Oral Answers to Questions

Andy Carter Excerpts

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No, is the answer to that. Of course these are difficult decisions. They need to be taken in a balanced way, and that is what we are doing. Throughout the pandemic, to do all these things, frankly, takes a great deal of drive, and it takes a great deal of leadership to get things done. If we followed the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s advice, we would still be in the European Medicines Agency and we would never have rolled out the vaccines as fast. If we followed his advice, we would never have got schools open again, with all the damage to kids’ education. Frankly, if we had listened to him, we would not now be proceeding cautiously, pragmatically, sensibly to reopen our society and our economy, and giving people back the chance to enjoy the freedoms they love. We are getting on with taking the tough decisions to take this country forward. We vaccinate, they vacillate. We inoculate, while they are invertebrate.

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

Last week I visited Penketh South Community Primary School in Warrington to talk to year 6 children about how we can generate cleaner energy in the future. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that, as well as backing electric vehicle production in the north-west, there is a great opportunity to shift towards low-carbon hydrogen by providing support for projects such as HyNet North West, which by 2030 will secure thousands of green jobs in the north-west, as well as cutting emissions to the same level as taking 4 million cars off the roads?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I believe that the north-west, in addition to the rest of the country, will be a world leader in hydrogen technology. The HyNet project is an excellent example. We have already put £45 million into supporting the HyNet project, kickstarting our hydrogen capture and storage, and I thank my hon. Friend for his support.