renewal, growth and opportunity.

That is what you get with a Labour government. If people are to feel pride in their community, enjoy their public spaces and spend time on the high streets, they must feel safe when they do so. Safe in the knowledge that when people break the law, they feel the full force of the law. At the party opposite left our prisons overflowing and on the brink of collapse. They left it for us to deal with the consequences. We are taking the necessary action.

With the Justice Secretary we announce we are investing £7 billion to fund 14,000 new prison places, putting up to £700 million per year into reform of the probation system also. Today I will do more. I am increasing police spending power by an average 2.3 percent per year in real terms over the Spending Review period. To protect our people, our homes and our streets. More than £2 billion. our streets. More than £2 billion. Supporting us to our plan for change commitment, 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles across England and.

As well as everyplace, I am determined that every family feels the benefits of Britain's renewal. Falling interest rates, supported by our commitment to economic stability, are already saving many families hundreds of pounds a month on their mortgage. I've accepted pay review body recommendations for pay in our Armed Forces, our nurses, our teachers and prison officers. Giving public sector workers the fair pay rises that they deserve. And in autumn I increased the national living wage, the pay rise for around 3 million hard-working people.

This government is doing more, we are banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, strengthening Statutory Sick Pay and ending the injustice of unscrupulous fire and rehire practices. Those are my choices, I know that for many people the cost of living remains a constant challenge, which is why we are capping the cost of school uniforms. I can tell the House today I am extending the three pounds bus fare cap until at least March 2027. Earlier this week we announced over three quarters of pensioners will receive their Winter Fuel Payment this year.

And there is more. To get bills down, not just this winter, but in winter to come, we have expanded their warm homes plan to support thousands more of the UK's poorest households, including providing £7 million to homes in Bradford, £11 million to homes in rugby, and £13 million to homes in Blackpool. Today I can announce I will deliver in full our manifesto commitment to upgrade millions of homes. Saving families and pensioners across the country up to £600 each and every year of their bills.

I am determined to do everything in my power to put more money in people's pockets, give people security and control in their lives, to make working people better off. And to show them that this government, this Labour government, is on their side. Taxpayers work hard for their money and they expect their government to spend their money with care. For the first time in 18 years, this government has run a zero based review, line by line assessment of what government spends.

Something the Tories did not bother to do in 14 years. And as a result of that work and of our wider drive for efficiencies, led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, I have found savings, from the closure and sale of government buildings and land, cutting back office costs and reducing consultancy spend, all which the previous government failed to do. Reforms that would make public services more efficient, more productive and more focused on the user. I have been relentless in driving out inefficiencies stop I will be relentless in cutting out waste, with every single penny reinvested back into our public services.

I joined the Labour Party almost 30 years ago, because I knew that the Conservative party when I grew up did not care much about schools like mine or the kids I grew up with. I joined because I believe every young person should have the equal chance to succeed, no matter where they come from, no matter what their parents do. I believe that just as strongly today as I did then. That is why at the budget last autumn I entered the tax loophole which exempted private schools from VAT and business rates.

And I put that money where it belongs, into helping the 93 percent of children in our state schools. They oppose money for their local state schools and I will always prioritise them. That is my choice. That is the Labour choice. Because of the decisions that we made in the Spending Review, I am working with the Education Secretary, last week this government announced free this government announced free school meals will be extended to over half a million or more children.

That policy will lift 100,000 children out of poverty, children in schools from Tower Hamlets to Sunderland and from Swansea to Bridgend. Last year at the Labour Party conference I was proud to announce the first step in our plan to deliver breakfast clubs for every child, with initial rollout to the first 750 schools. We will continue with that national rollout as part of our manifesto commitment, so that no child goes hungry and every child can have the best chance to thrive and succeed.

And because I know that a good start in life does not just start in school, I can also announce £370 million for school based nurseries, to put us firmly on track to meet our plan for change commitments, for a record number of children being school ready. And for children's social care, to break the dangerous cycle of late intervention and low quality care, and providing £555 million transformation funding over the Spending Review period, so children do not go needlessly into care when they could stay at home.

And for children where state intervention is necessary, better care and better outcomes. Last week I was pleased to announce that my right honourable friend, the culture Million from the Dormant Assets Scheme with the financial services sector will be allocated to fund facilities for our young people, to give every child the chance to take part in music, sport and drama, to fund libraries in our schools so the confidence and opportunity that those resources open up are no longer the preserve of the privileged few.

Those are my choices, they are Labour choices and they are the choices of the British people. Overall, I am providing a catch uplift of over four and half billion pounds a year for additional funding in the court schools budget by the end of the Spending Review. by the end of the Spending Review. Viking our teachers and backing our kids. People who went to ordinary comprehensives in their 80s and 90s are too familiar with the experience of being taught in temporary classrooms.

The previous Conservative government oversaw another generation of kids herded into cold and damp buildings while school roofs are literally crumbled. It was not acceptable when I was at school as it is not acceptable now. I am providing investment rising to nearly £2.3 billion per year to fix our crumbling classrooms. In addition, £2.4 billion per year to continue our programme to rebuild 500 schools. Including the community school in Enfield, would Kirk Academy in Leeds, and an academy in Weymouth.

Investing in our young people, investing in Britain's future, investing in opportunity for all. That is Labour's choice. Finally, let me turn two our National Health Service, our most treasured public service, people expect an NHS that is there when they need it, an ambulance that comes when they call one, a GP appointment available when they need one, a scan that is performed when one, a scan that is performed when they are referred for one. I am hugely grateful to our nurses, doctors, paramedics and other healthcare professionals for healthcare professionals for everything that they do.

If we want a strong economy, where working people can fulfil their potential, we must have a strong NHS. Not as the Reform Party called for, and insurance-based system, we believe in a publicly funded National Health Service, free at the point of use. Perhaps the Member for Clacton should spend more time focusing on the priorities of the British people and less time in the Westminster arms. Although, after this week, perhaps the two chairmen pub might perhaps the two chairmen pub might , , I , I took , I took the , I took the decisions , I took the decisions necessary , I took the decisions necessary to provide immediate injection of funding to get the NHS back on its feet.

I commend the Health Secretary for the progress he has already made. In less than a year, this government has recruited 1,700 new GPs, delivered 3.5 million extra appointments and cut waiting list by more than 200,000. Fixing our NHS also means delivering fundamental reform across social care. Means we are backing the first ever fair pay agreement for that sector. I am increasing the NHS technology budget by almost 50 percent. We are investing £10 million to bring our analogue health system into the digital age.

Through the NHS app. So patients can manage their prescriptions, get test results and We are shifting here back into the community. -- care. We are providing millions more appointments. We are providing mental health support teams in all schools in England by the end of this Parliament. These investments will enable the delivery of upcoming 10-year plan for health and put the NHS firmly back on the path to renewal. To support the plan to back the doctors and nurses we rely on and make sure the NHS is there whenever we need it, I am proud to announce that the government is making a record cash investment in the NHS.

We are increasing real-terms day-to-day spending by 3% per year for every single year of the spending review. An extra £29 billion per year for the day-to-day running of the health service. That is what the British people voted for and that is what we will deliver. More appointments, more doctors, more scanners. The NHS, created by Labour Government, protected by one, and renewed by protected by one, and renewed by this government. This is a spending -- Spending Review to deliver for the British people with security, a strong Britain in a changing world, economic growth powered by investment and opportunity in every part of Britain and the health of the nation, with an NHS fit for the future.

I have made my choices. In place of chaos, I choose stability. In place of the claim, I choose investments. In place of pessimism, division, defeatism, I choose national renewal. These are my choices, Labour choices, the choices of the British people, and I commend of the British people, and I commend

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This Spending Review is This Spending Review is not This Spending Review is not worth the paper that it is written on. the paper that it is written on. Because the Chancellor has
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Mel Stride Portrait Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride MP (Central Devon, Conservative)
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Because the Chancellor has completely lost control. This is the spend-no-tax I can later review and the right honourable that he knows that she has to come back in the autumn with yet more taxis and a cruel summer of speculation awaits. How can we possibly take the Chancellor seriously after the chaos of the last 12 months? We were assured at the election that the Labour plans involved hardly any additional spending or borrowing. And now the Chancellor parades her largess with hundreds of billions of additional spending over the additional spending over the Parliament.

The initial issue was the funding for the spending was frontloaded but now the Chancellor expects us to believe that spending will rise by only 1.2% per year. There is no chance whatsoever of that happening. For the lesson of the last year has been that when the going gets tough, the right honourable lady links. She presented honourable lady links. She presented herself. -- blinks. She presented herself as the iron Chancellor but she has been tinfoil, ready to fold under the slightest pressure.

She said she would not fiddle fiscal rules and then she did. She said she would not make unfunded commitments and with the humiliation of the winter fuel U-turn, she has. She looked business leaders in the eye and claimed there would be no new taxes but we know what happened next and we all know what is coming in the autumn. Her own backbenchers, Kaplan College, the trade union paymasters and even the -- own backbenchers, her colleagues, the trade union paymasters, they have all seen that she is weak and they can smell the blood.

They will be back for more, and they will get it. These spending plans are a fantasy and it is not the truth that the Chancellor has to maintain the fiction because she has left no room for manoeuvre. She is constantly on the edge of blowing fiscal rules when she already changed to allow even more borrowing. The only way that she can claim to meet the rules is by pretending that she can control spending over coming years. But let's look at the record so far.

Borrowing in the last financial year came out £11 billion above even the March forecast of the OBR and 70% higher than the plans that she inherited from this side of the House. But for someone so keen on borrowing, the Chancellor seems strangely reticent to even use the word. Ministers bizarrely tell us that it is the fiscal rules of Labour that have generated the investment. The reality is little more straightforward. They have listened the fiscal rules so that they can borrow more - borrow, borrow, borrow, allowing national debt to rise higher every single year while the ministers pretend year while the ministers pretend that it is not.

And I watching -- more set out in the previous Conservative government with more to be spent on debt interest alone. In fact, if she had retained fiscal rules, as she said, they may laugh, Mr Speaker, but if she had retained our fiscal rules, as she said she would before the election, the OBR have confirmed that she would be breaking them right now. Our country is now vulnerable. It is vulnerable is now vulnerable. It is vulnerable to even the smallest changes in the markets.

Should we face a sudden external shock, we have no fiscal firepower left with which to respond. It is all thanks to the choices of the right honourable lady. Can I ask the Chancellor, will she be open about what she has done? Will she admit that she has made a conscious choice to borrow more and accept higher debt? Does she accept that this means interest rates and mortgages will be higher than they would have been otherwise? The OBR themselves have said this.

Even she continues to claim that she has brought stability to public finances, can I ask what on earth her definition of 'stability' is. And the Chancellor must be delighted that she does not have to face a new will be for custody. If she did, she will have to set out how she will fund the humiliating U-turn on winter fuel payments, haven't already blown the spendings on the disaster. She said this week that there was, and I quote, still work to do to ensure the sums add up.

It is hardly reassuring from the person in charge of the nation's finances. You do not need to work for the Bank of England for a decade to know that that pitiful utterance is unlikely to serve the markets. Can be Chancellor confirmed categorically that there will be no additional borrowing to pay for this chaotic borrowing? If this is the case, how on earth can it be paid for without raising tax? Can the right honourable explain fine last summer, apparently to avoid a run on the pound, the measure was so urgent that pensioners had to be left in the cold over the last winter? What exactly has changed? It certainly has not been made possible by an improvement in the economy or the public finances, which the ISS said this week are both in a worse state than when Labour came into power.

-- IFS. If we hadn't will be our forecast, we might get some answers on how the government intends to find £3.5 billion to abolish the 2- child benefit cap which we are led to believe is adamant and another addition to the ballooning welfare bill and another expensive surrender to the Labour left. We will certainly get the assessment of the OBR on the economic outlook following the tariffs and the changes the right honourable lady knew full well were coming.

Meanwhile the deluge of tax and Meanwhile the deluge of tax and regulation has left this -- business confidence at record lows, costing people there live with it. Yesterday people there live with it. Yesterday we saw the latest figures with figures showing the number of people on payrolls fell by over 100,000, after falling by 55,000 and April. -- Payrolls. Unemployment is up by more than 10% since Labour came to office. She made spending a point today but the simple truth is she has trashed the economy and left no contingency in the face of highly volatile global outlook.

It is not the reality that the Chancellor knows she will have to come back in the autumn with more tax rises to fund these plans or can she assure us right now that this is not the case? Yes or no? We know that the Deputy Prime Minister has provided her with an entire brochure of tax rises and she will no doubt be perusing them over the summer. It is like the catalogue of Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Speaker. Can the Chancellor confirm promised that the income tax threshold will not be frozen at the Budget? It is a move she herself sat with heart working people -- she herself said would heart working people.

What about uncertainties in the plan she has set out today? Can she assure us the plans will not be backroom deals with disgruntled ministers? Can't you shoot as the capital allocations will actually be spent on capital and not diverted as she has in the past two day-to-day budgets to play more games with fiscal rules? The Chancellor has had to impose a settlement on the Home Secretary because this spending review will not deliver for hard- working police officers across the country.

Instead, the Home Office Budget is squandered on asylum costs because this government does not have a plan on illegal and as the Defence Secretary admitted, "The government has lost control of our borders." Small border crossings are up by 42% on the same point last year and one energy, at a time when businesses across the country are struggling with high energy costs, the Chancellor has chosen to fund the vanity project of the Energy Secretary, GB Energy and the like.

While we welcome the announcement on the expanding nuclear capacity, the scale of ambition is a downgrade on the commitments made previously on this side of the House. The party opposite hardly mentioned farming in the manifesto and now we know why. It is not enough to have hit the farmers in our country with the Family Farm Tax. What we see in black and white today is a choice to make further cuts to be vital grants on which many farmers rely.

A huge betrayal of farming communities and something many of her MPs in rural areas will have to go back to constituencies later in the week to explain. And on Defence, we will always welcome any additional investment in the armed forces capabilities. I note that nothing was said about when 3% will be achieved. All that we heard was that intelligence service spending was to be included in Defence spending to flatter the numbers. We left the party opposite a fully funded plan which they dithered over for a year.

What we get now is the Chancellor's own black hole on Defence spending, the lack of a timeline on achieving 3%. Instead, we get £30 billion bill for the Chagos Islands surrender, money which should go to the brave Armed Forces, rather than, as is being reported, funding lower taxation in Mauritius. The first tax cuts for which this Chancellor has ever been responsible are in ever been responsible are in

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We would have made different choices. We would not have killed choices. We would not have killed growth with huge tax rises and new regulations. We would not have regulations. We would not have talked down the economy and the great businesses up and down our great businesses up and down our country. We would be focusing on efficiency and productivity in the public sector and not handing out public sector and not handing out pay increases with no strings attached. And we would be getting a attached.

And we would be getting a grip on welfare. Labour cancelled grip on welfare. Labour cancelled our plans for fundamental reform to health and disability benefit which would have seen 450,000 less people on long-term sickness benefits. That on long-term sickness benefits. That is a disgrace. Instead of proper is a disgrace. Instead of proper reforms to PIP, their own plans are a cost-cutting exercise so rushed they even had to change them after they had announced them. Their own backbenchers are in full revolt.

Again they talk tough but there is no substance. The right honourable lady has no grip. She has no clue. The markets and the public see a Chancellor completely out of her depth. Having blown her headroom and depth. Having blown her headroom and more, from her budget in the autumn, she was forced into an emergency budget in March to scrabble around and try to repair the damage. Today she comes before us again with another fantastical tale that she knows will have completely fallen apart come the autumn.

We are not left with stronger foundations as the right honourable lady would have us believe. But rather another dose of that hallmark for which her actions have made her so renowned. Uncertainty and failure. So there she sits. Powerless to resist her disillusioned MPs and panicking ministers. Like a cork on the tide. The drumbeat for U-turns pounding in her ears. Yet her tone today suggests all is well. The sunny uplands await. What a hopeless conceit. A masterclass in delusion.

Inflation is up. Unemployment is up. Growth is marked down. Businesses and households are hurting. Investors are fleeing in droves. The bond market vigilantes circle. And here we have the Chancellor who refuses to listen. Not only tinfoil but tin eared. And let me be clear that it is working people and businesses who will pay the price come the autumn. With yet more taxes to pay for her weakness and failure. Mr Speaker, we cannot afford this spending review.

And for many, the growing conclusion is we cannot afford this Chancellor.

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Chancellor. I will address the specific

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I will address the specific

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I will address the specific points in a moment. But I want to start by acknowledging the progress that the shadow Chancellor has made. that the shadow Chancellor has made. After all, it has been quite a week for him. Last Thursday he gave a
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Leeds West and Pudsey, Labour)
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for him. Last Thursday he gave a speech saying it will take time for his party to win back trust on the economy. Today he has shown us how far he and his party have to go to achieve that. I want to give him some credit for last week's analysis. He said the Conservative party was seen to have failed. He is right. He said the last Conservative government put at risk the stability which conservatives had always said

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must be protected. I agree with him. Order. I need to be able to hear

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Order. I need to be able to hear and I am sure our content students want to hear. He said the credibility of the

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He said the credibility of the UK's economic framework had no proper plan for how it would be paid proper plan for how it would be paid for. I could not have put it better myself. The shadow Chancellor could have gone a lot further. For example, he couldn't even bring himself to mention Liz Truss by himself to mention Liz Truss by name. Stride by name. Baby steps by name. Stride by name. Baby steps by nature. But at least he made a nature.

But at least he made a He also spoke about "the death of what we might call the age of thoughtfulness". Speaking of the death of thoughtfulness, let me turn to his response to the spending review. Now, the shadow Chancellor welcomed nuclear investment. £30 billion. But he said it is not enough. He welcomed our defence investment of £11 billion. But he investment of £11 billion. But he said it was not enough. He and his party opposed the decisions of this government has taken to make those announcements possible.

