Shipbuilding

Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Spicer

Tuesday 14th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, is quite right that long-term planning is needed. This is why the national shipbuilding strategy, which is chaired by Sir John Parker, is looking at putting warship building on a sustainable, long-term footing and building a new complex warship on a regular basis— I am told the term is “regular drumbeat of production”. However, at the moment, our order book for the construction of warships is full for the foreseeable future with the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier. We are third in the world behind the USA and Japan when it comes to tonnage under construction.

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

My Lords, are we sure that we have enough escort ships for the two carriers?

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the noble Lord is possibly referring to the Type 26 warship. At the moment, as for bringing that into construction, we are extending the life of the Type 23, which will ensure that the Royal Navy continues to have a quality anti-submarine capability until the Type 26 enters service—new radar and missiles, improved sonar systems, upgraded boats, improved command and control systems, and more efficient power generation equipment.

Aviation: Sustainable Fuel

Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Spicer

Tuesday 22nd March 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, as I mentioned in my Answer, we will be going out to consultation on this subject later this year, where we will look at increased targets for suppliers to provide long-term certainty to industry and to meet our climate change targets. We will also make biofuels more sustainable by increasing the supply of waste-based biofuels. We will also support investment in renewable aviation fuels by including it in the RTFO. We will also look at possible further competitions on top of the one already held, looking specifically at the jet biofuel issue.

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

My Lords, it sounds as if these excellent new fuels will be polluting our airports rather less in future, so can we bring forward the Heathrow decision?

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Ahmad answered this question at great length last week or the week before. I do not think that there is anything more that I can add to it.