Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Jacob Young Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

I rise with sadness to send my condolences and those of my constituents to His Majesty the King and the entire royal family. It is an honour to pay tribute to Her late Majesty the Queen today for all that she did for my community and the country.

Over the last few days, I have read many memories from the people of Teesside about the times they met her on her visits, like at Tees dock in 1997 or Pallister Park in 1993; the charities that she championed, such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Scouts and the Girl Guides; and the horses that she raced at Redcar racecourse, where she twice won the Zetland Gold Cup. I never had the honour of meeting Her late Majesty, but I have a wonderful portrait of her in my office that was given to me by my mam, from when she visited Middlesbrough on her first visit to Teesside as Queen. It is a photograph of her in a car driving towards the ICI Wilton site on a warm summer day in June 1956, where she was met by chemists and industrialists who were at the forefront of British innovation in chemical processing. At 3 pm that day, the royal standard flew over the Wilton site as Her late Majesty was shown a range of products, from moulding powders and synthetic fibres to Perspex glasses. More than 60 years later, on that very same site, I remember gathering around a TV at 3 pm on Christmas day as my shift paused work briefly to watch her Christmas message. Much had changed in those decades on Wilton—indeed, much had changed in Britain—but there was one constant: a sovereign who, over seven decades, demonstrated the values of duty and public service. She was a remarkable woman who was an amazing mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and, as we have heard from others, a trusted counsellor, guide and friend.

The Queen’s Christianity formed the guiding principles of her life and the example that she set. In St Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he describes the “fruit of the Spirit” as

“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”.

These are the words by which we knew our Queen. She was a monarch like no other, who gave everything for our country. As she said in her Christmas message in 1957:

“I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

That she did. She truly was Elizabeth the Great. God bless our late Queen. May she rest in peace. God save the King.

UK Energy Costs

Jacob Young Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Keir Starmer]

I will give way in just a moment.

The head of BP has called this crisis “a cash machine” for his company. Households are on the other end of that cash machine—their bills are funding these eye-watering profits. That is why we have been calling for a windfall tax since January, and it is why we want to see the windfall tax expanded now, but the Prime Minister is opposed to windfall taxes. She wants to leave these vast profits on the table, with one clear and obvious consequence: the bill will be picked up by working people. She claims that a windfall tax will deter investment. That is ridiculous. These vast profits are not the reward for careful planning. They are the unexpected windfall from Putin’s barbarity in Ukraine. There is no reason why taxing them would affect investment in the future.

Do not just take my word for it. Asked which investment BP would cancel if there were a windfall tax, the chief executive said, “None”—his word, not mine. The Prime Minister’s only argument against the windfall tax falls apart at first inspection, laying bare the fact that she is simply driven by dogma, and it is working people who will pay for that dogma.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman accept that this Government have already introduced a windfall tax, and energy companies today are paying 65% on their profits? What would he rather see that tax set at?

[Keir Starmer]

We are talking about what happens this winter and next. If the hon. Gentleman does not understand—[Interruption.] I will tell him something. Every pound the Prime Minister’s Government refuse to raise in windfall taxes, which is leaving billions on the table, is an extra pound of borrowing. That is the simple, straightforward argument. Every pound that she leaves on the table is an extra pound of borrowing, loading the burden of the cost of living crisis onto working people who will have to pay back for years to come.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Blackford]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Let me say, I am sure on behalf of all colleagues, that we are saddened to hear the announcement that has been made. The thoughts and prayers of us all will be with Her Majesty the Queen and indeed with the royal family.

In reality, the one big political question—the real question—was how today’s plan would be paid for and who would pay for it. Ever since the new Prime Minister took office, we have been waiting for these answers, but after all the waiting it could not be any clearer. She set it out very brazenly: the Prime Minister’s plan means that the public pay. She has made the political choice to tax families instead of companies—to put profit over people. Instead of a windfall tax, she has chosen a new Tory tax: the Truss tax—the Truss tax that means that, in the months and years ahead, households and businesses will be punished with higher bills, higher interest rates and higher mortgage costs. A Truss tax means cuts to the vital public services that people rely on and that are used to support the most vulnerable. A Truss tax means a threat to the Scottish budget, which the Scottish Government are using to protect our population and shield workers and public services as best they can.