By voting against the budget in October last year. You cannot spend the money if you will not raise the money. That is a lesson from Liz Truss that he has already forgotten. He complained about the level of investment I announced. Ignoring the fact that the reason this investment is important is because his party oversaw 14 years of cratering investment, stagnating wages and public service collapse. Let me remind him of what I said. The fiscal rules of the Tories guaranteed neither stability nor investment.

That is why I changed them. So we can get stability and them. So we can get stability and investment. All their fiscal rules enabled was for them to crash the economy and the working people of Britain will never forgive them for doing so. The party opposite set themselves against investment in the renewal of Britain. Against NHS investment. Free school meals. Investment in skills. In carbon capture and storage. In transport in towns and cities. In everything we have set out today and yet the British people voted for them.

The honourable gentleman says the Home Office budget involves an increase in asylum costs. It does not. Asylum costs are coming down under this government. Because we are deporting more people and getting them out of hotels. He says we are cutting police funding. We are increasing it by 2.3% in real terms per year. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have had no apology for the damage they did to our economy all public services. In the last 11 months, interest rates have been cut four time.

GDP was the fastest growing of all G7 economies in the first quarter of this year. Business confidence is rising. 500,000 more people are working. Investment has been made at record levels in Britain. Wages have increased more in 10 months than they did in 10 years under the Conservative government. The National Living Wage has increased given 3 million working people a pay rise and we did all of this without increasing taxes on working people. Those are the choices we have made. That is the difference we are making.

And in the spending review today, we set out the spending we announced in the budget last year and in the Spring Statement. Not a penny more. Not a penny less. I said in the budget and statement public services must live within the means we have set and we have achieved that. There will be a budget later this year. In that budget we will set out in the round all the fiscal plans. We have already drawn a line under the Tory mismanagement with tax rises last year.

We will never have to repeat a budget like that again because we will never have to clean up after the mess the party opposite made again. The reason this Labour government has spent its first year fixing the foundations of the economy and stabilising public finance is because it is what we had to do. The government of which the shadow Chancellor was a part of it left an unenviable legacy. Which is why his party is " in a difficult place". We have made our choices.

We We are strengthening British security. The biggest real terms increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. Something they did not do when they had 14 years in office. Bringing the health service into the 21st century after neglect by the party opposite in their 15 years in office. Investing in renewal to repair the damage done by the party opposite in their 14 years in office. And in stark contrast to the Conservatives 14 years of chaos, waste and decline, we are delivering on the priorities of the British people.



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Chair of the select committee. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate my right honourable I congratulate my right honourable friend for delivering this spending review. The first zero-based review in a very long time. I think it is in a very long time. I think it is vital that as the tax payer, the citizen, are looking carefully at
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Daisy Cooper Portrait Daisy Cooper MP (St Albans, Liberal Democrat)
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welcome the announcement of investment in the NHS. But on its own it will not work unless the government invest in social care as well. We welcome the investment in well. We welcome the investment in infrastructure. But on its own it will not work unless the government invests in scaling up the workforce needed to build it. Cutting billions from departmental budgets in real terms seems unnecessary when the government could instead go for growth and get a deeper trading relationship with Europe, which could raise an extra £25 billion per year for the public purse.

For as long as the government fails to tackle the red tape and trading barriers blocking British business, the grip on economic growth is more akin to a handbrake than accelerator. The last Conservative government left our NHS on its knees. On their watch, waiting lists were soaring. Hospitals were crumbling. High-street healthcare was hollowed out. Can the Chancellor confirm this funding will deliver the extra 8,000 GPs needed to guarantee everybody an appointment within seven days or 24 hours if urgent? Candy Chancellor confirm the funding will bring dentists back to the NHS and end dental deserts? Can the Chancellor promised this funding will mean every cancer patient starts treatment within 62 days? Will she promise the government will meet the prime ministerial pledge that 92% of routine operations will take place within 18 weeks? Will the Chancellor and Health Secretary sitting side-by-side set up a task force to look at creative funding ideas to bring construction dates forward and end the vicious cycle we saw under the previous government where delayed rebuild lest -- letter writing repair cost for hospitals? And there is the elephant in the NHS waiting room.

The crisis in social care services. The Chancellor knows the health and social care secretary knows and this whole Parliament knows that today's investment in the NHS will be like pouring water into a leaking bucket if hospitals cannot discharge patients who are well enough to leave because they do not have the care workers to recover at home. The Fair Pay Agreement the Chancellor talks about is of course to be welcomed. But it is barely a baby step and nowhere near enough to bring back social care from the brink.

At minimum, we need a higher minimum wage for care workers to stop the sector haemorrhaging care workers to other sectors. When will the Chancellor recognise we will never fix the NHS if we do not fix social care? Will the government act with urgency and conclude the review by the end of this year, not in On housing we warmly welcome the government investing in social homes. The government commits to the little democrat target of building 150,000 social homes every year? Our public services are crying out for investment was and neighbourhoods need proper neighbourhood policing to feel safe.

Our farmers need for support payments to keep food on our tables. People of all ages deserve access to training and skills to build their future and to help power our economy forward. That is why it is so disappointing that the Chancellor has today made things so difficult for some of our public services, cutting unprotected budget by millions. We know she was faced by the fallout from most reckless and most out of touch Conservative government in recent memory. But being responsible is not just about taking tough decisions.

It's about having the moral courage to make the right ones. Yet this government seems determined not to adopt the one policy that could put rocket boosters on our economy and raise billions for public services, a proper trade deal with Europe. A new bespoke customs union with the EU would boost our GDP by more than would boost our GDP by more than 2.2%, securing additional revenue to a massive amount for some huge boost to businesses and struggling public services as well.

If the Chancellor can you turn on the Winter Fuel Payments, thanks to a skinny EU packed, just imagine any more U- turns she could perform with a proper trade deal worth 10 times as much is what we have the EU? We Liberal Democrats strongly support the allegations of 2.5% of GDP on defence. But we want to see ministers go further and faster to bolster our national security in today's uncertain world. Will the Chancellor agreed to cross party talks in which we can work together to set a pathway to 3% of GDP ahead of 2034? Will the government use some of today's investment to reverse the Conservatives irresponsible 10,000 troop cut? Will the Chancellor make sure that investing in a national security becomes a lever for economic growth? Putting a much greater emphasis on British steel producers and SMEs as we scale up our defences? Will the Chancellor ensure that British start-ups can use defence innovation for the public good? Before I conclude, I must thank the Chancellor for finally completing the world's slowest U-turn on the unfair Winter Fuel Payment cuts.

Now that the Chancellor has U-turns, will she do the right thing and backdate the payment for all those who lost out in support this past winter but who would now be eligible under the new rules? And now the Chancellor has U-turns once, would she make it a hat-trick and change course on PIP and Carer's Allowance cuts as well? Perhaps the Chancellor might even look again at the growth affecting jobs tax and other measures affecting the high streets and family businesses, and instead look at the fairer ways of raising revenue that we Liberal Democrats have set out time and time again.

Raising that same amount of revenue from the big banks, the social media giants, and the online gambling companies. to start paying their fair share of tax. After years of chaos and incompetence under the last Conservative government, this was a unique opportunity to draw a line under the social care crisis, squeezed budgets, and sluggish economic growth. So I strongly urge the Chancellor, will she ignore those who talk down buttons economic potential? Would she rip up the red tape holding British businesses back? Would she strike a properly ambitious trade deal with Europe that will turbocharge our economy and bring in the billions to rebuild our public services? The government says its number one mission is growth.

This would be the way to

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deliver it. Chancellor.

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Chancellor. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I

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Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank the honourable lady for comment. And if she hasn't had a chance to look at the figures yet chance to look at the figures yet but it is not right to say there are real terms cuts to public services. Public service spending is
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Leeds West and Pudsey, Labour)
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Public service spending is increasing by 2.3% a year on average over the course of the spending review. If we start on investment in the NHS, and in social care, we have already delivered, as I set out in my speech, 1500 more GPs, we have put £26 billion already in the first phase of the Spending Review into the NHS. I note that that compares to the £8 billion of money Liberal Democrats said they were going to put into the NHS in their manifesto.

We have already put £26 billion in and we will put more money in today and every year of this Parliament. The New Hospital Programme is being rolled out, and the Health Secretary met last week with Members of Parliament who are having hospital improvement in their local communities, including many Liberal Democrat members. She should be aware that we are making improvements to the fabric of our hospitals. As well as investing in technology, scanners etc. With regards to social care, we are, as your lady knows, introducing the Fair Pay Agreements in social care.

It is something that Health Secretary and the prime minister are very much committed to. And we have increased local government spending power seeing if we can put more money into social care. In addition, Louise Casey is doing her review into the future of social care. On investment in infrastructure, yes we are going big on infrastructure, £100 billion pounds announced last year and an extra £30 billion in the Spring Statement. It is detailed in the Spending Review documents, the biggest ever investment in young people skills, so they can access the new jobs that are being created in defence, and housebuilding, and other infrastructure as well.

On the issue of red tape and backing business, I think it is a bit ironic, and they voted against the Planning and Infrastructure Bill yesterday. They come to the house today's saying they want to do away with red tape. We want to go for growth which is why we took the legislation through Parliament. Perhaps she will ask her Lords to vote for growth in the other place? On trade deals, we have done a trade deal with the US, with India, with the EU.

The Liberal Democrats opposed the trade deal with the US, but now apparently they think that trade deals are the way to go. So do we, that is why the Business and Trade Secretary has got three of them that are helping out automotive sector, as steel sector, and our farming communities. On defence, yes, we will use defence spending to support growth. The defence secretary and I have been very clear about that. As I set out in the speech, making Britain a defence industrial superpower.

I just say gently to the Liberal Democrats and the honourable Lady, if you want to support investment in public services, you have to increase the tax rises to get there. You voted against the National Insurance increase, which is what has enabled us to make the investments that I have set out today. Your lady says she wants a wealth tax, we changed Inheritance Tax. The Liberal Democrats voted against it full stop introduced VAT on private schools, liberal Democrats voted against it.

Either they are serious about investing in public services in which case they need to back the tax increases or they want to go down the route of the magic money tree opposite party where they will borrow more to pay for things. On the Winter Fuel Allowance, we have made our choice is clear, we will keep the means test but it will be paid to people with a pension of less than £35,000. Liberal Democrat wants to make it a universal benefit again.

Our that is just the Tories. They need to expect will pay for it. I appreciate that she welcomes our policies, but I would say that the job of the Chancellor and government is to make sure that the sums add up. We make difficult decisions last October but I stand by those decisions because without them today we would not be able to make the investment we have made in schools, in energy, deny health service. I'm proud of what we have achieved as a

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government, I'm proud of the investment we are putting in today. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. The Warm Homes Plan will mean The Warm Homes Plan will mean healthier homes, it will mean warmer homes. It will see lower bills and it will create jobs in communities across the country. It is a very good plan especially for those facing fuel poverty. The last
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lobbying for it. I do welcome the U-turn on the
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Leeds West and Pudsey, Labour)
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As the MP for Woking I represent the most bankrupt local authority in the country and therefore I was disappointed it appeared the Chancellor did not mention councils or local government once in her statement. I am more disappointed in the detail of the statement that the government is only investing an extra 1.1% in local government next year and the hereafter. What does the Chancellor say to councils across the country and to my

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investment? That is real terms increase in spending every year that this Labour government are giving to local government are giving to local authorities. That compares to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat administration from 2010-2015 that cut real spending by 2.9% per year. I am much happier to stand on my record than that of the Liberal record than that of the Liberal Democrats when they had a chance of

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being in government. I would like to thank the Chancellor for listening to the priorities of people in my constituency of Shipley and across the country in investing in schools. It was great to see examples of the free breakfast clubs in action free breakfast clubs in action recently. I am delighted to hear today that the Labour government will be putting some 2.3 billion into fixing crumbling schools. I visited a primary school where pupils were being taught in a temporary building with half the school out of action.

Can the Chancellor reassure those pupils in Elswick they can finally get back to Elswick they can finally get back to I would like to thank my honourable friend for the passion with which she speaks about schools. It is something I very much share. That is why we are rolling up breakfast clubs at primary schools. Why we are introducing free school meals for all children whose carers are on Universal Credit and putting real terms funding into schools and also in per-pupil funding.

It is why we are addressing the terrible situation of children being taught in temporary classrooms and crumbling schools. I will make sure the Department for Education hears about the experience in Shipley and hopefully ensure that school is on the list. My surgery in Ealing Southall last Friday and she showed me photos of the one bedroom she shares with her four children. Five of them sharing beds, living with black mould on the walls and all the kids having been hospitalised with no doubt related bronchial infection.

Temporary accommodation but she has been there accommodation but she has been there 10 years and it isn't unusual. Does the Chancellor agree that today's the Chancellor agree that today's record £39 billion investment in record £39 billion investment in social and affordable homes marks the end of conservative austerity and an end to their failure to build and an end to their failure to build and it will finally give hope to families stuck in damp, overcrowded accommodation in London and across the country?
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Leeds West and Pudsey, Labour)
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Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I also will be welcome the investment in the Midlands, it will mean 150 extra trains week through Burton and the investment of Rolls- Royce in the small modular reactors that will benefit my constituency and local jobs. She announced a huge package around transport and she will know that I have been pushing for improvements and infrastructure around Branston Bridge. Can she say more about what we will expect an

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announcement on the Road Investment Strategy? It sounds like it is a good day

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It sounds like it is a good day to be an MP in Burton. We are pleased to be able to make those investments both in the Midlands mainline hub, and also those investments in nuclear technology as well as the additional housing well as the additional housing investment that will go into Burton and places across the country. The allocation made to the Department allocation made to the Department for Transport and the Secretary of State will set out in due course, we

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State will set out in due course, we will be setting out more detail in the 10 year National Infrastructure Plan next week. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker.

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Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. 14 years of the Tories, 18 years of the SNP, have left many Scottish high Street in desperate need of high Street in desperate need of investment, including in my constituency. So I welcome the Chancellor's announcement today to invest in new community funds, bring the total UK government direct investment in Scottish local growth funding to almost £1.7 billion. Can funding to almost £1.7 billion. Can I ask my right honourable friend if she would agree to come to Paisley she would agree to come to Paisley to see why Paisley High Street deserves a slice of that very substantial pie?
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Anneliese Midgley Portrait Anneliese Midgley MP (Knowsley, Labour)
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be positioned in accordance with British standards. This government says it wants to raise standards and says it wants to raise standards and focus on delivery, so I have got a focus on delivery, so I have got a perfect bill for them. It is the letterbox positioning bill. Last letterbox positioning bill. Last Christmas, I visited the Royal Mail delivery office in my constituency. delivery office in my constituency. I watched our posties working flat out and it really hit home how hard they work whatever they weather.

Whatever the conditions, and I asked what could I do to help? They said sort out those low-level letterboxes. Because they are worried that one of these days, one of them could get a life changing injury just doing their job. Like Lancaster postie Anthony Quinn who lost the top of his finger after a dog lunged through a letterbox and bit him. He was just doing his job delivering the post. All the south London postie who was attacked by a letterbox locked onto his hand and wouldn't let go.

He suffered serious damage to his ring finger. He was just doing his job delivering the post. Like Wakefield postie Elaine white who lost the top of her finger in another attack. The damage was so bad the doctors could not reattach it. That's permanent, life altering. She was just doing her job delivering the post. During my visit to the delivery office, posties showed me scars and injuries from the dog attacks through letterboxes, and members across this house will have countless stories and first- hand experience of our campaigners getting dog bites delivering leaflets to low-level letterboxes.

Around 1000 of our posties have had their fingers partly or fully bitten off through a letterbox in the past five years. It is clear to me that letterboxes have reached a new low and it is time we in this house raise them. Because when a letterboxes down by your ankles, any dog can bite, draw blood or sever a finger or two. It is not just dog attacks. Low-level letterboxes forced our posties to steep repeatedly day in, day out.

We have all been there as we walked down the path and see a low-level letterbox, the heart sinks, the only thing lower than the letterbox is the mood of anyone who has to use one. Posties have to do this every single day dozens of times. And many of our posties get serious back problems and suffer back pain for years for their job. Royal Mail recorded over 18,000 back -related injuries in just one year. Some of these posties are with us in the gallery today.

Thank you for coming here and thank you for all you do for us. And their union, the CWU has campaigned for this change since 1958. Why hasn't it happened yet? A recent survey found that 97% reported issues with low-level letterboxes in new buildings, and 99% said, following the standard, that this bill would make a real difference. With letterboxes being 70 cm from the ground. This isn't just about protecting workers, that is obviously reason enough. It is also about the cost of inaction.

In 2022, back pain alone led to 154 lost days, costing them 60 million quid. Dog attacks lead to NHS treatment, police investigations and court cases. I would like to thank the members that have co-sponsored this bill. It is also a change supported by posties up and down the country, the Royal Mail itself, and across this house. Because it was former Conservative member for Chelmsford who bore forward a similar bill in the last Parliament which had widespread support.

I would like to pay tribute to her and the work that she did. I would like to pay tribute as well to my friend from Corby and East Northamptonshire sitting next to me who is himself a former postie and CWU regional secretary. And I know that this is something that will unite us all because when I ask a question on this issue some months ago, in this chamber, there were cries of here here from across the house. That's rare. This should be a simple fix because the current British standard is that a letterbox height should be at least 70 cm off the ground.

Right now it is advisory. This bill would make it mandatory. This isn't about asking people to change their existing doors or letterboxes. This bill is just about low-level letterboxes are new buildings, residential and commercial. This Labour government will build 1.5 million homes this parliament, and I welcome the chances announcement of 39 billion to help the social and affordable housing. But let's make sure they are built right. So the posties don't go to work in fear of injury. Let's build them without burdening our public services with the cost of those injuries.

