Decarbonisation of Cement

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Chris McDonald)]

I am so pleased that, due to a quirk in the timings, we have almost two hours for the discussion of cement. I will endeavour to make the best use of the time available.

I very much thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (John Whitby) for raising the issue of cement manufacture in the UK. I share his concerns about the current level of cement production both for Derbyshire and for the UK. I hope that by the time I resume my place on the Treasury Bench, he may feel a certain sense of reassurance given the priority I am personally giving to this issue. He made the case admirably for the cement sector based on the jobs and the impact on the local economy. I will endeavour to add to that economic argument by outlining the importance of the cement sector to the UK more broadly.

Breedon’s Hope cement works in my hon. Friend’s constituency is the largest in the UK. It supports 270 jobs in his constituency and contributes £60 million to the local economy. In my role as Minister for Industry, I intend to be as vocal and visible an advocate of British industry as he is for the industry in his own constituency. To be clear, my objective as Minister for Industry is to ensure that we secure a sustainable and prosperous future for this UK heavy industry.

Before I talk more broadly about the challenge of decarbonisation, I will briefly set out the role that the cement sector plays in the UK. Cement is of course an incredibly ancient material, which was developed and used extensively across Europe by the Romans. However, it would be wrong to think of it as a material of the past. It is subject to constant innovation, as we heard from my hon. Friend.

If you will forgive me for saying so, Madam Deputy Speaker, cement is quite literally the foundation of our modern economy. It is the essential ingredient used to construct everything from homes and hospitals to bridges, schools, roads and energy infrastructure. Without cement, there would be no new housing developments or transport networks. That is why we recognise in our industrial strategy that the cement industry is an essential ingredient in our eight key growth-driving sectors and part of our foundation industries.

Some of this Government’s biggest and most ambitious delivery programmes depend on the strength and durability of cement, including our plan to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament and the development of our clean energy infrastructure such as nuclear and offshore wind. However, it is also an economically important sector in its own right, contributing £340 million in gross value added and employing 1,500 people in high-skilled, high-wage jobs, with a wage premium 24% above the national median wage and 6% to 8% above manufacturing benchmarks. Indeed, businesses in places where there are cement kilns are often the most highly productive, with the most highly paid jobs.

My hon. Friend outlined the challenge of decarbonisation, and we need to find a way for the UK cement industry to cut emissions in the future. He mentioned that it is a very energy-intensive energy, and he rightly pointed out that the challenge in decarbonising cement is due to the calcination process in the manufacture of clinker. I have no extreme desire to turn the House into a lecture theatre, but it may be helpful to dwell for a moment on the chemistry of cement production.

The process involves heating limestone to over 1,450°C to transform it into lime. In and of itself, this process releases the carbon dioxide that had been trapped in the limestone for millennia, and two thirds of the emissions are from the calcination process. They are an inevitable by-product of the cement production process, and they cannot be abated by fuel switching.

That problem was recognised a few years ago by none other than Bill Gates. We imagine that Bill Gates goes to very exciting parties in California, but maybe they are not as exciting as we might think. He says that when he is at a barbecue with friends talking about decarbonisation, as they often do, his friends say to him, “Bill, decarbonising steel is very difficult,” and I know that is true from my career. He always says to them, “If you think decarbonising steel is difficult, decarbonising cement is almost impossible.” This is a challenge that even Bill Gates finds it difficult to address.

However, the UK has always been a pioneer in overcoming such challenges. As we have heard, many technologies have been developed in the UK, and I will expand on those in a moment. The UK has been a pioneer in cement, too. The invention of Portland cement 200 years ago by William Aspdin sparked a construction boom that shaped the country that we know today. That is what we need to harness now: innovation to face the challenge of decarbonisation. I will outline some of the progress that the industry and Government are making. There are, essentially, three opportunities for us in decarbonisation. The first is reformulating cement, so that it intrinsically has less carbon. The second is reduction—using less cement on each construction project. There are a number of ways of doing that. The third, which my hon. Friend described extensively, is carbon capture, which is a good place to start.

My hon. Friend spoke of the Peak Cluster carbon capture utilisation and storage project, which is partly located in his constituency. As he mentioned, the project has been developed outside the Government’s carbon capture usage and storage cluster sequencing process. It is an important project that aims to store over 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the cement and lime factories that support jobs across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and the north-west. It could potentially decarbonise around half of our cement industry.

