Oral Answers to Questions

Aphra Brandreth Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)]

7. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on levels of employment in the oil and gas sector in Scotland.

[Aphra Brandreth (Chester South and Eddisbury) (Con)]

11. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on levels of employment in the oil and gas sector in Scotland.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

14. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on levels of employment in the oil and gas sector in Scotland.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Alexander]

Conservative Members are experts in dither and delay, and over the decade preceding July 2024 and the election of the Labour Government, alas 70,000 jobs were lost. Of course, we hit peak production in the North sea more than 20 years ago. That is why we need a credible plan for transition, and that is what we are putting in place.

[Aphra Brandreth]

The Government are accelerating the decline of an industry that supports thousands of jobs across Scotland, while promising replacement jobs that are not materialising quickly enough. Scotland’s oil and gas workers are paying the price for the Government’s ideological opposition to the oil and gas sector. Will the Secretary of State confirm now whether he supports Labour’s ban on new licences?

[Mr Alexander]

There is a certain irony in the Conservative party lecturing the Government on deindustrialisation in Scotland. In reality, it left an energy system in 2024 that was less secure, more exposed to international shocks, and slower to invest. The hon. Lady’s question might have more credibility had we not agreed Jackdaw just last week.