As a Labour government, we take our duty to look after working people seriously. And this bill will do just that. Loads of other countries like Ireland, Portugal and Belgium have already banned low-level letterboxes. Why are we behind them? Let's catch up with our neighbours on this. Let's raise the bar or height literally on letterboxes. It'll save pay, prevent injury and cut costs. It's the right thing to do for the people who deliver our post, a part of our community, and to look after us day in, day out, and we will never forget the role that they played during the COVID pandemic.

Because our consideration for our posties health and safety at work should be best pass, so I asked the house to give this bill the stamp of approval and get it signed, sealed, delivered.

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Is a frequent visitor, I am

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Is a frequent visitor, I am particularly invested in this legislation. The question is that this member has leave to bring in this member has leave to bring in the bill? The eyes have it. Who will

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prepare and bring in the bill? Lee Barron, Charlie Dewhirst,

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Lee Barron, Charlie Dewhirst, Colin Eastwood, Louise Haigh, Sally Colin Eastwood, Louise Haigh, Sally Jameson, Joe Morris, Sarah Owen, Laurence Turner, Chris Webb, Michael

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Keep Keep it Keep it straight Keep it straight now.

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Keep it straight now. Letterbox positioning bill.

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Second reading, what day? 11th of

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Second reading, what day? 11th of July 2025. Marvellous. We now go on July 2025. Marvellous. We now go on to the afternoons business, and to the afternoons business, and colleagues will quickly exit the chamber very quickly and very

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quietly. Sustainable aviation fuel bill,
15:45
None Portrait Legislation: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill: Second Reading
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Sustainable aviation fuel bill,

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Sustainable aviation fuel bill, Minister to move second reading, Secretary of State, Heidi Alexander.

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Secretary of State, Heidi Alexander. I beg to move that this bill be
15:45
Heidi Alexander Portrait Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, The Secretary of State for Transport (Swindon South, Labour)
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I beg to move that this bill be read a second time. On a day when the Chancellor has set out the determination of the government to deliver a decade of national deliver a decade of national renewal, I am proud to stand before the House to make good on our promise to deliver a sustainable aviation sector. If we are once again to be an outward, confident trading nation, connected to the world and leading the way on innovation, we must run as fast as we can towards a greener, cleaner future for flying.

The bill before us today will enable us to do precisely that. We do not have time to waste. It is why... I will give

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way. Could the Secretary of State

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Could the Secretary of State agree that there is a part of this bill that would cut aviation emissions by demand management and if it is to be public money spent on if it is to be public money spent on the system, at the least, it should be raised from the most frequent flyers in private jets?

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flyers in private jets? I think we fundamentally differ on this issue of demand because I think the mind is only going in one way and it is our moral responsibility, if we are going to have more people in disguise, to reduce carbon emissions responsible reduce carbon emissions responsible for that. We have no time to waste and when it comes to aviation, this and when it comes to aviation, this government has rolled up its sleeves and got on with the job, putting an end to the debtor and delay of the past.

-- Dither. We have approved the expansion of the airport and made plans for 1/3 runway at Heathrow and I will make announcements on Gatwick extension as soon as possible. We then invested in aviation with the help given to reopen Doncaster and Sheffield and the work to strengthen connectivity around Liverpool John Lennon but also by putting £1 billion towards your space technology. We have introduced the sustainable aviation fuel mandate and provided £63 million to the Advancing Fuel Fund helping the industry prepare for a sustainable future.

Last week, we kickstarted the largest redesign of UK air space since the 1950s, paving the way for fewer flights, fewer delays, more direct routes. This is what governing growth looks like.

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I welcome this bill coming forward today with regard to creating a mechanism to increase supply of sustainable if fuel and supply of sustainable if fuel and with that look. -- Sustainable if fuel. We all have quicker and fuel. We all have quicker and quieter aviation and flights with that.

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that. My honourable friend is right to highlight the benefits of cracking on and delivering modernisation. It could mean more direct flights and less use of carbon but also noise benefits for beneath his close to benefits for beneath his close to airports. -- For communities that are close to airports. We are determined to make progress on this issue. Our belief that our success is an island nation rests on international connectivity is ironclad. The flow of trade, exporting British expertise, the movement of people for business and leisure, they all depend on aviation continuing to grow.

We could put our continuing to grow. We could put our head in the sand and pretend people do not want to fly or that the sector does not support hundreds of thousands of jobs or that people do not look forward to foreign holidays, family reunions, that air freight is not a significant part of trade value but we would be on the wrong side of both reality and public aspiration. The truth is that demand for places only going in one direction.

According to the CAA, passenger levels were 70% higher in 2024 than the previous year. If we do not set up aviation for long-term success, we do not just make yourself more pure today but kiss goodbye opportunities in decades to come, opportunities to contribute. I am clear that I want a future where more passengers can take to the skies, not less. Like the rest of the economy, that must mean emitting less carbon and not more. This bill will help to secure that future and it builds on the fantastic work across government and industry, led by my honourable friend, the by my honourable friend, the Aviation Minister which saw the SAF man did come into effect earlier this year.

As we move towards a future of green flags, we know that sustainable aviation fuel or SAF is one of the best options, emitting 70% less greenhouse gas than fossil fuels, being able to be used in existing infrastructure and aircraft engines, and it is now backed by a mandate that is ambitious. 10% SAF in the fuel mix by 2030, 22% by 2040. I want as much as possible to be made in the UK. be made in the UK.



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Demanded, which we love, -- the mandate only because the 22% by 2040 and the Chancellor wants a third and the Chancellor wants a third runway by 2035 and that could mean more aviation jobs in my more aviation jobs in my constituency and so do they agree we should not proceed with Heathrow should not proceed with Heathrow expansion before we can turbocharge the SAF mandate and bring it down further?

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We have been clear we will only permit the expansion planet is permit the expansion planet is consistent with legally binding climate change targets. SAF is one way to meet aviation cleaner and the work we're doing on new technology and the development of aircraft alongside work on modernisation is alongside work on modernisation is all connected to how we bring emissions down and I point out to the honourable lady that the expansion of Heathrow has been modelled in relation to the budget already.

We are talking about the mandate and a loan that is not enough. -- That alone. Creating demand but not supply does not get us to where we want to be and referred concerns from the industry and there is risk and uncertainty in terms of investment and that is why we are doing the city. This bill creates a revenue certainty mechanism that will boost production of SAF by giving investors confidence to choose the UK.

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I declare an interest as a pilot but I spoke to one of the would-be but I spoke to one of the would-be producers and the primary concern with respect to the strike price mechanism she is talking about is mechanism she is talking about is how that will be set, and the input after that and so could she address that when she is talking through the

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that when she is talking through the mechanism question mark There is more detail design work to do on all of that and we are working alongside industry to make sure we have got a workable sure we have got a workable proposition. I was setting out that this bill creates that revenue this bill creates that revenue certainty mechanism to boost SAF production and give investors production and give investors confidence in the UK. It does do this by addressing one of the this by addressing one of the biggest barriers to investment, the lack of a clear and predictable market price for SAF and that starts with a guaranteed price agreed between the government-owned counterparty and the producer of SAF.

If it is sold for under this price, the counterparty will be the difference to the producer. If it is sold for above the price, the producer will pay the difference to the counterparty. The revenue certainty mechanism will be funded by industry, specifically through a levy on aviation fuel suppliers. This makes sense for two reasons. Firstly, the industry will benefit from cheaper SAF production and so it is only right that they and not the taxpayer should fund it. Secondly, placing the levy higher up the supply chain spreads the cost throughout the sector and is the least burdensome option.

It's important to note that the revenue certainty mechanism is not definite but will be targeted and time- limited to get first of a kind UK projects of the kind. The sunset clause means we can only offer new contracts for 10 years unless extended by a further procedure. Throughout, you will have a firm grip on costs. -- we. We will decide the number and duration of contracts, limit support to producers of SAF and negotiate acceptable prices.

There is no obligation of the government to enter into a defined number of contracts are to agree contracts at any cost. I am aware some members may be concerned about the impact on passengers and so to reassure colleagues, none of this will limit the ability of people to fly. We expect minimal changes to your fears with -- to fares with an average increase of £1.50 per year to an average ticket. This is part of a great deal of consultation with the industry.

Airlines are calling for this, airports, SAF producers, environmental organisations. This government is therefore hitting on with delivering it.

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I am sure we wish the government well into what it is trying to do well into what it is trying to do and I gather that the International Air Transport Association highlighted that at the moment the airline fuel is five times the cost of conventional jet fuel. Can she explain how measures in the bill bill bridge the gap to make it economical?

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economical? There is constrained supply at the moment and we have one commercial production facility in commercial production facility in the UK at Immingham at the moment and ready to bring investor confidence and there are demonstration contracts in sustainable fuel around the country sustainable fuel around the country and we will supply lower prices which is good for the aviation sector and will be good for those who wish to fly as well. I think it is worth taking a moment to reiterate what is at stake here.

When UK production of low carbon fuel is up and running, it could support up to 15,000 green jobs, contribute £5 billion a year to the economy, and deliver clean, secure energy. What's more, fulfilling the SAF mandate could save up to 2.7 megatons of CO2 equivalent a year by 2030. Seizing these opportunities will ensure we deliver on the bold plan for change and ensure that in the race towards sustainable flights, the UK and the world class aviation sector is leading the way.

If I may conclude with this, we cannot be open for business as a country, open to investment and growth, yet have a closed mind when it comes to international connectivity. This bill is a clear signal that we will not accept a false trade of that pits growth against the commitment to net zero. We can and must do both. We have an opportunity of a lifetime and I believe in the moral mission to future proof aviation. When the sector succeeds it is not only a source of growth through trade, business, tourism, but a source of joy, aspiration, opportunity.

It is as vital today as it will be for future generations. They will need to fly, explore the world, do business and that requires us to act now. That is what the bill does and I commend it to the House. I commend it to the House.
15:59
Gareth Bacon Portrait Gareth Bacon MP (Orpington, Conservative)
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The question is that the bill be read a second time and I call the

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shadow minister. Let me begin by setting out an

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Let me begin by setting out an unambiguous truth. Aviation is vital to the British economy and was a cornerstone of national infrastructure in terms of competitiveness and connectivity. competitiveness and connectivity. When it comes to the amount of aviation in the economy, figures speak for themselves. Aviation speak for themselves. Aviation contributes £52 billion to UK DDP, supporting many jobs across the country including 341,000 people working directly in aviation from air traffic controllers, aerospace air traffic controllers, aerospace engineers, and 350,000 jobs in the engineers, and 350,000 jobs in the supply chain and 269,000 supporters.

It delivers nearly £8.7 billion in tax revenue and aerospace tax revenue and aerospace manufacturing adds a further £9 billion to GDP and £10 billion when you include supply chain. 197 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of freight move through the airports each year and the economic case is therefore unanswerable. In short, this thriving industry, with clear benefit to the country, is one that we must all support. The Conservative Party has Roberts recognised the strategic importance of aviation but unlike the current government, we also understand the damage that can be done and I regret to say we have seen 20 other issues with the liver government over the last year, alongside the National Insurance jobs tax putting pressure on businesses and working people left £3500 a year worse off.

The decision to hike the air passenger duty also threatens the industry and it will be our confirms the rises planned by the Chancellor will increase an extra £555 million of tax over five years, pushing up the cost for businesses and passengers I regret to say, in a speech that will have common ground with the secretary of speech, Labour's handling of the desire to expand aviation raises more questions than answers. The decision to approve a second term at Luton airport, which we support, is going to be judicially approved.

The proposal to Gatwick has been kicked down the road. Rising reasons, and support for 1/3 runway at Heathrow is no more credible. In the latter proposal, the Chancellor has promised that spades and the ground in this parliament, but that ambition looks very far-fetched because there are substantial logistical and financial barriers to its construction, and so far, the government has provided no solutions on these points, so we will be watching of elements in the next few weeks with considerable interest. It is against this backdrop that we come to the bills before us today.

When we entered opposition, we made it clear that we were not opposed to government for the sake of it. We made it clear that where government forces would come in, we would welcome them. We will not divide the house at second reading. This bill is a logical follow-on from the statutory information passed last year which came into effect January this year, and having mandated that airlines will be required to have the specified 2% in the case of this year rising to 10% in 20 in the case of this year rising to 10% in 2030, it is logical that we take steps to ensure adequate levels of fuel.

And while the mandate requires the consumption, it is a new technology and its production carries no risk to investors. Encouraging the developer to the past required is the purpose of this bill and to a large degree, it is a continuation of the policy of the previous government. In 2023, it was the last government committed to a revenue mechanism, as early 2024, we published the details with plans for a guaranteed strike price model to give moderators. We didn't do it because there was something called a general election that followed shortly thereafter.

As has been outlined, under this model, when the market price falls below a guaranteed strike price, producers will be topped up and when it rises above, they will pay it back. It is a system that mirrors a successful contract in offshore wind. The economic benefits could be considerable. A cost benefit analysis produced before the general election suggested that the industry could produce more to the economy and creative 10,000 jobs in the country. But more fundamentally, it is a project of what we know works.

As a secretary of state also said in her speech, can be blended with conventional gel used in existing aircraft. The capability exists. The challenge is not scientific. It is economic. And that is where the concept of a revenue mechanism was one of the six pillars in the previous government's jet zero strategy, an introduction of a mechanism which has wide support in the industry as outlined by the Secretary of State. But let me be clear, while we will not propose this legislation this evening, we will carefully scrutinise this bill as it progresses through the house, and in that spirit, there are some questions which I will put to the Minister which I hope you will be able to address in his summing up later on.

The first is about passengers. In the press release announcing the bill, the government said that the mechanism would keep ticket prices minimal, and I quote again, as a Secretary of State said in his speech, keeping fluctuations to £1.50 a year on average. Perhaps the Minister can outline in his speech on what this figure is based. Do the governments stand by this? Is it a commitment or a rough estimate? The second question is about what type the government produces. While the mandate permits the use of heifer staff for power to liquid SAF in later years, the bulk of it to be developed and used under the terms of the mandate is second-generation SAF which is to be made from municipal waste, nonedible crops, and woody biomass.

The UK is a small island with insufficient land to enjoy self-sufficient food security, nor the ability to grow new Forest at scale. Does the Minister think we will be self-sufficient? If not, what proportion of the necessary ingredients we need to import? Connected to this, it comes into force incrementally despite there being no domestic generation, and low levels of second-generation produced globally, removing it through imports. This risks making the cost of hitting mandates very high indeed because suppliers will soon be forced to buy out of their mandate obligations, a significant cost that we passed onto airlines without delivering any decarbonisation benefit at all.

All the government consider revising the timelines, phasing it out to bring it more in line with the timescales of domestic second-generation SAP production in order to minimise the cost for passengers? The next area of interest is around planning. The plants the covenant are seeking to encourage investment in will be large, and as the Minister knows, large developments tend to attract a lot of local opposition, relating to planning enquiries, judicial reviews, vast expense and years of delay before any construction work begins.

If this doesn't change, the revenue mechanism may not be sufficient to attract investors, so what will the government be doing to minimise delays in the planning process? Next, timescales. When will the first contracts be awarded? Will there be a timetable for reaching for mandate compliance? The issue of the strike price is critical to the success of the proposal. What criteria will be used to set the strike price? Will the methodology be published and will there be regular reviews? And finally, when the government commit to regular reporting to Parliament on industry take-up, capacity, and cost trajectory to ensure that this bill remains accountable in time? The importance of this bill is clear.

Back in UK production for fuel is necessary if we are to meet our goals without undermining the competitiveness of the aviation sector, but let me be clear, as this bill moves through the house, we will continue to look closely at the detail and press for changes where necessary where improvements can be made to ensure that the scheme delivers on its promise.
16:08
Ruth Cadbury Portrait Ruth Cadbury MP (Brentford and Isleworth, Labour)
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I would like to start by thanking transport security for her speech and the Minister for coming to speak to the transport committee earlier this year on aviation and wider things. And I welcome the introduction of this bill and was also pleased to hear the remarks of the opposition shadow secretary. It will play an important role in our work to decarbonise our aviation work to decarbonise our aviation sector. 7% of our gastric bills come from domestic flights, and this will increase by 11% in 2030, and 16% by 2035.

We all know the huge challenges around decarbonising innovation, and this is a much needed step to address this. I'm glad the government are taking action, and I know that many in the industry want to ensure it is operational as soon as possible. As I'm sure the transport sector will appreciate, there are a few questions about the bill I have, which I'm sure will also be raised at later stages of the progress of this bill. But I want to start by saying that it is rare where there is a bellwether is so much agreement.

Every major airline has mentioned their support and there is widespread agreement that we need a price certainty mechanism. It is a sign that this government has been pragmatic, working with business and with the case of SAF, working to ensure that we have domestic capacity here in the UK. I'm glad that this bill will start to move us away from our dependency on imported fossil fuels. Particularly for fossil fuels. Particularly for aviation, and this house meant that in 2022, we had to spend over £35 million bailing out our energy market, and it leaves us reliant on the whims and autocratic regimes across the world.

We need to move away from this costly model, and in turn bring investment into our regions, growth to our economy and much needed tax revenue for our Treasury. I'm glad that the UK government is working to make sure that we continue to lead in decarbonisation, and towards reducing our emissions in line with Paris Agreement. One point I do want to touch on though is the nature of SAF that we will be using. The first and second generations of SAF are made from waste.