My hon. Friend mentioned the investment of £28.6 million secured from the National Wealth Fund, alongside £31 million of private sector investment. Just this week I met not only the Peak Cluster team, but Sumitomo, which is one of the largest private sector investors in the proposed pipeline. I look forward to further conversations with the Peak Cluster project to help bring this initiative to fruition. He asked me about contracts for difference. I recognise that there could be a role for contracts for difference. It is an area that I would be prepared to look at more closely in future.

Reformulation is about changing the recipe for cement, so that there is less embodied cement in each tonne produced. There are a number of other cutting-edge projects at various stages of development, although none has been fully commercialised. I alluded earlier to the historical role of cement. Again, this is not an entirely new endeavour. I mentioned that the Romans were particularly strong in the development of cement. The Pantheon in Rome has a marvellous dome, over 43 metres in diameter, which is constructed from three different formulations. There is limestone in the heavy cement at the bottom, and pumice stone at the top. Ultimately, changing the clinker that we use is at the heart of how we reduce carbon emissions in cement. I will outline a few projects that are ongoing.

First of all, there is Material Evolution’s MevoCem green cement project. It is working with global building materials company CRH, and has a pilot production facility in Wrexham that uses alkali fusion technology to produce cement at ambient temperatures, with no heat and using industrial by-products. Reclinker, formerly Cambridge Electric Cement—another project my hon. Friend mentioned—uses electric arc furnace slag and demolition waste to reduce clinker. Both projects began their experimental and pilot work at the Materials Processing Institute. Madam Deputy Speaker, if you refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, you will see that I worked there in the past; I have worked on one of those projects, and supported another.

There is also Ecocem’s ACT, or activating cementitious technology. It is a low-clinker cement including limestone filler—this takes us back to that original initiative in ancient Rome—which is chemically activated to produce a strong, durable and low-emissions product. Today, I met one of the company directors when I visited the Amtest laboratories in Canning Town. You may think, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I do nothing other than talk to people in the cement industry, so interested am I in this technology.

However, it is not just the technology that we need; we also need improvements in standards. Developing cement is no good if we cannot use it, and we can use it only if we have confidence in its application in the long term. I was pleased to learn that industry is working on this, having developed a Flex 350 standard, which aims to be part 3 of BS 8500. That should hopefully give insurers confidence, and enable builders and designers to use some of these new materials. Innovate UK, as my hon. Friend mentioned, has supported many of these products; in fact, it has been overwhelmed by applications for new cement technologies.

Between the cement technologies and the reduction in cement that I mentioned, we could reduce carbon dioxide emissions per tonne and overall by around 40%. Of course, that leaves a residual amount for which carbon capture and storage, either through a pipeline or some other transport network, would be required.

Let us turn to the economic opportunity of cement. The pioneering work I have referred to is not just about cutting emissions and protecting our environment; we should not be blind to the huge economic opportunity. In 2023, the UK consumed just over 11 million tonnes of cement, but we produced only 7 million tonnes ourselves. The remainder, around 30%, was imported from primarily European countries, including France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. This is quite a new situation, as it was usual for the UK to produce the cement that we needed in our own economy. Cement is very heavy, and it is expensive to transport. I see this as a lost opportunity to capture additional economic value for the UK.

Let me put it this way: if we produced domestically what we currently import, we would need to increase production by half. A 50% growth rate in the UK cement industry is conceivable; it would mean around five additional cement plants in the country. Between them, they would create around 750 jobs and £170 million in gross value added, and would eliminate nearly half a billion pounds in the trade deficit on cement that we had in 2023. Low-carbon cement also opens up new market opportunities. The Norwegian Brevik cement plant is now operating with carbon capture. It has sold out of its low-carbon cement in 2025, and has a growing order book.

I recognise that there is an important role here for not just technology but people. I welcome the support of the Institute of Concrete Technology, and I hope to be able to work with the Institution of Chemical Engineers. I place a very high value on the role that our professional institutions can play in helping people in our industries to transfer their skills across to new green technologies.

I turn to how the Government are supporting the industry. I start by acknowledging that the previous Government failed to recognise these opportunities. They neglected our heavy industry. By failing to invest in clean energy infrastructure, they left us dependent on fossil fuels and uniquely exposed to high energy prices, which led to a bills crisis across society. Heavy industry, including cement, was neglected.