[Jacob Young]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He seems to be making an argument for a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies. They already pay 65% on their profits. Given that the Leader of the Opposition was not able to answer this question, what would he rather see that tax set at?

[Ian Blackford]

I am grateful for that intervention. If the hon. Member just bears with me, I will come to that specific point, but the issue of who pays is important, because there is no—[Interruption.] Well, actually I will do, and the right hon. and learned Member for North East Hertfordshire (Sir Oliver Heald) might actually show some respect, if he does not mind. At the end of the day, oil and gas producers are making windfall profits. Our constituents, and his constituents, are suffering. It is right that we look at the contribution that those making windfall profits will make, and I will come to that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

I have set out the amount of funding the Government are providing over this Parliament—£6.6 billion on energy efficiency. I very much share the view that we need to be doing even more on this, particularly as we face energy security issues and energy prices are so high; more insulation in homes will deliver lower bills for households.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

On energy efficiency, decarbonising in-home heating remains one of our biggest challenges in reaching our net zero 2050 target, so will the Minister join me in welcoming plans for a hydrogen village by 2025? Will he also have a chat with the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary to encourage him to back our plans for one in Redcar and Cleveland?

[Alok Sharma]

I know that my hon. Friend is a great champion of green energy and, in particular, hydrogen in his area. I wish him luck with the plans and of course I will raise this matter the Business Secretary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Well, no, Mr Speaker. What we have—and I know that every single one of the candidates will want to deliver this—is a Bill to fix the problem of the protocol. I accept that there is a problem, and I hope that the whole House will support the Bill.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

Q6.   As this is probably the last time that I will get to address this Prime Minister at the Dispatch Box, may I say on behalf of the people of Redcar and Cleveland how grateful we are for the support that he has given us and for delivering on the will of 17.4 million people in taking us out of the EU? Is he as optimistic as I am about our future as a free and independent nation?

[The Prime Minister]

I say to my hon. Friend that, if anything, I am even more optimistic. I have only one anxiety. We all know that there are people around the world who hope that this will be the end of Brexit. [Interruption.] I can see them all! Look at them! Did my hon. Friend notice those on the Labour Front Bench? That is them. They are wrong, Mr Speaker, and we will show that they are wrong.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

I thank the hon. Member for her question and I agree with her sentiments. We are engaging continuously on CCUS with the Acorn cluster and other possibilities. I agree with her on the impact that the SNP would have on energy policy. The SNP is anti-nuclear and anti-oil and gas. It is hard to see where it thinks it is going to get its energy from in the event of independence; perhaps it has some idea of a future deal with Vladimir Putin.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

Carbon capture and storage is critical for the production of blue hydrogen and, therefore, in helping us to reach the Government’s 2030 hydrogen target. What opportunities does the Minister see for the potential of the hydrogen economy in Scotland, Teesside and the rest of the UK?

[Greg Hands]

I thank my hon. Friend, the chair of the all-party group on hydrogen, for his continuing support for hydrogen-related and CCUS-related projects. We see that as offering opportunities for the whole of the UK. Teesside will play a big part in it, as will Scotland and other parts of England and Wales. We see it as a big whole of the UK effort, crucial to levelling up and to the Union.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We have always talked about a managed transition to a clean energy future. It is not about flicking a switch off overnight; I think everybody understands that. As a Government, of course, we have to make sure that we keep the lights on and keep the factories and businesses running.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

Does the COP26 President recognise that fossil fuels remain critical in the transition to net zero 2050 and in the production of blue hydrogen, plastics and power through carbon capture, utilisation and storage projects such as Net Zero Teesside?

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend makes the same point that this is about a managed transition. We want to ensure that we decarbonise the electricity system by 2035. Hon. Members will know that the energy security strategy is all about transitioning to a clean energy future with a big push on renewables, nuclear and hydrogen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think the hon. Lady needs to bring this particular case to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, but I can tell the House—[Interruption.] I know, by the way, that many hon. Members are showing a lead by having Ukrainians to stay in their own homes, and I thank all hon. Members who are doing that, thanks to the scheme that the UK Government have put in place. I think we should be very proud of what we are doing.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

The Prime Minister knows from his visits to Redcar and Cleveland that we enjoy miles of beautiful, uninterrupted coastline. However, since October last year, we have seen thousands of dead and dying crustaceans being washed ashore. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs conducted an investigation into that, leading to the theory that algal bloom is the primary cause of these deaths. However, the report does nothing to support the fishermen left devastated by this freak event through no fault of their own. Will the Prime Minister look at how he can support this vital industry to get them back on its feet?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend and I were walking together on the seafront in Redcar—eating a lemon top, actually—when somebody raised that very point with us. I can tell him that we have ruled out chemical pollution, but we are making another £100 million of investment, including in communities such as his, and working with the fishing industry to help it to recover from this problem.

