Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine West Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

Interest rates are now falling, something the right hon. Gentleman declined to mention. The best thing we can do to help with those interest rates is to deliver on the Prime Minister’s objective of halving inflation, and I am encouraged that we are on track to do so.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

11. What fiscal steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the economy in reaching net-zero carbon emissions.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

17. What fiscal steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the economy in reaching net-zero carbon emissions.

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[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (James Cartlidge)]

At the spending review 2021, we confirmed that since March 2021 the Government will have committed a total £30 billion of public investment for the green industrial revolution. Since then, the Government have made new announcements to provide long-term certainty on our investment plans, including £6 billion for energy efficiency from 2025 and up to £20 billion for carbon capture, usage and storage. The Government will set out further action shortly to support green industries in the UK and meet our net zero 2050 commitment.

[Catherine West]

Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its report on the latest data, warning that the world is fast approaching irreversible levels of global heating. Why is the Treasury still giving energy companies an easy ride through lucrative loopholes in the energy windfall tax? The Treasury should be prioritising investments in renewables so that over time, our bills can come down.

[James Cartlidge]

This country should be proud of our record, which has seen emissions fall faster in this country than in any country in the G7—down 44% since 1990—but we have to balance that against energy security. Surely, if there is one thing we have learned from what has happened with Ukraine’s invasion by Russia, it is that we need to maximise domestic energy production. The investment allowance in our windfall tax is not a loophole; it is there precisely to incentivise investment so that we maximise domestic energy production.