Oil Refining Sector

Brian Leishman Excerpts

Wednesday 14th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Father of the House, who makes an important point and strengthens the argument I was trying to make. We are exporting skilled jobs, and the Government seem to find that acceptable. The Minister has previously stated that the market would adjust as, indeed, it has, but it raises the question of whether, if another refinery were to close, at what point we will recognise that we must retain some refining capacity in the UK—surely for strategic reasons, if no other.

[Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for securing this debate and for his Westminster Hall debate. We sit on opposite sides of the Chamber, but I thoroughly respect how much he has stood up for his constituents and the wider oil refining industry in the United Kingdom, and I thank him for that.

I will speak about Grangemouth and specifically the jobs that have been lost there—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. The hon. Gentleman will not speak about Grangemouth. The debate is about the Lindsey oil refinery, and interventions must be brief.

[Brian Leishman]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was under the impression that the debate was on the wider UK refining sector. On that note, we talk about just transition—it is often mentioned in this Chamber—but job losses and no future jobs are the definition of a very unjust transition.

[Martin Vickers]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. Equally, I recognise how he has stood up for his constituents over the Grangemouth issue, and I compliment him on that.