Referral of Prime Minister to Committee of Privileges

Jacob Young Excerpts

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Keir Starmer]

That is a really important and powerful point, because if we do not pass this motion and take this opportunity to restate the principles, we are all complicit in allowing the standards to slip. We are all complicit in allowing the public to think that we are all the same, that nobody tells the truth and that there are alternative sets of facts.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

Will the right hon. and learned Member give way?

[Keir Starmer]

I will in a minute; I have given way a lot and I want to make some progress, but I will try to come back to the hon. Member.

--- Later in debate ---

[Keir Starmer]

I will give way in just a minute.

We already know that he has a case to answer. The Prime Minister said that no rules were broken, but more than 50 fines for breaching the rules and the law have now been issued, including to the Prime Minister. Anybody who denies that simple fact has their head in the sand or has given up any interest in the truth and in the traditions of our nation in order to prop up a lawbreaking Prime Minister.

Today’s motion would refer the matter to the Privileges Committee, a Committee that has a Government majority. No one can say that the Prime Minister is not being judged by his peers. The Committee would investigate the Prime Minister for contempt only once the police had concluded their investigation. No one can say that there is prejudice to the rest of the inquiry. And, of course, any findings the Committee comes to and any sanctions it might propose would then come back before the House as a whole, so no one can say that it is too soon for the House to decide. It is a system of self-governance, and it should be, because with the great privilege that comes from sitting in this place comes the great responsibility to protect the conventions that underpin our democracy.

[Jacob Young]

On conventions, does the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that language is equally important? Will he therefore take this opportunity to distance himself from the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), who said that he wanted to lynch another hon. Member, and from the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), who is sitting right next to him and who called Members on this side of the House Tory scum? He should distance himself from them.

[Keir Starmer]

That is a shame. I thought that we were having a reasonably serious debate—[Interruption.]

Easter Recess: Government Update

Jacob Young Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I understand the feelings of his constituents, but I must direct him to what I said earlier on.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

May I welcome the Prime Minister’s renewed focus on nuclear energy and its power to transform our energy independence? Does he also recognise that we need not just energy independence, but independence in our foundation industries such as chemicals and steel?

Oral Answers to Questions

Jacob Young Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

12. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on establishing a freeport in Wales.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

13. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on establishing a freeport in Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Simon Hart)]

We have had constructive discussions with the Welsh Government on the importance of establishing our freeports programme, and we continue to work closely on that as a matter of urgency.

--- Later in debate ---

[Simon Hart]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The concept of freeports is indisputably positive, and others who have gone down that route with the launch of English freeports are already able to report inward investment, and good sustainable jobs that will contribute to our economic recovery as well as our net-zero ambitions. As I said, in Wales there will be a number of very high quality bids. We have committed in the manifesto to at least one freeport in Wales, and hopefully we may be able to expand on that over time. The long wait for a decision, and the many months of wrestling with the Welsh Government to reach a conclusion that we can all live with, are nearly at an end.

[Jacob Young]

A freeport in Wales, especially in Anglesey, sounds like a great idea, just like in Teesside, where the UK’s largest and first post-Brexit freeport has already led to the announcement of thousands of future jobs in new green technologies. Does the Minister agree it is vital that we all get behind our freeport policy, which will help to level up and deliver the change we need in our areas?

[Simon Hart]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, which gives me the opportunity to highlight that freeports are already a resounding success in his area. We do not need to go any further than that, because the work that he and the Mayor, Ben Houchen, have done in that area is fantastic. Anyone who had any doubts about what freeports can bring to a region need only look at my hon. Friend’s area to see that they make a serious and positive contribution to future economic prosperity.