The previous Government accepted that decarbonisation meant de-industrialisation; this Government do not. Through our industrial strategy, we are taking action to reduce industrial electricity prices. We are consulting on uplifting the network charging compensation scheme, a component of the British industry supercharger, from 60% to 90%, and we will publish a response shortly. The Government will also introduce the British industrial competitiveness scheme from 2027, which will reduce electricity bills by up to 25% for over 7,000 eligible British businesses.

The Government are also committed to delivering a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism to tackle the risk of carbon leakage, and we have published draft legislation to enable us to deliver it by January 2027. That mechanism will ensure that highly traded carbon-intensive products from overseas, including products in the cement sector, face a comparable carbon price to UK goods. I understand that it will give industry the confidence that it needs to invest in the UK. I was asked today to ensure that the cement industry faces a level playing field, and the carbon border adjustment mechanism will contribute to that.

I know that my hon. Friend is also interested in emissions reporting. The Government have just consulted on an embodied emissions reporting framework, which will simplify and harmonise existing private sector data and instil more confidence in the data that is being produced. It aims to help producers with measuring, reporting and verifying the embodied emissions of industrial products in a more standardised and comparable way. The objective of that is to remove information failures and support buyers in making informed purchasing decisions.

The Government are determined to mark a departure from the de-industrialisation of the past. We know how vital heavy industry such as cement is to our economy, to our most important building projects, and for thousands of well-paid jobs across the country. The Prime Minister himself has spoken of our determination to renew Britain through investment in new homes, infrastructure and public services. That renewal will also mean a re-industrialisation of parts of our country that suffered from factory closure and a lack of investment under the previous Government.

A new age of industrial renewal has begun. I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate, and I look forward to working with him and the cement industry on how we can secure investment and grow the industry in the future.

Question put and agreed to.

Clean Energy Jobs Plan

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Chris McDonald)]

Britain’s drive to home-grown clean energy is creating a new generation of good jobs around the country, and clean energy industries are booming. The action we have taken has already delivered more than £50 billion of clean energy investment announcements since July 2024. This represents the biggest investment in home-grown clean energy in the UK’s history, and is allowing us to take back control from petrostates and dictators and to bring down bills for good.

Our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower is not just about energy security; it is the best opportunity we have had in a generation to deliver economic security for workers and their communities—creating hundreds of thousands of secure, well-paid jobs with strong trade unions, as we roll out clean energy infrastructure, upgrade millions of homes and build our domestic supply chains.

That is why on 19 October, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published the clean energy jobs plan. It sets out how the Government will work in partnership with industry and trade unions to help workers in all parts of the country to benefit from these opportunities—supporting our existing workforce to find new opportunities, training up the next generation, and helping our young people to get good, unionised jobs.

Our analysis for the jobs plan estimates that we will need to see the clean energy workforce double from around 440,000 in 2023 to over 860,000 jobs supported across clean energy sectors and their supply chains by 2030. These opportunities will be distributed nationwide, encompassing all nations and regions, while some regions have high concentrations of particular clean energy sectors.

The jobs plan

The jobs plan sets out how we are taking action to address key challenges in delivering the skilled workforce our clean energy sector will need.

To deliver the pipeline of skilled workers, we will align the skills system and employment support to our industrial strategy sectors, including clean energy industries. The Government are providing an additional £1.2 billion per year to support skills development over the course of the Parliament, including funding for 1.3 million 16 to 19-year-olds to access training, supporting an additional 65,000 learners per year. We will also establish five clean energy technical excellence colleges to specialise in training skilled clean energy workforces for local and national businesses, in addition to the 10 construction TECs already confirmed.

To harness the potential of the UK workforce, we will: provide up to £20 million of funding from UK and Scottish Government to aid the transition of North sea workers into clean energy sectors; deliver £3.6 million of funding across 2025-26 to support innovative regional skills interventions in Aberdeenshire, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire to pilot support for up to 2,000 workers; support RenewableUK and Offshore Energies UK, in collaboration with the Scottish Government, to expand the energy skills passport; and develop and promote new employment pathways and career opportunities for veterans into the clean energy sector.