The first from used cooking oils predominantly, and the second from waste such as household black bin waste. So, where does the government see this waste coming from in future? How does this tie into our efforts to reduce our residual black bin bag waste and wider efforts to reduce the waste we have produced. And isn't a large part of our household waste already going to energy plants, providing electricity that we rely on. I know there is a lot of support for SAF in America, as with ethanol, it offers a huge chance for large-scale agricultural businesses to profit off the sale of their waste and their oil, and ethanol is produced often in the same plants as SAF, so in seeking to secure domestic production of SAF, what will the challenges the US, UK trade agreement potentially mean to our biofuel industry and their impact on their ability to transition to produce SAF? Has the Department modelled the economic and environmental impact of providing resources for second-generation SAF, and what is the timescale to bring on third-generation SAF? On the timing of the bill, one issue raised timing of the bill, one issue raised with me is whether companies looking at producing SAF will be able to enter negotiations with the government before this bill reaches the statute book, and I understand this has been the case for the mechanism for renewable energy products when negotiations began early to ensure that investment is locked in.

I know that we need to see changes in aviation to meet our really ambitious climate goals. Now that aviation and shipping are included in our carbon budget, this is even more important, and I hope the government will also look beyond SAF when thinking about decarbonising aviation. SAF is not and will not be the silver bullet solution to the sector's

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responsibility to this country's decarbonisation strategy. I think my honourable friend for

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I think my honourable friend for giving way, and she represents a west London constituency and Brent west London constituency and Brent vent and eyes are worth close to my own constituency in Ealing Southall, own constituency in Ealing Southall, and she will know that while our constituents absolutely support the work towards a more sustainable air work towards a more sustainable air industry, that they also want to see work to reduce the noise we see in London from the airline industry, and she agree that the industry must and she agree that the industry must also look at new planes, quieter also look at new planes, quieter planes, and also as spate modernisation for those communities?

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modernisation for those communities? Yes, my friend and neighbour is absolutely right, and I know that the plane manufacturers, the engine manufacturers are continuing to work, as they have done for decades on both quieter and less polluting aircraft, but sometimes there is attention between those two, and certainly, as space modernisation won't make a lot of difference to my constituency on landing aircraft, but overall, air space modernisation will also play a part in reducing emissions and also flight times for passengers as well.

So, as I said, SAF is not and won't be the silver bullet solution to aviation's responsibility to decarbonisation. The Climate Change Committee warned this Parliament that relying on SAF alone was high-risk. For example, Heathrow airport is already the single greatest source of carbon emissions in the UK, and the current plans for expansion will add an extra 89 megatons of CO2 a year. And if the government to expand Heathrow, then it will mean that other airports across the UK will face having to make cuts to ensure that aviation didn't breach its carbon targets, or furthermore, as continuing increases in aviation emissions growth, we will have that offset against significant cuts and omissions in other sectors, so I asked the transport secretary what is the government doing to address When the transport committee looked at SAF in the last Parliament, we found there was significant potential and then order a support across the House for reduced carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.

I know as the chair of the committee how widespread the support throughout the sector as for decarbonisation and many companies are ahead for the future. In conclusion, this country needs to stay ahead of the game internationally and I am glad that by introducing this bill the government is showing commitment and investing in UK industry and showing

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sustainability. I would like to thank the secretary of her speech and congratulate the aviation minister for bringing this bill forward. The for bringing this bill forward. The challenge facing the aviation sector, as with the entire economy is decarbonisation. Reaching net zero 2050 is essential but given the zero 2050 is essential but given the scale of the challenge, it is clear that it will not be easy in that it will not be easy in aviation. The SAF have an important aviation.

The SAF have an important role to play in this and we welcome this new certainty mechanism which has long been called for by many in has long been called for by many in the industry and is important in ensuring the SAF mandate is feasible and achievable for Ellis. Providing guaranteed revenue will be key to unlocking investment in the sector. It will help to stimulate private capital at this early stage and support the ambition of the UK to become a global leader in
16:18
Paul Kohler Portrait Mr Paul Kohler MP (Wimbledon, Liberal Democrat)
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development and production of SAF. It will generate jobs and economic activity across the country. My activity across the country. My party supports this bill but there are still important questions, particularly with scrutiny of the mechanism, international alliance, a mechanism, international alliance, a wider strategy for decarbonisation wider strategy for decarbonisation within aviation. The bill sets out broad principles for the mechanism but leaves much detailed to secondary legislation and discretion of ministers and to a degree this is understandable. We are in the early understandable.

We are in the early stage of SAF technology and so flexibility is crucial and necessary. The government must ensure that Parliament has adequate opportunity to scrutinise opportunity to scrutinise development of the mechanism in the sector more broadly. Given the sector more broadly. Given the importance of SAF for achieving net zero in aviation, it is vital be house is regularly updated on the progress of the industry and the mechanism that is necessary. It is especially important in light of previous government promises to kickstart the SAF industry.

Promises are yet to materialise. In 2022, the Conservative Party promised five SAF plants up and running by 2025 but they have failed to deliver and so I will push at the committee stage the bill to increase the level of scrutiny. It's crucial the UK what is working collaboratively with international partners on net zero aviation technologies. Criteria for what qualifies as SAF and the level of different technology that should be used differs between the UK and the EU with its jurisdiction prioritising different fuel types at different times.

Given the inherent need in the sector, closely aligning with the UK and other key partners is essential to foster growth in the industry and ensure sufficient levels of SAF production internationally to support the transition. Governments must work closely with the EU and others to ensure the framework dovetails together. And while we welcome the bill, it's important to acknowledge that SAF alone will not be enough to decarbonise aviation, as was made clear by the chair. SAF can significantly reduce density of air travel but the flights will not be carbon neutral.

Many necessary emission reductions will need to come from other areas. By the and's own estimates, SAF could cut emissions by 6.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2040 and that is not all. Due to growth, this is only a 0.8% reduction in overall aviation emissions compared to today. While the Liberal Democrats support the bill, we continue to urge the government to take more significant action to decarbonise the industry. Plans for airport expansion are on the table and so the government must articulate how net zero will be

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achieved by 2050. I would like to share my thanks

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I would like to share my thanks to the Secretary of State and the aviation Minister for their aviation Minister for their engagement while bringing this legislation forward. The bill is legislation forward. The bill is vital, not only to meet national climate commitment but to ensure continued strong regional economic growth, such as in my constituency growth, such as in my constituency of North Somerset, where Bristol airport, which is a beacon in the airport, which is a beacon in the mission to sustainable aviation, is look at it.

It has demonstrated real look at it. It has demonstrated real leadership in the space and in March 2021, it became the first UK customer of BP to supply sustainable customer of BP to supply sustainable
16:22
Sadik Al-Hassan Portrait Sadik Al-Hassan MP (North Somerset, Labour)
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aviation fuel and Jet2 also got ahead of the game and they have reduced emissions by an astounding 70%. In recognition of leadership in the area, in December, the the area, in December, the government made the wise decision to appoint Bristol airport to the net zero task force so they can share years of experience and expertise. Leadership and vision shown by Leadership and vision shown by institutions such as Bristol Airport are laudable and necessary to reach are laudable and necessary to reach net zero by 2050.

Aviation is an economic domestic success story in recent decades, contributing £40 recent decades, contributing £40 billion annually to the UK economy and £20 billion and exports and and £20 billion and exports and supporting over 500,000 jobs across the country and with 60% of members of the House having 500 or more constituents working in aerospace, aviation, or the wider supply chain and so I will not be alone and recognising how vital the economic future of our country and how vital it is to the economic future of the country to ensure the industry remains a success.

The ugly truth is the sector accounts for 7% of total emissions and if we are to decarbonise the aviation industry while ensuring flying remains affordable and accessible, it is innovation such as sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen that will bring a return. As the SAF mandate , demand in use, domestic production of the light behind but the revenue certainty mechanism of the bill is therefore essential. Learning from therefore essential. Learning from the success that Contracts for Difference is made, this will unlock UK production with the certainty mechanism, providing 74 investors and with 60,000 jobs created by 2050.

In Somerset, the government continues to balance the need to support regional economic growth while meeting commitments and that news would be welcome indeed. I look forward to seeing what else this bill will deliver in years to come., the UK has a real opportunity to lead the world in Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill and this will scale up domestic SAF production and achieve just that. There is that UNC is located close to Luton airport and it is so rapidly expanding upon.

-- My constituency is located. It will bring huge economic benefits and jobs for thousands of constituents and better metrics for business and leisure. It will bring will deter people to the Universal you getting proper to mention every time I stand and will play a key role in economic. It's important to mention airports like Luton but it's important that expansion happens sustainably as possible, ensuring we get as many benefits and as few harms as possible. This is subject of a current environmental audit committee inquiry which I was
16:25
Blake Stephenson Portrait Blake Stephenson MP (Mid Bedfordshire, Conservative)
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pleased to have secured which is investigating how the government can deliver the airport expansion of our deliver the airport expansion of our meeting this legally baiting climate target. Some, like the Climate Change Committee say it is not Change Committee say it is not possible and the government will have to square that circle. Around have to square that circle. Around 7% of greenhouse gas is from aviation the UK so we should not aviation the UK so we should not underestimate the challenge.

It is underestimate the challenge. It is clear that sustainable aviation fuels are part of the picture. In my constituency, Cranfield University constituency, Cranfield University and local industry are working at the cutting edge of developing new technologies in this area. I have heard from them and other experts heard from them and other experts about the potential in British-made aviation fuels and I've learned about second-generation SAF, not about second-generation SAF, not something I thought I would get into this time last year which turns the waste that we all put in our black beans every week to power us on beans every week to power us on adventures of.

-- bins. If we get sustainable aviation fuel rate, we can create and support thousands of highly skilled jobs in places like mantle. For me, doing more to stimulate the development of SAF is an obvious to economic. Could the Minister perhaps reflect on the global market position and explain how the mechanism compares to other approaches and give assurance to measures in the bill will be enough to avoid the UK aviation industry needing to import SAF from abroad? It would be a huge missed opportunity to little painted mechanism and related policies have not been ambitious enough, leaving foreign countries to benefit from domestic matters.

One thing that strikes me immediately and is worthy of thought and which the Minister might wish to comment on is the point on black bin waste and if you could take the waste heading to landfill and use it to power landfill and use it to power aircraft, that would be good. The clearing by interest as a counsellor, with the Minister consider the merit of including in this bill or elsewhere the requirement for the Secretary of State to provide local authorities with guidance on how to take advantage of the opportunity to help in the national effort to scale up production.

Unless it is financially negative for them to do so, would it not be sensible and pragmatic to use household waste in this way, rather than heading to landfill and incinerators Quetta finally, a few questions for the Minister on the cost of this. Times are tight the many constituents. Air passenger duty is the highest tax in the world in the UK. It will see an increase of 9% per year on average to a massive over £6 billion in 2020-30.

On top of that, is estimated to raise the cost of ticketed travel and this impact stems from the levy and the administration costs and I know ministers say the increase is modest but that is why some might prefer the government to have taken forward an alternative funding mechanism such as through the industry contribution to the emissions trading scheme. I'm not saying the government should take that approach but it would be worthwhile to explain why they have taken this approach. Reflecting that this bill at the cost of it come on top of decisions in the Autumn Budget to increase air passenger duty, Candi Minister provide any assurance that hard-working constituents that this bill will not cover them with higher prices to jet

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off on -- can the. Family holiday? Thank you. I refer the House to my register of business interests. my register of business interests. As a proud advocate of UK aviation, it is a pleasure to speak in support of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill today and I would like to add Bill today and I would like to add my thanks to the Aviation Minister for his support of UK aviation and his leadership in the sector. By backing the industry with the revenue certainty mechanism, it will turbocharge the production of UK SAF, reducing reliance on imports SAF, reducing reliance on imports and generating jobs up and down the country.

As one of the most carbon-
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Baggy Shanker Portrait Baggy Shanker MP (Derby South, Labour )
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country. As one of the most carbon- intensive forms of transport and one of the hardest to decarbonise, it's vital to get it right on aviation. vital to get it right on aviation. The alternative and crucially alternative aviation fuels will help to set the future of the product because without a decarbonise aviation sector, there will be no net zero. Decarbonising will ensure future generations can enjoy the opportunities of air travel without compromising the help of the planet. -- Health.

It will ensure we benefit from growth and there is the massive 6000 jobs which East Midlands Airport support. In Derby, we are making bold strides towards the net-0 future and I'm proud Rolls- Royce has moved quickly to confirm the compatibility of long hole aircraft engines in the widebody and business jet sector, with 100% SAF usage. I know that the Derby factories will continue to clear certificate role in shaping the future of the industry for years to come. We recognise decarbonisation will not be without challenges.

Sustainable aviation fuels offer an innovative and practical solution to the challenge. SAF made from waste would emit a staggering 18% less carbon than burning conventional jet This is what the bill recognises and it is a bold call forward to sustain a sustainable future, and I am proud to be supporting it.

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Thank you. As the chair of the APPG for the future of aviation, travel and aerospace, I very much travel and aerospace, I very much welcome this step to push the industry into the future and into a sustainable one. I would encourage sustainable one. I would encourage members in this house to join the APPG and come onto meetings if you want to find out more about want to find out more about sustainable and the future of sustainable and the future of aviation.

So, as working into the industry for 16 years and studying aeronautical engineering before aeronautical engineering before that, it would have been remiss for me to come to the chamber and share with you my expertise on the with you my expertise on the subject, but I will try not to bore you. I very much welcome the support for future technology and investment for future technology and investment that has been announced previously from the government, and we have a massive and historical expertise here in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in aviation, and we really must grasp this opportunity to develop those skills and develop that technology further.

It is an incredible opportunity and we really need to grasp it. I will just pick up a comment from the Minister in her opening statement about aerospace modernisation because that is very much relevant to the
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Luke Taylor Portrait Luke Taylor MP (Sutton and Cheam, Liberal Democrat)
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discussion here today in that we must grasp the opportunities of air space modernisation which have the potential to deliver shorter, more direct, more efficient flight direct, more efficient flight routes, but as MPs, we must engage with the process. We must understand and learn about how this is and learn about how this is happening around us because it is inevitable, but we must get the best for our communities. We must for our communities. We must understand and engage with the process as it goes along.

This is an process as it goes along. This is an incredible opportunity. The technologies that we have today, we technologies that we have today, we have heard about the APPG over the last few months. One of those is last few months. One of those is Euro Avia which is flying in the UK. Euro Avia which is flying in the UK. It is a hydrogen fuel cell and with electrical propulsion that actually allows zero emission flight, and as my honourable member for Wimbledon previously mentioned, this is only a steppingstone to truly zero emission flights that we really need to capture.

And forgive me for boring you slightly, the equations that I learned about in my degree, these equations mean that it is the reason why it will take off at 580 tons when it takes off in London and landed in Sydney around 340 tons because the burning of the fuel throughout its journey means that it is able to maintain the range and maintain the flight levels that the burden of the fuel and the reduction of the wake requires, and that is one of the reasons why liquid fuel will almost always be required for very long haul flights no matter how far we progress with hydrogen and electrical power plants for short and medium haul flights, so I think this really does amplify the need for not just the current second- generation fuel production but looking at alternative fuel sources such as algae derived SAF, and the point has been made previously about the reduction in residual waste which is the current fuel source of biodiesel for the development of SAF, and as those sources to increase and the cost potentially increases, we need to be looking at carbon sources of SAF.

I will not bore you more, but in closing, I would just echo the words of my honourable friend and the member for Wimbledon and of my party, to encourage the Minister to go further and faster to achieve the truly zero carbon and lower noise aviation technology so that we can continue to enjoy the incredible freedoms and opportunities both in economic activity, jobs, skills, trade, and the broad horizons that aviation has offered us for more than a century, and long may that continue.



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Order, order. I will now announce the result of the deferred the result of the deferred divisions. On the draft contract of difference miscellaneous amendments number two regulations 2025, the number two regulations 2025, the eyes were 350, the nose were 176, so eyes were 350, the nose were 176, so the eyes have it. Now we return to the sustainable aviation fuel bill second reading.

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second reading. Thank you. Since entering this place almost a year ago now, I have
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Sally Jameson Portrait Sally Jameson MP (Doncaster Central, Labour )
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place almost a year ago now, I have proudly been a part of the campaign led by my honourable friend, the memo for Doncaster east to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport and unleash the economic potential that exists on the surrounding land for it to be a sustainable aviation fuel. Our airport is a source of pride for us all in Doncaster and South Yorkshire. We are all eagerly anticipating the first flight of holidaymakers, but also and more importantly, we are looking for the high skill high wage jobs, not just the people in Doncaster in South Yorkshire today, but for young people for generations to come.

And that is why myself, the right honourable member for Doncaster North, the Honourable member for North caster East, the right honourable member football Marsh and Oliver, hard and the whole of South Yorkshire was delighted that this Labour government backed £30 million of devolved funding into our airport. And I want to thank the Secretary of State and the Minister for aviation for their support in our area and in our potential. A government which prioritises growth must make sure it is felt in every

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corner of the country. I thank my friend and neighbour

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I thank my friend and neighbour for what she has said today. She agree there is a real potential for farmers to contribute by looking at farmers to contribute by looking at winter crops for the economy that winter crops for the economy that helps the local economy grow further with new kinds of jobs, but for those people leaving the rural areas as well.

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as well. I agree with the honourable member, and I think things like this Bill, it is not just about a narrow Bill, it is not just about a narrow element of sustainable aviation, it is about what we can do in the shared endeavour to make our aviation sustainable going forward. And if the growth agenda of this And if the growth agenda of this government is going to be a success, it must be felt in every corner of the country, including Doncaster in South Yorkshire, and with our airport investment, the backing from the Prime Minister which was reiterated today by the Chancellor that this government has proven it will do just that.

