Industrial Strategy

Charlie Maynard Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. I can run this only until 2 pm, so can questions and answers be brief, please?

[Charlie Maynard (Witney) (LD)]

I thank the Chair for his leadership; we enjoy being under it. To focus on one thing, energy costs are causing havoc around the country, leading to many companies going to the wall. Does he think this emergency should be to dealt with by cutting energy costs, dealing with the distortions between gas and electricity, and giving better access to manufacturers so that they can get the power they need?

[Liam Byrne]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Perhaps the most critical test of the industrial strategy, when it is published, will be whether it brings industrial energy costs down. If it fails that test, it is going to struggle to make progress.