To deliver not just jobs, but good jobs, we will support greater trade union recognition and promote collective bargaining across the clean energy sector as a mechanism to facilitate engagement with industry, improve job quality, secure fair work and build a resilient workforce. We will also embed trade union representation across DESNZ governance, and close loopholes in legislation to extend to the clean energy sector employment protections, including the national minimum wage, enjoyed by offshore oil and gas workers working beyond UK territorial seas. We will leverage additional private investment into skills and strengthen workforce protections, through introducing workforce criteria across relevant Department for Energy Security and Net Zero grants and procurements, including in the clean industry bonus. We will develop a fair work charter with the wind sector and trade unions, which outlines a sector-wide commitment to provide high-quality employment through the CIB, and we will improve the inclusivity and visibility of clean energy job opportunities through a new social inclusion forum and an industry-led public awareness campaign.

To ensure benefits for every nation and region, we will: work with local areas to develop our regional mapping of clean energy jobs; establish a skills forum and a net zero network to bring together representatives of industrial strategy zones across the UK; work closely with local growth plans; and utilise the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s local net zero delivery group and ministerial-led mayoral roundtables to identify opportunities for collaboration and alignment between central and regional Government.

[HCWS972]

British Steel

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Chris McDonald)]

The Government committed to updating Parliament on British Steel every four sitting weeks for the duration of the period of special measures being applied under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025.

The Government’s priority remains to maintain the safe operation of the blast furnaces at British Steel. To that end, Government officials are continuing to provide on-site support to continue steel production, ensure that health and safety issues are being remedied, stabilise operations and improve the steady state of the business.

Work continues to develop an impact assessment, which will be published in due course following Regulatory Policy Committee scrutiny. We are also continuing work on regulations under section 7 of the Act, to introduce a compensation scheme for steel undertakings that have received a notice under the Act.

On funding, the position remains that all Government funding for British Steel will be drawn from existing budgets, within the spending envelope set out at spring statement 2025. To date, we have provided approximately £235 million for working capital, covering items such as raw materials, salaries, and addressing unpaid bills, including for SMEs in the supply chain. This will be reflected in the Department for Business and Trade’s accounts for 2025-26.

As we have stated previously, our long-term aspiration for British Steel will require co-investment with the private sector to enable modernisation and decarbonisation, support jobs, safeguard taxpayers’ money and retain steelmaking in Scunthorpe. However, this will not be without challenges. Jingye acquired a troubled business in 2020 and it has faced challenging market conditions and circumstances in the years since. The company has not been able to overcome these difficulties and achieve profitability at British Steel. But this Government remain committed to restoring the long-term viability of steelmaking at Scunthorpe, and the UK steel sector as a whole, and we continue to see tangible benefits resulting from the wide-ranging actions we have taken, such as tackling high electricity prices via the uplift to the British industry supercharger and changing Government procurement rules.

International trade

Last month, the United States confirmed that the UK will not face an increase in metals tariffs to 50% and will remain the only country in the world to benefit from a preferential 25% rate on steel, aluminium and derivative exports to the US. This provides the certainty that UK industry has long been calling for. The UK is uniquely positioned as the only country to have secured this commitment, giving our companies a 25% competitive advantage over global competitors. It further strengthens the UK’s reputation as a trusted supplier of high-quality steel and aluminium. We continue to work closely with our US counterparts to reduce tariffs further and secure the best possible outcomes for UK manufacturers.

On 10 October, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Minister for Digital Economy (Liz Lloyd CBE), joined Ministers from partner countries at the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity ministerial in Gqeberha, South Africa. At the meeting, Ministers agreed to develop a comprehensive framework for joint action to address global steel excess capacity by June 2026.

On 7 October, the EU announced a new steel trade measure, which will replace its existing steel safeguard, which includes significantly reduced quota sizes and a higher out of tariff rate replacing its current safeguard. This decision is not targeted at the UK but will be highly concerning for many of our steel producers and their workers.

We will always defend our critical steel industry and have already engaged the EU at ministerial and official level to understand the details of this proposal. It is vital that we protect trade flows between the UK and EU, and we hope there is a way to work with our closest allies to address global challenges rather than adding to our industries’ woes. We reserve the right to take any action in response to any changes to our trading relationships.

In addition, we will ensure we have robust protections in place for our sector. We amended the steel safeguard to make it more effective in June and we continue to explore stronger trade measures to protect UK steel producers.

Steel procurement

We have now published the steel pipeline of UK public infrastructure projects taking place over the next few years and have announced targeted action to provide relief on electricity network charges via the British industry supercharger. We remain committed to publishing the steel strategy, which will articulate what is needed to create a competitive business environment in the UK with the aim of attracting new private investment to secure and expand UK steelmaking capability.