As a Secretary of State said, low carbon fuel could sustain jobs and contribute £5 billion to the economy by 2050. The sustainable aviation fuels bill is a promising boost to our ambition in Doncaster to create a sustainable aviation hub linked to our airport, proving despite what opposition fences say, the green agenda and the agenda of sustainability is firmly woven and essential to the regeneration of areas that have been forgotten like mine, the industries of the future, and the jobs for young people as well as the security of the nation.

The Bills revenue certainty mechanism widens opportunities for innovators, entrepreneurs, and produces a fuel which will propel our aviation industry to world-class levels and help us to become world leaders in an emerging market that will benefit our economy, our industry, and our climate, and perhaps most importantly, this critical infrastructure is sorely needed in Doncaster and across the country to bring about the high skill highway jobs for constituents across South Yorkshire. So I know our airport will be a champion for the government's aviation fuel ambitions

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and so will live. The SNP welcomes this Bill which will support the expanding use of sustainable aviation fuel. We view that as an important action amongst that as an important action amongst the range of actions that need to meet moral obligations to reduce carbon and support global efforts to carbon and support global efforts to tackle climate change. It has played
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Graham Leadbitter Portrait Graham Leadbitter MP (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, Scottish National Party)
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tackle climate change. It has played an important role in the use of SAF being the first airport space for routine operations for green hunters and the squadrons. The RAF has conducted flights with 100% aircraft, and group captains of the RAF have stated that the use of sustainable aviation fuel represents a significant milestone in the RAF turning towards mitigate towards climate change by instigating sustainable practices and operations that we are not only enhancing the ability to protect the nation but also contributing to a more sustainable future for generations to come.

There are some very ambitious targets in the RAF to reduce aviation carbon emissions, and I welcome those. Inverness airport is publicly owned by airports Ltd and responsible to the Scottish Government. They offer this for work toward Scottish Government is to liberally ambitious goal of creating the world's first net-zero aviation region by 2040. Offshore supply flights are one of the most promising parts of the aviation sector for potential. We have the lion share of flights from Aberdeen airport and it is vital that we see production of SAF in Scotland.

AGS airports supply SAF since 2022, helping offshore industries to reduce emissions, and 2021, one of the first fully flights in the UK took off from Aberdeen airport to ensure that flights have used the bland for overturn 1/2 years. We have an immense production in Scotland. This is insufficient for another part of that, successive UK governments and funding which has cost us. It is integral to the investment of staff production. The industry body found that a UK industry could produce this to the economy and create jobs for it is vital that the formal due funding is finally confirmed today, something that the SNP has championed for over a decade on, that the full detail has made clear and that pace is further rejecting them to the process if that cash is to be converted to the processing.

In the Scottish Government, my colleague Scottish Government, my colleague and secretary has put in place an expert group on sustainable aviation fuel to exploit the potential for the Scottish economy. I have covered the broad welcome for this bill. There is one area which the government wants us to address, that feedstocks were coming from sustainable sources. We welcome the Secretary of State's comments on further design work and the process, and we see that come through in the bill. But I believe the government must set out her plans to set out the aviation fuel so the waste hierarchy is adhered to, and that business is not damaged by the introduction of the certainty mechanism.

There is the potential use of high quality wood as one potential foodstuff for production. Some members might be aware that the current demand will outstrip supply, but it will be obvious that it takes more than 10 years available to grow a forest, so there is articulated concern from the Federation from the UK. The industry will supply 6 to 5% of the U.K.'s demand for panel products, utilising 25% of the annual Roundwood harvest basket and 25% of the annual waste wood basket.

Fully 10% of the UK economy utilises wood panel products, and again, it will not be worse for the government benches that you achieve a 1.5 million homes target, summing the SNP welcomes and supports, given their own affordable housing bill in Scotland the protecting and growing wood supply will be absolutely vital to achieve that. The eligible itty criteria for the mandate currently stipulates that food materials cannot be prevented, reused or cannot be prevented, reused or recycled, and I we also mandate that we have a hierarchy which in principle prioritises the use of waste food before energy recovery, and it isn't clear how that will be monitored and enforced, leaving supplies vulnerable to being used against eligibility criteria.

There is a risk that the introduction of revenue certainty mechanism will incentivise producers wishing to use this essential raw material for SAF production. There will be time and the passage of this bill for ministers to mitigate this risk and address this issue across the government departments involved, and there are several. I hope the deputy ministers responsible will help to focus ministerial minds on ensuring that the final iteration of the bill that the final iteration of the bill

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Let's get the mix right on this bill. I welcome the legislation. It is

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I welcome the legislation. It is tremendous. Not a minute too soon. This bill will enable the essential
16:46
Euan Stainbank Portrait Euan Stainbank MP (Falkirk, Labour)
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move to produce British SAF and I thank the team and officials for bringing this to the House today and for answering my question. Unless it is the will of the House to cry for the end of aviation as a practice, it's imperative to back the sustainable use of biofuels, cutting ethanol at the atmosphere into aviation fuel. The mandate has a modest target to the aviation industry to incorporate this into the mix and we have to look at this. The green shoots of industry must be supported by the government to enable these outcomes.

Airlines and airports are late recognise the imperative economically of building a domestic SAF market and understand that relying on imports increases that relying on imports increases cost and reduces risk to national aviation and the geopolitical risk of exposing herself to be cheap Chinese market. The previous government as been exposed with jobs on the ladder of the community due A share of the market, in no small part thanks to the SNP government recently by four times as many Chinese buses as those from Scotland.

I digress. There is interest, genuine credible interesting these operators who have shown willingness to put capital behind UK SEI projects and much of the wait for the investment as for the RCM to be in place and the industry to have complete certainty in investments and it is uncertain technology. This is why the bill has to pass through the South as quickly as possible because one place that cannot afford to wait for investment is Grangemouth. The closure of the refinery has marked the end of the oil refining on the doorstep of Falkirk and there is the daily risk to jobs due to the economic outlet that finally provided the community.

This compounds concerns within the community that we will rely on cheap Chinese imports rather than growing our own SAF. Grangemouth has the infrastructure, skills, and will to be a cornerstone of the domestic industry and strategy in Scotland and across the UK and it already has an existing £200 million commitment from the National Wealth Fund from the National Wealth Fund from the National Wealth Fund Proposing investment. The commencement for operation did suggested in the report are too remote from the practical reality of workers who need to feed kids and Peter mortgage today and with strategic support and the deployment of the £200 million allocated by the government to Grangemouth, I still believe that we can rapidly Aviation Aviation fuel Aviation fuel to Aviation fuel to SAF.

Aviation fuel to SAF. This Aviation fuel to SAF. This has applications for fuel security in Scotland, jobs in my constituency, at the cost of fuel across the country. We cannot allow it to become another missed opportunity and for a chance for this to succeed in Grangemouth, we need this to succeed. I would like to minister to answer the following question. Considering there are concerns you might have to wait up to 10 months between the commencement of the legislation and the first private contracting from, what work done prior to the introduction of the legislation will bring the contract into effect as soon as possible? How do they bill introspective project will announcements at Grangemouth -- will announcements at Grangemouth -- Project Willow.

Does She Consider the Way Stocks from the US to Be Dirty or Clean and What Conversations He Had with colleagues in DEFRA? In summary, we need the RCL rapidly and must deliver the industry at scale and do so quickly. I hope we can safeguard security and protect skilled jobs and protect communities that Grangemouth and across the UK.

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I rise to speak in this important debate as we address the challenge debate as we address the challenge of modernising fuel sources and reducing dependency on fossil fuel and I declare my interest as the chair of the all-party Parliamentary group for the industry. The transition to net zero is not just a
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Lillian Jones Portrait Lillian Jones MP (Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
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transition to net zero is not just a climate imperative but I industrial opportunity and I commend the government for bringing the legislation for which which aims to provide long-term security in the sector. In efforts to decarbonise aviation, we was not inadvertently harm other strategically important industries which contribute to economic growth and environmental goals. The UK woodpile industry generates over £101 billion and supports over 10,000 jobs across the UK, many in high skilled manufacturing jobs and in Wales, England, Scotland, Michael, Ayrshire, in well-paid, future- Ayrshire, in well-paid, future- facing jobs.

It takes other be discarded and turns it into furniture for interior design and furniture and there is genuine concern that the mechanism could incentivise forestry products into fuel production and the renewable heat incentive because this before and it squeezed out established manufacturers and we do not want to repeat that mistake again and cannot afford to. I'm pleased to hear we have listened to the concerns of matters and that is when meeting with them and I would like to follow on an invite my honourable friend to come and speak with all party Parliamentary group to hear from the industry first hand.

The SAF mandate references the hierarchy and phases for the use before energy recovery but enforcement mechanisms are but enforcement mechanisms are unclear and with high quality Westwood is drawn into the production the prices will rise and the availability will fall and the supply chain will suffer. I support the ambition of SAF. -- waste wood. It will not be possible without sustainable construction materials including wood panels. I urge ministers to continue with the mandate and uphold excluding available wood from availability and make sure only nonrecyclable wood make sure only nonrecyclable wood make sure only nonrecyclable wood Mechanism so we can track what assets are being used.

If we get the balance right, we can deliver clear skies and affordable homes and decarbonise aviation without decimating manufacturing. Let's make SAF sustainable environmentally, economically and industrially.
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Alice Macdonald Portrait Alice Macdonald MP (Norwich North, Labour )
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I would like to thank the Minister for his engagement on this subject. I am not an expert in sustainable aviation fuel and is nice to be in a debate where you learn so much and I will focus on what this could for my area of Norfolk and the east of England. This bill has the power to support a sustainable aviation industry, lowering carbon emissions and driving green growth and promoting green jobs. My constituency has been a user of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill and is 2023 and the local flight operator have reported the flight operator have reported the use 3000 L of SAF or a single aircraft alone in 2024.

The usage shows us what a substantial reduction in carbon emissions compared to jet fuel could make but much more needs to be done. Recently, Norwich Airport, Suffolk, the county councils launched Aviation East, pushing to make East Anglia an innovation hub for this terrible aviation and recognise the importance of the sustainable fuel as one of the vital building blocks for the mission. What we are discussing today as part of a much more broad landscape on innovative air aviation and decarbonising it. We are seeing the east of England have amazing work to revolutionise how we travel and that results in faster and keener transport solutions like electric your craft and flying taxi.

It was said recently because highflying taxes by 2020 it with the Jetsons coming to Norwich. Alongside this important bill, can I welcome the action the government is taking to decarbonise aviation through aerospace and low emission aircraft in carbon pricing. I welcome the £1 billion of funding for the Aerospace Technology Institute of the work done around the environment for 0-emission aircraft. It is used for the local economy and for our young people and young people growing up like I did in Norfolk and knowledge want different opportunities but often they are not there and especially not on their doorstep and so we can deliver many jobs and apprenticeships including at the Academy and I am also on a mission to work with local partners saw the Academy is working at full capacity and opening up opportunities to people now and in the future and especially future generations.

Delivering the vision and looking at what is in the bill feeds into this and delivers highly skilled jobs. All innovation its protection and in order to grow, the industry could transform it for the better and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill is no different. I welcome the mandate that came into force this year of its approach to planning into the fuel mix and is only achievable when suppliers are protected and have recently met with the East of England Air Ambulance and I pay tribute to the work that they do and they told me how they use a mix of SAF and that it is expensive and if the price came down, they could perhaps use more.

If the government wants to encourage innovation and growth in providing the backstop price is the signal that shows investors we are serious about the growth. To conclude, with the bill supporting sustainable producers, these hubs would only benefit, helping increase contributions to the UK's sustainable aviation industry and reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change and driving green growth and

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I fully back the bill set out today by the government. My contribution comes from a

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My contribution comes from a different angle than other honourable members but from the outset let me be clear that I
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Brian Leishman Portrait Brian Leishman MP (Alloa and Grangemouth, Labour)
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outset let me be clear that I welcome the plan for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill and thank my honourable friend and see his generous time discussing the matter. You can hold different feelings at the same time. I approve of the plans but feel a lot of anger and frustration in what has happened to my constituency. A joint venture of my constituency. A joint venture of private capital through the Chinese state has closed the Grangemouth refinery and hundreds of workers on site and thousands in the wider supply chain are to lose jobs.

Scotland no longer refines oil and fuel and national security has been weakened as a result. Everyone is aware the previous Conservative government did not want to know about the issue and the current SNP government tried their best to conceal knowledge of the closure usable. While my government have committed £200 million of the National Wealth Fund new industries to come at some point down the line but frankly that is not enough and we have seen another unjust transition at Grangemouth.

Four decades ago, the Mainers were cast aside and now it is refinery workers at Grangemouth and I can understand why oil and gas workers of the north-east of Scotland are anxious and they have got every right to be. What these last four decades of privatisation have highlighted is the danger of private capital and foreign government of vital industry. In Grangemouth, this would be a plant which would create Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill that Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill that was a viable alternative to closure and it would have meant a truly just transition for workers on my local community.

It would have helped the government to meet the ambitious mandates and also help the industry. Conversion was not deemed profitable enough for petrol any us and both the government mutually accepted them calling the shots with minimal pushback. That is an example of working-class communities being let down by the collective political class and only yesterday in the Department Of Energy, Security, and Net Zero, I asked what ownership the government were taken future government were taken future Let me be clear that if there is no government ownership stake taken, and you surrender the nuclear industries like SAF alter private capital, then the government have learned no lessons at all from the last four decades, and we will never free ourselves from being at the mercy of those that put profit ahead of our country's needs.

In conclusion, earlier today, the Chancellor said she and the Secretary of State weren't ready to get the working class and Scunthorpe go to the wall. That is why they intervened, and that absolutely was the correct decision. But the Chancellor and the Secretary of State should have treated the workers of Grangemouth the same way they did the Steelworkers of Scunthorpe. So now, to conclude, I urge the government to take responsibility and take ownership of vital industry in our nations national interest.



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I take this opportunity to wish everybody across the house very happy carers week. It is a pleasure
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Chris Vince Portrait Chris Vince MP (Harlow, Labour )
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happy carers week. It is a pleasure to speak in the secondary meeting of the bill. I know many member's across the house think that I make the speeches up as I go along, but I wanted to know that I wrote this in advance, and I didn't win it. Members across the house will glad Members across the house will glad to know that is my last speech, but just very quickly, never apologise for using the equation. As mums across this house will be aware, although I don't have an airport in the constituency, the constituency of Harlow start at the very start of the runway with thousands of residents of Harlow working at the airport in a variety of different roles, but I would like to pay tribute to the work of colleagues who invested in training the local workforce.

As the Minister is very aware, Stansted as part of the Manchester Airport group who are very focused on the development of very focused on the development of SAF. Like this government, they recognise it is very much the future, and I will also do a plug very briefly for the Harlow group who are involved in aircraft in line with working with that one. As I know member's across the house will recognise, the UK has a world-class aviation sector, and a proud history in the field, from RJ Mitchell, I am proud this Labour government is supporting growth in the sector, as well as decarbonisation.

We will deliver clean energy mission as well as growth missions, allowing the UK to be a leader in the field once more. Compared to fossil chess fuel, this will be something that we can all welcome. This bill will introduce a revenue mechanism for staff produces. We believe this will increase investor confidence for production and having spoken about it in depth with this issue for Stansted Airport, investor confidence is the stumbling block for greater production, and obviously use.

In conclusion, I welcome this bill and the governments ongoing commitment to tackling climate change and decarbonisation. But I also welcome the commitment this government has to be a world leader in the field.

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Right at the end, I do thank my right honourable friend, and just like my right honourable friend, I like my right honourable friend, I too welcome this announcement, and as we hear across the aviation as we hear across the aviation sector, there is much to be championed about the transition to championed about the transition to sustainable aviation fuel that will sustainable aviation fuel that will be enabled with this bill. The aerospace and my constituency, while they don't produce SAF themselves, they don't produce SAF themselves, they are developing the components and the systems, so 100% SAF flight and the systems, so 100% SAF flight is a reality.

Does my right honourable friend agree that this honourable friend agree that this backs the green transition and the industrial future for places like

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other regions like Wolverhampton? She managed to get in just before my last word, so I will have to remake up a conclusion, but I agree with her point, and the point that I was going to make my conclusion was that this is really important for climate change. It is important that we meet our decarbonisation targets because we all know the impact of climate change on the planet we live in, and we only have one of them so we have to get that right, but she is right to say there is an economic advantage to this as well, and I am proud.

I mentioned pioneers earlier in my speech that come from the UK. I think we should be ambitious, and this country should be ambitious, and we should be at the very front of the queue when it comes to aviation technology and the aviation pioneers. SAF is a huge part of that. It is not just about climate change but about jobs and opportunities, and I am really excited that this will mean more jobs for my constituents but also, more opportunities for Wolverhampton as well, so I am delighted to be supporting this bill in the house today.

I look forward to hearing the contributions and I look forward to this government continuing with this flying start.

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Thank you. As it has been said, the U.K.'s world-class aviation the U.K.'s world-class aviation sector is key to growth in the economy. I welcome the introduction of this bill and has provided certainty for producers of sustainable aviation fuel around the sector to grow and invest. We all
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Amanda Hack Portrait Amanda Hack MP (North West Leicestershire, Labour)
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sector to grow and invest. We all know the benefits the Air Force has made to the communities and has demonstrated by Doncaster general. They have welcomed the Chancellor in Doncaster Sheffield. When we think about airports, we may automatically think about Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester, however, as East Midlands airport is in my constituency, it will be no surprise to anyone here that that is the airport I automatically think about. The airport provides huge benefits to my local economy as well as an important contribution to the wider economy.

As the second largest air freight terminal in the UK, East Midlands served as the hub for DHL and FedEx and Royal Mail. This was transporting our goods from port to port. In addition, the airport port. In addition, the airport services are based for RBL, providing support for the agency and a maritime postcard agency. This transition to sustainable aviation fuel is going to be key for those organisations to grasp the metal on net-zero. My input also serves millions of passengers every year with a like subject to, easyJet anterior operating out of it.

Supporting my constituencies from those across the East Midlands to take a well-deserved holiday. Having met with Jet2 recently, it is clear that there is huge support for the introduction of the revenue certainty mechanism and it will be interesting to hear more about the arrangements to make sure air lines have the fuel they need to decarbonise and meet the mandated mix over the short-term as well as seeing industry developed for the future. East Midlands thriving airport cargo facility extends to We will have significant benefits, not just for net-zero, but for our estimated £5 billion a year back into our economies by 2050 to create additional jobs, securing long-term sustainable futures.

It also puts commitments and jobs at the airport for benefits, and the constituents of neighbouring MPs in the East Midlands. I would welcome assurances from the Minister that North West Leicestershire will see the full strength of these opportunities when they come about because we have a lot to offer. Finally, I know the measures in this bill, alongside the work announced for modernised airspace will be welcomed by the sector. And may I take this opportunity to write the Minister to the 60th birthday party of East

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Midlands airport on 21 July. I noticed that was an exclusive

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invitation just to the Minister. Thank you very much. Like my

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Thank you very much. Like my honourable friend from Hull, I would say to the member that she should say to the member that she should never be ashamed of being a geek of any kind. I definitely don't have any kind. I definitely don't have his knowledge of anything to do with formulas or anything like that at all, but certainly, I am an aviation all, but certainly, I am an aviation geek who spent too long at the end of runway seeing planes land for hours on end and use a cycle with my friends to the runway, and just that and watch aircraft coming where the and watch aircraft coming where the police did come along and ask why these 214-year-olds were sitting at
17:10
Graeme Downie Portrait Graeme Downie MP (Dunfermline and Dollar, Labour)
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these 214-year-olds were sitting at the end of the airport runway just watching aircraft land. The police were right that there was nothing untoward nothing illegal happening. We were just being that sad and geeky and watching planes land. I think that was the problem police

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had that that was what 214-year-olds were doing. I would challenge his commitment

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I would challenge his commitment to aviation spotting. If he hasn't to aviation spotting. If he hasn't taken a date to the final approach at Heathrow airport at university and had her observing the flights and had her observing the flights coming into Heathrow for a good two hours during university times, he

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hours during university times, he may be a geek but he is not quite there yet. It depended if the date and that

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marrying him. I will not ask for a second intervention to how that relationship progressed. I suspect, as things went on, aviation is a critical part of our national story and the economy as others have said. As an island nation, we rely on maritime and aviation sectors to get goods and people in and out of our country, so it is clear that aviation must continue to play a role in our future in Scotland and that includes the movement of products like salmon and whiskey as well as tourists to and from the well as tourists to and from the rest of Scotland.

However, with aviation looking to become the biggest transmitter, it is clear that a range of transformational long-term changes are needed in the sector to make it sustainable. I recently had the privilege of hosting a sustainable showcase in Parliament with companies such as Airbus, Boeing, easyJet and others, including someone's that have been mentioned this afternoon. I saw technological solutions ranging from aircraft design to hydrogen power aircraft as well as a number of SAF producers as well, and I had from Edinburgh airport, one of the largest employers of people in my constituency of the importance of airspace reorganisation and regular tree changes with environmental impact, and I know the Minister has been relentless in pursuing that in the UK, and we should thank the ministerial team for that commitment, but for all of those people across different parts of aviation ecosystem, the issue of SAF has been primed, and we took action much closer with the introduction of the SAF mandate out of the UK to incrementally increase SAF in use or pay a buyout fee.

That mandate started to rise into 2% in 2030, and 22% in 2014. This is the kind of direction steered in the industry, and it means nothing if we are not producing SAF and investing now in the much longer term plans for third-generation SAF as well, and how that can be made a reality here and make the UK a world leader and player part in the hydrogen sector for the future. Developing a strong SAF industry is a major industrial opportunity for the UK, as others have said.

The UK can lead in the industry with job creation and innovation. At the event I mentioned before Airbus, they are committed to enabling 100% capability across its aircraft production by 2030. According to the campaign, there is potential for over 10,000 jobs in the UK by 2030 and 60,000 x 20 50, a number of which would be in Scotland in my own constituency, along with other members across the country. In due course, I hope some of that might include different parts of the infrastructure as well as the proximity to Edinburgh airport with excellent sea road and rail links.

These and other reasons, I am delighted to see this bill come forward. It sets out the revenue mechanism and framework that will support businesses and make investment cases to make this a reality in the UK. It also establishes the route for funding and oversight. There are a few specific things that the Minister might notice in his summing up shortly. In clause 1, what processes he intend to shape the prices and calculate the market reference price? There is provision to amend the amounts of inflation and I wonder if these are the only circumstances where penalty amounts can change, and in clause 14, what oversight does he envisage will be required to ensure value for public money? Clear and stable policy frameworks like the bill will be essential to unlocking private investment, accelerating supply chains, and positioning the UK as a global leader in the net-zero transition, but the pace of transition, but the pace of Making a successful SAF industry in the UK, as was referenced by the Member for Falkirk earlier.

Will he begin the work to make sure the contracts are ready as quickly as possible once the legislation is passed? Will you consider moving the start date for the mechanism for to allow projects to get forward as quickly as possible. This will be a significant part of the future of aviation as well as industry and growth and I look forward to seeing the progress through the House.

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I welcome this bill and in particular the introduction of the revenue certainty mechanism. It is a sensible intervention and also timely and it gives investors timely and it gives investors clarity and produces confidence and gives communities like mine I sense that this is a transition that will that this is a transition that will bring jobs rather than take them away. I want to thank you ministers for listening to the sector and also
17:16
Luke Myer Portrait Luke Myer MP (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Labour)
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for listening to the sector and also those of us representing Teesside because we have a number of producers in our region with an interest in scaling up SAF production, including one who have invested £2.5 million in the region and want to go further, building a new plant which will create 2300 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs into the future. They are not jobs into the future. They are not alone and we have Willis, and more, many active producers and those looking to scale up, serious players with serious plans and I spoke to one earlier this week who said this bill is exactly what the industry is looking for.

You asked a couple of questions to the Minister, what they need now is confidence that enabling work can begin and ideally before the bill completes the full legislative journey and there is precedent for this previous energy bill. I also ask what will happen with DESNZ randy carbon track budget. I know many are keen to benefit from track one expansion and so producing these things seems like a sensible thing to do and I hope they are engaged successfully in terms of being cross departmental.

I would urge the government to move at pace to deliver the jobs we want to see in the region and I want to make sure young people watching from working class communities know that these are not abstract opportunities which are distant from them but opportunities for them that they can get into and the expansion we want to see and skills training is for them to get into the opportunities. This is a sector that will be transformative for the region and not only for Liverpool but Cleveland, Stockton, Darlington, Hartlepool as well.

Our area suffered industrial decline for many decades and now we are seeing new life and industry and finally

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Teesside is taking off. We heard earlier from the Member
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Chris McDonald Portrait Chris McDonald MP (Stockton North, Labour)
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We heard earlier from the Member for Doncaster how proud people are theropod but I challenge prior to theropod but I challenge prior to and 'have prayed in your local airport' competition because no one is more proud than us? We have the most important issue in local politics in Teesside and quite right because working people save all year round for seven days in the sun. It's important to me and everyone else who live there and when I hear people saying that we have got to reduce flights for working people and reduce the opportunity for them to go on holiday, they are not living in the real world and not talking to the people I talk to and

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I live with. On that point, and I support his constituents in Stockton North's rate to go on holiday to Alicante rate to go on holiday to Alicante but in my constituency, 53% of people were born in a different country including myself. Does she agree that they have the right to go home and visit family and friends and it is important that we accept the reality of air travel and focus time and energy on realistic plans

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time and energy on realistic plans to invest in sustainable air fuel. I could not agree more and us the honourable member said, we are an island nation and if anyone had not spotted that the previous way to get about is to go by air and everyone wants to wake up in the morning in wants to wake up in the morning in Stockton and then be sitting on a beach in Benidorm by lunchtime and can do that from Teesside Airport. What the people know is the future is about decarbonisation and the government has invested £4 billion in carbon capture storage of the largest offshore wind mechanism in our area and are producing green hydrogen in Billingham and my constituency produces 50% of the constituency produces 50% of the UK's hydrogen and Billingham and Teesside more generally are set to become the centre for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill and I am sure there will be sustainable fuel produced in Grangemouth, in Humberside, in the north-west, in Wales.

The market is enormous and, as we heard, the place which is best placed to deal with this in Europe is Teesside and Billingham, in my constituency. The biggest threat of this at the moment are not the fantastic plans of the government but the ideological adherence to anti- net zero seen by members of Reform and I found myself standing up for new jobs for industrial communities in my area alongside my colleague and three other members of Reform? They are not here and are never cure.



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I thank my honourable friend forgivingly and as well as what he alludes to, it is the wider north- alludes to, it is the wider north- east and my constituency has an investment of £100 million creating investment of £100 million creating good jobs. Does she agree it is in the wider north-east that the jobs the wider north-east that the jobs are being made through policy and the policies of Opposition parties? I do agree whether it is in Sunderland, the north-west, south Sunderland, the north-west, south Wales, we see jobs in the supply chain and of course if its Heathrow and other major airports.

I thought and other major airports. I thought it might be useful to have a few comments about why I believe and certainly SAF is the solution and why it is sustainable aviation fuel. The honourable member for Sutton The honourable member for Sutton gave a great description of why it is that the equations have ranged to drivers in the direction of sustainable air fuel because flights are sustainable but the hydrogen does not have the intensity and as he said, infrastructure is important as well in their sound we heard from the Minister the opening statement and planes take off from one place and land somewhere else and have to refuel.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill is the right approach to this. A couple of members have raised concerns about the raw materials. I think the member raised that issue and another member said he'd learned about second-generation sustainable aviation fuel and so it might blow his mind if I talk about third or fourth. There are concerns about the raw materials and municipal waste, whilst the honourable gentleman decline, a lot of it is into energy and the new investments are about the future generations and we fright about biomass and if that -- we have heard about biomass and perhaps that is into the second generation, certainly.

Really it is 3rd- generation and 4th-generation fuel that will allow us to scale up the industry and open the industry up to the direct combination of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, using green electricity that will enable us to electricity that will enable us to steal the industry up. -- scale. An abundant supply of those materials is needed and that is why I'm confident the industry will spread in the UK and they will justify why Billingham will become the UK and European centre for this and the reason for that is, as mentioned Billingham reduces 50% of UK hydrogen but also there are chemicals known for producing pharmaceuticals for fertilisers and other goods.

We produced synthetic petrol in the 1930s and we produced synthetic jet fuel in the 1940s for the RAF during the Second World War and I am saying that not to imply we still have the skill set because many are enjoying retirement or have moved on but what... The reason I say it is to demonstrate to the House there is not a big technological risk associated with the technology and the third generation would rely on a process which has been around for a hundred years and when I talk to investors in the industry and ask what the big risks are, there are economic risks which covenant is getting to grips with right now with the legislation and the other risks that they have piloted his political risk and that is about consistency of government policy and as I mentioned earlier, the biggest threat to these jobs and the biggest threat to this industry is the ideology of the Reform Party and I hope as we see jobs and investment and confident people will vote for that in the future as well.

I warmly welcome this legislation and very much look forward to the day when I can welcome honourable and right honourable members to the international airport and enjoy a drink with them while we jet off to drink with them while we jet off to

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other county. -- Tuala -- Alicante. Before I begin, I draw attention

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Before I begin, I draw attention to my entry in the register of interests with respect to my interests with respect to my donation from P1 Fuels do not make
17:26
Greg Smith Portrait Greg Smith MP (Mid Buckinghamshire, Conservative)
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donation from P1 Fuels do not make aviation fuel but are only synthetic business and I run a classic Land Rover on it last summer to prove the point that it works. Test that net zero must meet is that all of our constituents must still be able to do everything that they do today, be that to fly on holiday, drive, get a ferry, anything else that drowns on liquid hydrocarbon or for businesses to be able to move goods around the world to trade and at the same or equivalent price is today and just greener.

In that technology is our friend and the innovation that we see, particularly on these shores, as our friend as well as innovation that is happening abroad. As my Said earlier, the Opposition are not seeking to divide the House on second reading of the bill. This is an extension of the previous government's agenda in this regard. We fully recognise the need to replace fossil fuel over time and in this instance to replace aviation fuel with a cleaner and greener alternative.

There will be key questions that the House should look at us this bill passes into Bill committee and later stages that need answers. Questions such as those that we have seen throughout the passage of the debate this afternoon and I think we have had a good and wide range of the bed with very little deviation from the core consensus that sits underneath the bill. -- Range of debate. My honourable friend made the important point that aviation would be critical to get all the tourists into the Universal theme Park in Bedfordshire when it eventually opens but also focused on the important role that his constituency is providing as part of the solution to the problem that this bill is sticking to support and deliver.

Equally we have asked the legitimate question on how the UK mechanism and the mandate compares to those overseas which I hope the Minister will reflect on in the windup. From the government benches, the honourable lady and chairman of the transport Select Committee spoke well and in an informed way on the subject and we both served on the transport Select Committee in the previous parliament and both worked on the fuels of the future is inquiry and report the Select Committee produced during that parliament.

She was right to make good points on the supply of waste into that element of technology and the play of, for example, with energy for waste facilities and there will have to be some conversations within government, particularly for the Department for Housing, Local Government and Communities around the way that so many councils including my own in Buckinghamshire send all general waste to an energy waste facility and the way that those incinerators have been finalised is over a multi-decade deal and some of those deals, to get that waste into a theatre production, will inevitably have to be undone or renegotiated and we will bear the cost of that and the honourable lady equally and the honourable lady equally raised the important point around bioethanol I do not know what it was shadow ministers or all members of the House that had an email from Virgo Fuels when they give a pretty stark warning, particularly on the impact of the US trade deal that the government has gone on the bioethanol space, essentially warning that the deal could completely undermine the UK bioethanol industry.

I think it is a serious concern for the Department For Transport and Department for Business and Trade and they will have to work out if they will have the domestic bioethanol production, as much for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill as for petrol and it will fill up largely unless you have classic cars with E10 at the pump. And E5 is bioethanol and that will be a serious question if the bill passes various ditties and I for petrol to bid for road cars moves on, it will have to be answered because if we get a warning from industry as stark as that one from Virgo Fuels it needs to be Virgo Fuels it needs to be The honourable member for Somerset raised hydrogen in this mix.

I look forward to debating with him in Westminster Hall, I think there is Westminster Hall debates next week on this issue. He is right to say that there are other technologies, other fuels out there. The object went for Derby South pointed out correctly that there could be no net zero without many of the elements of this bill. The honourable Lady for Doncaster Central spoke passionately about Doncaster airport and its sustainable future that this bill will help bring about. Durable gentleman for Falkirk equally spoke about support for this bill and Fort (soldiers killed while they slept) spoke in an informed way about SAF production.

The honourable member for Norwich North Brighton spoke of the innovative landscape, Joan taxes did worry me a bit I'm not sure we have got goods being delivered properly by drones. People going in them. But he talked about the engineering jobs that would be created. Your member for Grangemouth slightly broke the consensus but was right to speak out for his constituents and constituency interests so passionately. I think there is a legitimate debate around the refineries that we have lost and refineries that we still have and how this debate intersects with them.

I won't dwell too much on the puns from the honourable member for Harlow, I thought he was a teacher before he entered this house. Perhaps he also wrote for Bobby Davro with some of those puns. The honourable gentleman for Stoke Central shows my age and no doubt here's, in that interjection from a sedentary position. Durable gentleman from hollow was quite right to equally focus on the skills agenda that underpins this legislation. I don't thing we have heard so much from the government on this yet.

The member for North West Leicestershire rightly pointed out the lived experience and the impact on cargo. We have heard a lot in this debate about moving people around the country and around the world using aviation but not so much on cargo which is equally important part of our role as a global trading nation. Your member for Dunfermline nation. Your member for Dunfermline putting aside his geek off with your gentleman for Sutton and Cheam was right to focus on that agenda around moving goods as well as people.

Then we moved to Teesside, the Honourable member for Middlesbrough South, an member for Middlesbrough South, an old woman. To North. I was worried that I was in Westminster Hall debates with your woman before Stockton North this morning on the space industry and I agreed with every word he said. I'm a bit nervous to say I agree with him this afternoon as well. This does not often happen in this House but he was absolutely right that all of our constituents work hard and they save hard and they want that family holiday all that weekend away or whatever it is every single year.

It would be a gross dereliction of duty for any of us to lumber them with higher airfares to try and make their holidays more expensive. That is not what any of them sent us here to do. They want us to ensure that they can still live their lives the way they wish to do so. Very briefly, the honourable gentleman for Sutton and Cheam did warn us that he might be boring, uncharacteristically for a Liberal Democrat, he actually wasn't. And I very much enjoyed his speech and the knowledge you brought from his 16 years of work in the aviation years of work in the aviation sector.

An the honourable member for Murray West was equally right to focus on something that few others have brought up in this debate, use of sustainable aviation fuel by our Armed Forces, particularly the RAF and Navy. Technology from waste and feed stocks to pure synthetics is where this debate is ultimately going to go over the coming years. What I would say is that that's technology to move on from those don't actually exist. The RAF flew a plane from 2021 not on a blend of sustainable aviation fuel but on 100% synthetic fuel made right here in the United Kingdom by a company called Zero Petroleum which was referenced by my right honourable friend for I think it is brig Gould and popped in.

Turning to that part of the agenda which is where I think we need to have a conversation as the bill goes into committee, this bill is absent in any detail on the approach to be taken regarding the specifics of the contracting between producer and counterpart. From the background material, especially that which can be found in the government response to the consultation on the SAF mechanism, actually the ambitions are largely there. We are not critical of the ambitions that sit within that document.