Liberty Steel

As Members will be aware, Liberty Speciality Steel UK entered compulsory liquidation on 21 August. On 2 September, my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon West (Sarah Jones), delivered an oral statement to the House, providing reassurance that there would be no immediate changes to the company’s operations or the status of employees’ jobs.

I recognise that this continues to be an unsettling time for the SSUK staff, their families and the local community. Responsibility for the day-to-day management of the process, including ensuring employees continue to be paid, now lies with the independent official receiver and the appointed special managers. Following the official receiver’s recommendation, the Government have agreed to initiate a sales process. This offers the potential to safeguard jobs and preserve steelmaking capability. To facilitate this, the Government have provided funding to the official receiver to enable him to carry out his duties effectively.

The Government are committed to securing a positive outcome for the SSUK sites, one that delivers a sustainable, commercially viable future for steel production. More broadly, we remain committed to supporting a sustainable and prosperous future for the whole of the UK steel industry. We are taking decisive steps to revitalise the sector after years of neglect, working to secure good jobs in Scunthorpe and other proud steelmaking communities for the long term.

[HCWS957]

Jaguar Land Rover: Government Support

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Chris McDonald)]

On 28 September the Secretary of State for Business and Trade announced that the Government are supporting Jaguar Land Rover through a guarantee provided by UK Export Finance for a commercial loan.

JLR is a major exporter and employer, supporting around 34,000 UK jobs directly, and a further 120,000 in its supply chain, but over the summer it was the victim of a prolonged cyber-attack, causing it to suspend much of its business operation.

Ministers recognised that the risk to JLR’s supply chain was far reaching, and that it is in the national interest for UKEF to issue this guarantee. The loan, which will be repaid over five years, will help ensure that JLR has liquidity to maintain operations, as well as to direct to suppliers as appropriate. UKEF will receive a premium, ensuring that the Government are appropriately compensated for the risk taken, and to cover administrative costs.

Providing a guarantee for a commercial loan to JLR is an expedient route to relieve the pressure being experienced by the supply chain. JLR already has an established relationship with its various suppliers, with whom it will work in a constructive and informed manner as production restarts. The Government moved to protect thousands of jobs and potentially billions of pounds in export earnings.

Cyber-security of the UK is a key priority for this Government, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the National Cyber Security Centre have been taking significant action to help protect businesses against cyber-attacks. This includes providing businesses with the tools, advice and support to protect themselves from cyber-threats, including free training for boards and staff. We have also put in place:

The cyber governance code of practice, which shows boards and directors how to effectively manage the digital risks to their organisation.

The highly effective cyber essentials scheme to prevent common attacks, reducing the likelihood of a cyber insurance claim by 92%. The certification scheme includes automatic cyber liability insurance for any UK organisation who certifies their whole organisation and has less than £20 million annual turnover.

As the decision was made over recess, I am notifying Parliament at the earliest opportunity. Notification has been sent separately to the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and the Business and Trade Select Committee.

[HCWS962]

Other Corrections

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 16th September 2025 Written Corrections

[Chris McDonald]

Hospitality Sector

The following extract is from the debate on the Hospitality Sector on 3 September 2025.

[Chris McDonald]

My hon. Friend is doing an amazing job of talking about the importance of small hospitality businesses to the local community. Does he agree that that extends beyond economic value to their value more generally? The Golden Smog, a friendly family pub in my constituency, supports an inclusive basketball team and has raised £700,000 from its annual “pALEgrimage”—it is like a pilgrimage but involves ale, so it is even better. Will he join me in congratulating that pub?

[Official Report, 3 September 2025; Vol. 772, c. 370.]

Written correction submitted by the hon. Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald):

[Chris McDonald]

My hon. Friend is doing an amazing job of talking about the importance of small hospitality businesses to the local community. Does he agree that that extends beyond economic value to their value more generally? The Golden Smog, a friendly family pub in my constituency, supports an inclusive basketball team and has raised £170,000 from its annual “pALEgrimage”—it is like a pilgrimage but involves ale, so it is even better. Will he join me in congratulating that pub?

Speciality Steel UK: Insolvency

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

Navantia, which is building three ships, has recently entered into a contract to use Liberty’s steel; that relates to the Dalzell plant in Scotland, so it is unaffected by the announcements we have made today. Of course, I work very closely with my colleagues in the Ministry of Defence to ensure that we use British Steel where we can, and that we have the right infrastructure across the country, producing the right types of steel. We produce some types of steel for defence and not others, and some types of steel for shipping and not others. We need to do everything we can to protect British jobs and produce what we can here in the UK.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

It would have enhanced the shadow Minister’s response if he had at least acknowledged that this Government are literally picking up the pieces after the chaotic dismemberment of the steel industry on the Conservative party’s watch. I have worked at Stocksbridge and Rotherham, and I pay tribute to the workforce there—but also to the dedicated steel team in the Department, who I know will have been working long hours in supporting the Minister on this.