But it would be perhaps beneficial to be sure that the contracting will follow the ambitions in that document. Noting that the SAF mandate already in force as a ring mandate already in force as a ring fenced mandate for e-SAF quota it is critical that their projects are supported within the revenue certainty mechanism. It is important to develop not just the UK market for SAF and e-SAF, and local production as created by this bill, but also to support and encourage the use of home grown technology.

For the manufacture of SAF and e- SAF. This not any retained revenue within the United Kingdom, but leverages huge revenue for future exports by technology licensing. Sadly a great many projects halted by the grants are using foreign technology. In addition to the ambitions that the Government has set out, perhaps I could suggest that the government reflects ahead of the Bill Committee to add another ambition to reward or incentivise the use of UK technology in projects supported by the revenue support mechanism.

The house may be surprised to know that despite these various programs of UK government support for SAF and e-SAF, SAF mandate and other mechanisms, there are no UK government bodies which are mandated to support the development of the core technologies of fuel synthesis. We have a great R&D tradition in this country, companies like Zero have been funded entirely by private capital and that largely is a good thing. And some of the RAF and MoD contracts, for different reasons. But notably the Aerospace Technology Institute, a government funded body should be supporting SAF and e-SAF manufacturing technology.

They support everything else including hydrogen aircraft and electric aircraft, but they are not permitted to fund SAF and e-SAF technology programs. That is a huge misalignment in the strategy which I hope the Minister can address. Very briefly to conclude, I have a few key questions for the Minister. He is showing great enthusiasm in wanting to answer. We will spend three days together in the Public Bill Committee when it comes around, so there will be many more. We can negotiate more.

I think the least we hear that the honourable gentleman date at Heathrow the better. Would date at Heathrow the better. Would the Minister be willing to answer, is the government able to outline its level of certainty about the cost to taxpayers? Is there confidence that the levy imposed on skills suppliers not lead to significant rises in ticket prices? That means, what is actually going to ensure that the £1.50 p variants either way is not a hope, is not a dream, it's not a best case scenario, but is the reality of airfares.

It would be helpful if details could be provided. If details could be provided about the expected cost of importing SAF compares to producing it in the United Kingdom. If we are imposing costs on passengers through levies, is expected that SAF could be produced more cheaply in other regions? Or is it the policy primarily focused on energy security? Our view is that we should be making the fuel right here in the United Kingdom, as I have said, using our technology. But to get the right price here in the UK for the technology, we understand the markets overseas.

Could the Minister outline what proportion of the SAF used in the UK is actually expected in the first interest to be domestically produced? What would constitute success in those first iterations? The government has suggested that financing a plant costs between £600,000,000.02 lien pounds. What can be done from a regulatory perspective to ensure plants for towards the lower end of that cost range? There are many questions to be answered, getting this bill right. We want to get this bill right. We want to see sustainable aviation fuel being used in our aircraft.

We are not dividing the House today, but the test is always is has the government got it right?

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Minister.

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Minister. I would like to thank nearly all members, no all members of this members, no all members of this House for reconsideration of the draft bill and their valuable contributions to this debate was the contributions to this debate was the I am grateful to the opposition both their questions, their scrutiny, and that we make sure as a House we get that we make sure as a House we get this right for our nation. I fully concur with the honourable member that the little Democrats have not been boring today.

I am grateful... I am grateful for their support in I am grateful for their support in this matter. Having worked with the Liberal Democrats in the past I know Liberal Democrats in the past I know they are always in the room until the fight breaks out. Let's see how we get on over the next period. I

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we get on over the next period. I will happily give way to the honourable member for Cheltenham. I thank the Minister. I wonder if you would like to congratulate innovators like Mike and Sidgwick James Highgate was recently awarded the OBE for his work on fuels over a very genteel tea and cake in Cheltenham, he told me of his plans to turn human faeces into SAF. He is an innovator. He says that the Minister might be able to work with his friends in DEFRA to solve the problems we have with sewage by taking it out at source.

I wonder if the Minister is considering that as part of this legislation?
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Mike Kane Portrait Mike Kane MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) (Wythenshawe and Sale East, Labour)
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Can I thank your member for his contribution. And join with him in thanking James Highgate OBE for his work in this area. And on the serious point of waste, I sit on the small ministerial group for the circular, and it is a big part of what this government is trying to do. We will see how that work progresses. The UK stands at the forefront of global efforts to decarbonise a variation. When this government came into power, we acted immediately laying the SI for SAF, the SAF mandate which has now been in place since January 1.

We have established UK ADS Airspace Modernisation Programme of work which will modernise our airspace above us. And decarbonising and supporting cleaner flights with fewer delays. And now we are the first legislature on the planet to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism. In the world is looking to us, and I hope that this House can get behind us. Happy to give way to the honourable member.

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Thank you. I couldn't help but be excited at the sustainable aviation excited at the sustainable aviation fuel coming here because of the potential that it has to deliver. The Minister is a good friend of us The Minister is a good friend of us in Northern Ireland, a good friend of all of us in this chamber. There are those who have the innovation, the technology in Northern Ireland who wish to play their part. Is it the national intention to ensure the national intention to ensure that everyone across the great nation has the opportunity to feed

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nation has the opportunity to feed into it and also to gain benefit from it? I am always delighted to answer

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I am always delighted to answer questions from the Minister from a place I love very dearly. If you place I love very dearly. If you look at my maritime Handbook, and how they are decarbonising our maritime sector, we know we have maritime sector, we know we have refineries in Belfast. I spoke with a major chief executive who emigrated to Canada, from Belfast. He is very fond of that place. We will expect, he will have to talk to his company's to apply for these contracts were eventually let them.

That will be key. I have a lot of That will be key. I have a lot of questions to get through. The £ 1.50, it could be more or less I'm happy to hand over the £1.50 but this will not impact on people's ability to fly to destinations. I think people fly on their annual holiday is key to British way of life. And I don't want to damage that whatsoever. The analysis has come from DfT business team itself.

Many of the questions today were about going faster. I have to gently point out that we were promised four plants by 2025 by the last government. I'm not going to get into that. This is still the first session, we had to introduce the mandate, and now we are introducing part two of this, the RCM today. We are going as fast as humanly We know that these contracts change all the time, we will see what bids come in, and the honourable talked about large plants, you see behind me, our industrial north and south Wales and other places, queueing up to get these advanced facilities with well-paid, trade unionised jobs.

We are working with industry, as we advance this around the strike price as well. The chair of the transport Select Committee talked about... This is not a silver bullet, it isn't, it is part of a package we are pursuing to decarbonise aviation. Airspace modernisation, carbon pricing, carbon Capture and technology. Zero technology flight, we are investing £1 billion in the aerospace technological institute. She mentioned Heathrow, my honourable friend has shown great leadership, along with other members and officials and industry, they have pointed out that the Carbon Budget is accounted for with the expansion of Heathrow.

I thank the honourable member for Wimbledon for his thanks for getting on with this and it is part of a package of decarbonisation, as he pointed out. Then the Member for North Somerset, he mentioned at every turn, when I meet him in the tearoom, a champion for hydrogen. I look forward to visiting his port and replying to his Westminster Hall debates next Tuesday. The Member for mid Bedfordshire, any opportunity to plug the universal theme Park from now on.

His support for Luton airport and how that will be a gateway to that regeneration. How the approach differs to other markets, we are the first ones doing this, the only legislator on the planet, and the world is looking to us at the moment, to move this forward. The Member for Derby South, there was a bit of an arms race between members... About who loved their airport the most. Teesside, Norwich, East Midlands... We should have an independent competition

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about who left -- loves... I would if he would agree, Teesside International Airport is a Teesside International Airport is a real gem for our region, it is critical it returns to profitability

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as soon as possible. How could I not agree! We are

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How could I not agree! We are proud of our airports, I am proud of mine, in my constituency, and they provide jobs and services, they have a great history, great narration, and we should celebrate them.

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and we should celebrate them. We do not have an airport but we do use Manchester airport quite a do use Manchester airport quite a lot, whilst he is on the bench, can lot, whilst he is on the bench, can he put in a word for a direct train link from a Stoke so we can enjoy

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the airport as much as he does. I disagree, I think Stoke has got a great airport, in my constituency. I think it is called Manchester... I think it is called Manchester... The member from Sutton, I will not take any lessons on a date night take any lessons on a date night from him, I can absolutely assure you. But it is great to hear from you. But it is great to hear from his expertise in the area, we do value that, I hope he makes the Bill value that, I hope he makes the Bill Committee.

He mentions how well they are doing with zero flight emissions, he might have to run the equation passed me again, I did not equation passed me again, I did not picked up the first time. The Member for Doncaster Central, what a champion for Doncaster Sheffield Airport, great to hear the Chancellor mention it in her speech... In the statement today. The Member for and the Transport spokesman, really good to see how our armed services are getting in on this agenda and the RAF in his patch is showing a good practice.

I am glad he is welcoming the Bill as well. The Member for Falkirk, has talked with passion about Grangemouth, found his constituency. We have no plans to review that in a direct answer to his question but this is about security and a fragile geopolitical situation and, also, it is about competitiveness, projects across the country, the government is considering the report and regulations regarding that refinery. The National Wealth Fund stand ready and we encourage investors to come forward and secure the long-term future.

The Member for Cal model, she is right, it produces well-paid jobs in industrial areas that have been de-industrialised. I am happy to speak, I thank her for her work chairing the APPG and I'm happy to accept her offer. The Member for Norwich North, another campaigner for knowledge airport, and sustainable a hub, she is pushing that hard, I was glad to meet with her recently and I hope to visit in the near future. She talked about the jobs and apprenticeships that go with it.

I will refine my remarks on Jim Ratcliffe, I am a Manchester City fan, I better be careful. He talks about deindustrialisation and he is right to talk about it. I was growing up in the '70s, we are only just getting over part of that. Just remind him, if we do this right, we are looking at 15,000 jobs and £5 million to the economy by 2050. The Member for Harlow, I want tried to joke -- once tried to joke in the House, the speaker said, don't give up the day job.

I remind him of that advice as well. At every opportunity, he raises the work it does with Stansted airport and he ended his speech strongly, saying the country should be ambitious and I completely concur with that. The Member for North West Leicestershire, again, a love affair with East Midlands airport and how important it is to freight and I have had roundtables with the freight industry about how we grow our industry in the UK, and I wish our industry in the UK, and I wish her airport its 60th birthday celebrations at the right time, if I can get there, I will.

The honourable member, I was wondering where he was going with the police story, and then it got into a geeky arms race with the Member for Cheltenham. He is right to say, aviation, whilst smaller now, becomes much larger, by 2040, that is why it is imperative we do this now. Another quarterly arms to go faster. The Member for Musselburgh -- Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East, he was a supporter of his airport, I think, but all of the other ones, a platter of companies that could do for the contracts in that region.

And support a manufacturing renaissance. Just to remind him about the carbon capture bit, the Prime Minister announced £22 billion of government money to research into carbon capture technology. The arms race for who loves the Apple most... Chris talked about hydrogen, wind, clean energy, reform are not here, that is key. I, they are now. They promised they will re-industry line is these areas but without the financial plan that adds up. We are actually getting on with it and will continue to get on with it.

This government has committed and has demonstrated that we are committed to supporting innovation. Through what we have done in the first few months of this government. We have the third biggest market on the planet, world-class, as I have said, competitive, and we want it to remain that way, we want more people to be able to fly and do so insistently. That is why the transition is not an aspiration but an imperative. I recognise there will be challenges but it will have on wavering -- our unwavering support.

The revenue certainty mechanism will help new plants get off the ground, supporting green jobs in places like Teesside, as mentioned, the policies are helping to create the right environment for companies that are based in the constituency of my honourable friend, the member for Chester North and Neston, who piped the sustainable fuel to heat way, Gatwick and Manchester. This Bill is delivering growth and clean energy and on our manifesto commitment to secure the aviation industry's long-term future.

I urge this House to give this Bill it. And I stand ready to work with members with that. I commend this Bill to the House.

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The question is that the Bill be now read a second time. As many are of that opinion say, "Aye", and of of that opinion say, "Aye", and of the contrary, "No". The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. Programme motion, to be moved formally. motion, to be moved formally. Anyone? The question is as on the Order Paper. As many are of that opinion say, "Aye", and of the contrary, "No". The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. Money resolution, the Ayes have it.

Money resolution, the Ayes have it. Money resolution, moved formally. The question is as on the Order Paper. As many are of that opinion say, "Aye", and of the contrary, "No". The Ayes have it, contrary, "No". The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. Ways and means
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18:00
Lee Anderson Portrait Lee Anderson MP (Ashfield, Reform UK)
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grandmother into the pits. I cannot think of any male member before me, in my family, did not spend time underground. I worked in four underground. I worked in four different pits, the best pitch they worked at was the first, my first worked at was the first, my first was Sutton in Ashfield. I started there about one year after the there about one year after the strike in the '80s. It was a great pit. This is a pit where, if you pit.

This is a pit where, if you decking before, five men were killed in an explosion. I went on to do my in an explosion. I went on to do my core training in Derbyshire. Again, another pit that had a disaster, another pit that had a disaster, this is a pit where, in 1950, 80 boys and men lost their lives. In a fire underground. We had all of these disasters, all of these accidents, nasty things that go on down the coalmine, but after this men and still go down the pit, the black hole, and they do a shift digging coal to fuel the nation.

And it is hard to describe what it is like. There is nothing else like it. It is dark, dangerous, it can be red-hot in some places, it can be freezing cold in others. There is no toilets, as the member opposite will tell you, you just dig a hole and It is hard to explain what it is like crawling up and down the like crawling up and down the coalface, with coal being spat out and dust and heat and oil.

It is a horrible feeling. It is hard to explain what it is like to carry a steel ring on your shoulder, a girder with your mate on uneven ground in dusty conditions. It is hard to explain what it is like to bandage up a workmate was just been trapped and had a chunk ripped out of him. You have to put him on a stretcher and carried him out of the pit. On occasion it was 7 miles. 7 miles underground. It is here from the edge of London.

That is what we did. We did that for a living day in day out. Towards the end of my mining career, the last three years I think it was, I became a deputy underground. That is a job where you are responsible for health and safety of the men in your district. When I became a deputy, I was transferred from the minors pension scheme to the BCSSS scheme. I did not have a say they just put me in it. Whilst I continued working, digging the cold to feel the nation keep the lights on, all we asked for was a fair days pay for a fair day's wage was the pits are long gone now but there are still thousands of ex-miners and their widows throughout the coalfield.



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My constituency is the second

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My constituency is the second largest membership of BCSSS in the country. Almost 40% of BCSSS membership is women made up of women who were formally employed in the mining industry, and women who are the spouse of members who have sadly the spouse of members who have sadly died. Does your agree with me that it is vitally important that the government delivers justice for this government delivers justice for this scheme? Not only for constituencies like ours in Nottingham but also for women?

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women? I thank the are lazy for intervention. I will come on to the intervention. I will come on to the women who worked in our industry a bit later on. The last bit is correct. All we ask for nowadays, the pits have gone, we have still got the communities. All we ask for got the communities. All we ask for is a fair days pay from our own pot of money. And that pot of money is the £2.3 billion investment reserve fund that is our money.

We paid it in. All we are asking for is for the

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governance to give it back to us. First of all can I commend your gentlemen for bringing this forward. The stories that he has told about The stories that he has told about the mine, I would never have known the mine, I would never have known that. He has told stories in this House before. So I think it was that House before. So I think it was that this will stop that you not agree that we can congratulate the Nationwide Building Society for Nationwide Building Society for doing the right thing and sharing the bonus with their customers, the the bonus with their customers, the fights that government seems to be dragging their heels on is mine workers receiving rightful dividends from their backbreaking life altering work is jarring.

It must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

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addressed as a matter of urgency. I thank Member for his intervention. As always, he makes a intervention. As always, he makes a fantastic contribution. And I agree with every word he said. The Labour Party was founded on the backs of coalminers. I think it is time for the current Labour government to repay those miners. Remember the miners pay the union subs, they helped bankroll the Labour Party. The Labour Party have supplied some good ex-mining MPs in this house.

Like me. I don't agree with their politics are great MPs. Let's remind ourselves, in the scheme there are 4000 or 5000 women. And we could not have done our job underground if it were not for these women. Then there are widows of the ex-miners, who would love to see a few extra quid in their bank account each month. When fuel bills are going through the roof. There are about 2000 members of the BCSSS who die every single year and less than 40,000 members still in the scheme.

It won't be that long, I will give way.

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I know that he will know that I'm a big supporter of returning the reserve interim found particularly reserve interim found particularly for this reason, that many members for this reason, that many members are dying. I wonder if the member for Ashfield could tell us why, when for Ashfield could tell us why, when he was sat on government benches for he was sat on government benches for a number of years, as the then Conservative member for Ashfield, indeed as a Deputy Chairman of the Conservative party, on this side of Conservative party, on this side of the house, and given that the promises that the Prime Minister promises that the Prime Minister made in Mansfield, given everything made in Mansfield, given everything that was said on the government benches, why was nothing to correct benches, why was nothing to correct this injustice given? So many members of the scheme are passing away on an annual basis.

I wonder if he might agree with me that it is somewhat hypocritical for him to be

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champion in this issue now. Maybe if he studied Hansard and paid a bit more attention during the past five years, he will have known past five years, he will have known about the representations I made. In fact an adjournment debate in this scheme, I met with the former prime minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the Mineworkers Pension Scheme. So it is a bit unfair for the honourable Member from Mansfield to try and score from Mansfield to try and score points.

I will have hoped that he points. I will have hoped that he would have come and supported me in this debate that a political point scoring. I think it is not a good scoring. I think it is not a good look, and I am sure that the BCSSS look, and I am sure that the BCSSS members in Mansfield won't be very members in Mansfield won't be very happy with that condition. As I said there are less than 40,000 members left in the scheme. I would like to make a bit of progress.

There are 40,000 members left in the scheme it won't be that long before there are just a few thousand of us left. Meanwhile, miners and widows die without getting the justice they deserve. I am 58 years old. I know you might find that hard to believe. I am one of the youngest members left in the scheme. Many members over 70 years old, the average age of the member in the scheme is 75. Time is running out for them to get what they deserve.

It is worth remembering that when the last member dies, the billions, as with the MPS, the billions of pounds of the fund goes straight to the Exchequer, to the Treasury, the government of the day. They can spend money on whatever they like.

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I'm grateful. I want to put on record that we have seen a transformative intervention by this Labour governance on the Mineworkers Labour governance on the Mineworkers Pension Scheme. Many have already seen their first pensions increase seen their first pensions increase in November last year and I wonder if he will want to congratulate the government on their innovation?

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government on their innovation? Thank you for his intervention. If you showed a bit more patient he will see I will move onto that a bit later on. The previous Labour later on. The previous Labour manifesto stated that the funding of both the MPS and the BCSSS would be both the MPS and the BCSSS would be released to members. The BCSSS was omitted from the manifesto in 2024. Everywhere the Minister stands up at the end of the debate he can explain to the house why that was.

The Minister may be aware, opposite the medical Mansfield is not aware, that during the last Parliament I continually pressed the government for a fairer deal on the MPS. In fact I was not back at a reasonable opportunity. Credit where credit is due to this Labour government, they have stuck by their word. The members of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme are a lot better off under this Labour government due to the extra money in their pay packet.

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Time is of the essence. While we may differ on these issues, colleagues across this house represent constituents who continue represent constituents who continue to suffer from this historic injustice. Created by the honourable member's former Tory government for some thousands of miners have died without the justice, with 2000 passing every year. This is about passing every year. This is about fairness will stop the government fairness will stop the government has said, does he agree the Labour government have a right to resolve this with Lisa no more family suffer? Quite I think of the suffer? Quite I think of the intervention.

I think she has got a bit confused. There was a Labour bit confused. There was a Labour government during the 90s and for 13 government during the 90s and for 13 years that could have put this right as well. It works both ways. So it is unfair to blame just a Conservative government. I would blame both governments. Going back to that surplus from the MPS, I thank the Labour government for giving that Mineworkers there much deserved reserve fund. I will just gently reminds them that they should actually act and implement the full findings of the report in 2021.

Which by the way is the policy of Reform. Susan Edwards from Ashfield is BCSSS pensioner. She has asked me to keep pushing on this issue has the she said although women members never worked underground, their contribution to never be forgotten. We should never forget the contribution made by women at our collieries. There are about 800 memories of the BCSSS in Ashfield. One of them was Patrick Gumley. He will be watching this debate right now. He sent me an email yesterday.

It said, " Dear Lee, thank you for your email regarding the forthcoming debate on the BCSSS. We will watch out to ensure that the Treasury gives sensible answers to your questions, and hopefully will bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion. We are quite happy for you to use our names if you think it is necessary. Again, I wish to advise you that I'm now 80 years old and have recently been treated for and have recently been treated for cancer, so time is of the essence.

" I think we all know what he means. In plain English, please give me this money before I die. None of us are getting any younger. Transferring the investment fund now to miners would allow pensioners to live a more dignified life in their final years. It would also put tens of millions of pounds back into the local coalfield can, helping local shops and businesses prosper. Let us not forget, if they get this extra money, the pensioners will be taxed on this extra revenue, and it will go back to the Exchequer.

The trustees have made two simple requests. To return the £2.3 billion investment reserve to members as soon as possible this year, and commits to review how any future surplus will be shared out after the investment reserve is returned. I am yet to find a coalfield MP that does not agree with this simple request. Most coalfield now represented by Labour MPs, so I am really hopeful in the four years they are still here that they will put pressure on

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the Treasury and the government, to provide justice for members of the BCSSS. I thank the other woman before

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I thank the other woman before giving way. I sincerely hope that giving way. I sincerely hope that many of us will be here for more than the four years he alluded to. The key point he alludes to is the need for us to work effectively together, to recognise that we have a whole range of constituents a whole range of constituents benefit as he described, from the BCSSS been treated differently. As BCSSS been treated differently. As he welcomed the constructive way in which these benches are currently working?

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working? I thank him for intervention. Yes I like to be constructive, not so constructive for the member who is used this debate to score political used this debate to score political points. I am using this debate to try and get justice for the members of the BCSSS. The trustees have, to be fair, been disappointed, not only with the previous Conservative government, they are a bit disappointed with this current Labour government. They feel they have dragged their heels when dealing with that BCSSS, as opposed to dealing with the minor's pension scheme much quicker.

We are all ex- miners and we should be treated fairly. Other trustees have met with the ministers today and has spoken to the adviser, and the feedback I'm getting is that it was a positive meeting with the Minister. He appeared to be very receptive to the request brought forward by the trustees but stopped short of saying that she fully supports the trustees requests. There is a simple solution to all of this, just give us the money back. It is our money.

Let's Not Not only Not only did Not only did they Not only did they help Not only did they help create Not only did they help create the Labour Party, they gave money to the cause in terms of donations, it is time to pay back. Imagine, two brothers, in the 70s, spent 40 years down the pit, one in the NPS and one in the BCS SS, they worked side-by- side, brother in the NPS just had a 50% uplift in his pension thanks to this government that the one in the BCS SS has had nothing.

That cannot be right, it is not fair. I hear people in the bubble in Westminster say that young people would not go down the pit these days, you are wrong. Everyone of you. In the coalfield communities, morning, a hard -- mining, hard graft, is in our DNA. When it is time for the mining community to step forward, the descendants will do their duty. In the meantime, it is time for this place to deliver. It is time to deliver justice for the miners, I want to hear the Minister, from the despatch box, say that she fully supports the main requests.

And then she agrees with me, they should be shared and not just part of it. There was a saying, when I worked underground, when the pits were shutting, the saying was, that is what ex-miners are saying now. I say

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to the Minister, and the trustees, Minister, Sarah Jones.

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Minister, Sarah Jones. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker,

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Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, can I thank the honourable member for securing this debate and I for securing this debate and I welcome the opportunity to set out the government position. There are a lot of honourable members attending this debate and many have long this debate and many have long associations with the coalfield communities that they represent and communities that they represent and I know that this is an incredibly important issue to many people across the country. It is also a across the country.

It is also a matter of great importance to me, and I am pleased to be speaking to the House, following a meeting that

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I had with the BCS SS trustees. When we speak of the Mineworkers

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When we speak of the Mineworkers pension, we speak of everybody who pension, we speak of everybody who sustained our pit, like my constituent, Anthony, who joined the scheme aged 17 and Kevin scheme aged 17 and Kevin automatically enrolled when he became the deputy without any consultation, does the Minister agree that everyone deserves a fair agree that everyone deserves a fair pension and compensation for the 3.2 million that the Treasury has
18:19
Sarah Jones Portrait Sarah Jones MP, Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) (Croydon West, Labour)
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received to date. I thank my honourable friend for her contribution, of course, we her contribution, of course, we believe that everybody deserves a fair pension, I agree and I want to set out where we have got to. As members will be aware, this Labour government committed, in its manifesto, to end and a commitment that I was incredibly proud to deliver last October. We committed to transferring investment reserve funds back to members and reviewed surplus arrangements so that Mineworkers who powered our country receive a fair pension.

I was incredibly proud that, after only three months in power, the Chancellor announced the transfer of that investment reserve fund at the budget in October. This was the action of a Labour government overturning a historic justice that previous governments had failed. The

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transfer of 1.5... I thank the Minister for giving way, does she agree, it is thanks to way, does she agree, it is thanks to campaigners such as Bobby in my constituency, and the local party, constituency, and the local party, that we have managed to succeed in moving towards resolution and seeing that money paid out to those that money paid out to those communities. Thanks to people like Allen, in my constituency, who is Allen, in my constituency, who is leading the campaign, I hope she leading the campaign, I hope she will give us good news, does you agree it is the former miners who are always fighting for the justice they deserve.



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they deserve. Of course he is right, I want to thank everybody who has campaigned thank everybody who has campaigned and worked for so long on the Mineworkers pension and everybody Mineworkers pension and everybody who has been in touch with me and colleagues across the House on the BC tripler's -- BCS SS, one of the most humbling events I have been to, most humbling events I have been to, was speaking to former miners following the announcement on the pension.

I am incredibly grateful to the many people who have campaigned and are getting in touch and showing us how important this is, of course, we understand it.

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This is a new topic to me personally, I was contacted by a constituent whose late husband, a constituent whose late husband, a good friend of mine, worked for British Coal at the time and he was passionate that this money should be returned to the miners. Does the Minister agree we need to get on with this and get this to happen as quickly as possible.

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quickly as possible. We are moving as fast as we can. I will explain where the purses -- I will explain where the purses -- process has got up to and I hope members will be reassured. The transfer of £1.5 billion, boosted pensioners... Boosted pensions by 32%, an average increase of £29 per 32%, an average increase of £29 per week. And the member raised the point that this is not just money into people's pockets, it is local communities, that is incredibly important, I understand that.

So, my officials are working closely with trustees on the review of the future surplus sharing arrangements and we hope to come forward with proposals and agreements on that soon. Having worked closely with the communities on the delivery of the Mineworkers pension, I recognise the strength of feeling...

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Sometimes, thank you for giving way, I have got to echo my sincere way, I have got to echo my sincere thank you on behalf of my constituents and people who work across the country for the fantastic across the country for the fantastic work the Minister has done in relation to the finances in the relation to the finances in the Mineworkers pension scheme. Might the Minister be able to inform the House what the differences are House what the differences are between the NPS receiving the money and the challenges with regards to

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and the challenges with regards to the BCS SS. Can I thank my honourable friend

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Can I thank my honourable friend for his kind words, I will do that and set out what challenges are and and set out what challenges are and the differences. So, having a the differences. So, having a process of work ongoing with the Mineworkers scheme and working out how we do surplus sharing going forward, even though it was not a manifesto commitment, we are working on BCS SS and what we do in that space. I wrote to the chief Secretary in February and secured his agreement to undertake a similar review and that review is well underway.

The schemes are not identical, they are different, the main difference being that there is no surplus sharing arrangements currently. And that is because they were removed in 2015 following two deficit valuations of the situation at that time which meant that members were unlikely to realise any increases to the pensions for a decade or more and the government risked having to find new money to fund the pensions. There were changes made and an agreement was reached with that then government that bonuses would be paid for three years, the scheme would invest so that pensions could be paid with the aim of returning the reserve to the government in 2033.

I met with the government in 2033. I met with the BC tripler's -- BCS SS trustees, we are working well together and will continue to do so, I met them first in April, when a shared my determination to move at pace, move us fast as we can on the review of the scheme and start that process for the government and trustees to do a piece of work where we jointly commissioned analysis from the Department to inform decision-

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making. Just on that point, I have heard

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Just on that point, I have heard from many of my constituents from many of my constituents affected by this, how advanced age some people are and the need for some people are and the need for speed. I would appreciate hearing

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any further efforts she can do to expedite this. I completely appreciate the comment that my honourable friend is making, I feel that very strongly, I making, I feel that very strongly, I am dedicated to doing exactly that. We have recently received the We have recently received the analysis from the government on the options for making a transfer to options for making a transfer to scheme members and because we received that information, I had a meeting today to hear the news on that.

At that meeting, I committed to move at speed, my officials are meeting the Treasury tomorrow, we are going to put a recommendation to the chief Secretary and I made a commitment to meet the trustees again for the summer break so we are continuing to do that and make progress as fast as we can. I will give way.

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I thank the Minister for giving way, I am proud to support the campaign since before I became an MP, I would like to patriot to the campaigners in my constituency, campaigners in my constituency, including Tony Jones who gave me a badge which I wear with pride. I am badge which I wear with pride. I am grateful for her engagement with trustees and MPs. Many of my constituents are elderly, in poor constituents are elderly, in poor health and desperate for resolution, given that the reserve is already held within the scheme and its held within the scheme and its return would not require new spending, will the Minister work spending, will the Minister work hard to make sure that this money...

These deferred pensions are returned

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as quickly as possible. That is certainly what we are

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That is certainly what we are working to do. Because the schemes are slightly different, the way that the Treasury has to interact and think about this is different but we have done our due process, met with trustees today, we are going to put the recommendation to the chief Secretary of the Treasury, I know that a lot of my colleagues have been talking to the Treasury about this issue, and I hope that honourable colleagues will appreciate that whilst I have a desire to move at speed, we need to make sure that we get this absolutely right, any spending decisions are taken on the basis of careful consideration, especially given the role that the government has as the guarantor to both the Mineworkers pension scheme and the BCS SS.

I want to provide assurances, I am doing everything that I can to reach an agreement and improve the conditions of members as soon as possible.

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She has been... I think she has

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She has been... I think she has been very good today at the despatch box, I thank her for that, a lot of positive things have come out of

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positive things have come out of this debate. One question, is the scheme currently running at a surplus and by how much? I would not give figures about

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I would not give figures about the scheme is doing well. And that the scheme is doing well. And that is in part because of the trustees is in part because of the trustees and the actions they have taken and the investments and the process they the investments and the process they have undertaken. So, whilst the 2015 have undertaken. So, whilst the 2015 situation calls for there to be a change, it is now running well. And change, it is now running well.

And people can be reassured about that. So, I recognise that, for many, the coalfield communities, delivery on the pension scheme has only heightened the sense of injustice, I hear that, I feel that, and I am determined to take action on it.

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Thank you, with the scheme looking healthy now, I wonder if my looking healthy now, I wonder if my 719 BCS SS members, whether the Minister has that ability to push it Minister has that ability to push it forward and expedited as quickly as possible to get them justice?

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possible to get them justice? I certainly have, yes, and I am

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I certainly have, yes, and I am working as fast as I can on this. We could talk about I think I will not could talk about I think I will not now about the wider support we are trying to offer in terms of people trying to offer in terms of people are coalfield communities, there is a raft of interventions we are

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taking to try and support people... I thank the Minister for giving

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I thank the Minister for giving way, my constituent echoed many of the points made by the constituents of other members about the difference between those families that worked side-by-side, one being benefits and one not. The Minister has a full portfolio at the moment many other things, whether or not... Whilst we wait the Treasury, which is known for its speed, whether there is any interim arrangements that might be available to give some of the surplus back to the BCS SS or something that allows there to be a demonstration of progress whilst we demonstration of progress whilst we

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I would not want to give the impression that this decision is impression that this decision is waiting for the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to go yes. It is not. We have to go to the correct We have to go to the correct processes to get this over the line processes to get this over the line because it is a different scheme we have to go to the proper processes. have to go to the proper processes. If we were to give a part of the surplus back and not all of it that would probably cause more trouble would probably cause more trouble than not, just because, why would we want to do that? We want to resolve this properly.

We want to resolve it this properly. We want to resolve it quickly. The two outcomes that the quickly. The two outcomes that the honourable Member referred to, what the trustees want, these are goals the trustees want, these are goals that we share. We have to do this properly and with the right processes, and we have to make sure we are not putting words in to the mouths of our Treasury officials and colleagues before it is right to do so. My commitment is to work at pace on this.

As I said my officials are meeting the Treasury tomorrow, meeting the trustees before the

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summer. I hear and understand the voices. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker.

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Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Two quick points. As she seeks to carry out those meetings, and I wish carry out those meetings, and I wish them well, I wonder if she would give consideration to meeting some of us from the coalfield communities of us from the coalfield communities to facilitate the conversations? She has just touched on Industrial has just touched on Industrial Strategy, she knows my views both on that BCSSS and importance that my constituents feel. The Industrial Strategy must be felt by the people Strategy must be felt by the people not just in my constituency but up and down and who are in the

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coalfield. So we hope she will find time to meet us. I'm always very happy to meet my

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I'm always very happy to meet my colleagues and the honourable member in particular. And happy to meet any iteration of BCSSS, anybody who either is in receipt of it or campaigning. I am always happy and was have my door open. He is right, was have my door open. He is right, our Industrial Strategy needs to do what we have not had for so long, to grow our economy across the country and not just in certain areas that we want Industrial Strategy to do just that.

I will end by saying that, as politicians, we know that people find it very hard to trust us, and what we will deliver, in part because they have been let down so many times and so many years. I hope the fact we delivered the Mineworkers Pension Scheme within three months of coming to office, and I understand the frustration, and I understand the need for speed I understand these are people who are getting older, we know that many people passed away before they could get the Mineworkers Pension Scheme.

And the same could be true in terms of the long period of time we have been talking about these issues was not I hope people will see that we mean it and we are undertaking to work at pace on that BCSSS.

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I'm grateful. I'm mindful of the

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I'm grateful. I'm mindful of the fact that members don't have to be in adjournment debate but there is in adjournment debate but there is not a single Conservative MP here this evening on this very important issue all over the UK.

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issue all over the UK. I would let anybody watching the debate draw their own conclusions on debate draw their own conclusions on that front. It is there for all to that front. It is there for all to see. I want to end by thanking the honourable member for securing this debate and for all the representations from many honourable representations from many honourable Friend today. This Labour government is actively committed to addressing is actively committed to addressing the issue of the BCSSS.

I look forward to updating members on our progress towards improving pensions progress towards improving pensions for all our former miners and correcting these historical

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injustices. The question is that this house do now adjourn. As many are of that opinion say, "Aye". The ayes have opinion say, "Aye". The ayes have
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