The Government now own, control or fund three of the UK’s six steel companies. While a full merger of British Steel and Speciality Steel is one option, at the very least a review of all the assets under the Government’s purview would be a good idea, to see whether we can create more sustainable, investable businesses and reintegrate some of the internal supply chains. Would the Minister consider that?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for his words, and particularly his thanks to officials in the Department, who are brilliant; I work with them very closely, and they have not had many weekends throughout the whole steel process undertaken by this Government. His expertise is very much welcomed. We will continue to speak about this, as we did yesterday, and to use his expertise. Of course, we need to look at the whole situation. He is right that the Government are now involved in a number of steel companies, although we do not have ownership of any of them, and it is a different kind of involvement in different parts of the country. We are reviewing all that, and we want to see what the best mix is; we will continue to take his advice on that.

Parental Leave Review

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 1st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Justin Madders]

My hon. Friend certainly knows how to get me to attend a constituency—with the offer of a pint—and I look forward to taking him up on that. He has raised an important point about medical issues. Obviously, there have been some recent changes in neonatal leave and care, which is a huge step forward, but we ought to discuss pre-delivery issues further, so I look forward to having that pint and that conversation.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

In his statement, the Minister mentioned the very low level of take-up of shared parental leave. Would he agree that that is partly due to the gap in pay between men and women, and that if we can normalise paternity leave in our society, that will help to make sure that both mams and dads have equal pay?

[Justin Madders]

That is an important point, and I expect we will be examining it as part of the call for evidence. I referred to the work that Aviva has done in this area. That organisation has clearly seen a culture shift, whereby it is now completely normal and acceptable—indeed, it is encouraged—for both parents to take their share of leave. We can all take lessons from that.

Space Industry

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. When we think about space, it is a natural instinct to look towards the skies, but actually someone wanting to find out a lot about what is happening up there could do much worse than dive one mile underneath the North York Moors—something I did a number of years ago when I went underground at the Boulby potash mine in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer).

I had never been down a mine before, and this was the second deepest mine in Europe. In the cage, we were swallowed into the darkness and down this incredibly deep lift shaft, then travelled miles underground, bumping around in a beat-up old Land Rover to get to the face of the mine. We then came to a state-of-the-art facility: an underground dark matter laboratory operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. It is positioned there because it is safe from atmospheric radiation. Part of what the laboratory does is enable research into dark matter, which will help us to understand how to survive in hostile environments—on Earth and beyond it, in space—and contributes to technologies such as quantum computing. That is just one of the facilities that forms the cornerstone of the north-east of England space community. I want to talk a bit about that today. I must also declare that a close relative of mine is employed adjacent to that sector.

When NASA decided to build the James Webb space telescope, that was of course a great national effort for the USA, but it came to Durham for the development and engineering of the telescope. It was Durham University’s centre for advanced instrumentation that constructed the infrared spectrograph integral field unit— I am sure that everyone here knows what those five words mean individually, although when taken together they might be a little more confusing.

We heard from the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier)—I congratulate him on securing this debate—about the defence applications for such sensing technology, and there can be that crossover with different industries. But that centre at Durham University had the ability to develop and manufacture those components. We should be proud, as a nation, that NASA comes to the UK to obtain such components.

Space is happening in the north-east, particularly at NETPark, which is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland), but also quite close to my constituency; many of my constituents work there, too. It is home to three of our catapults: the Satellite Applications Catapult, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and the Compound Semiconductors Applications Catapult. It also houses a number of companies. Filtronic makes mission-critical electronic components in the satellite supply chain; Lockheed Martin is working with Northumbria University on the North East Space Skills and Technology Centre; and Octric at Newton Aycliffe is the Government owned semiconductor manufacturing facility.

Interestingly, Durham University business school is also working on the legal and ethical aspects of space exploitation, as we put a framework around how we can globally work together in space. There are wider economic benefits in our region. Currently, the sector contributes £130 million to our local economy; 1,300 people are employed in about 48 businesses. But the north-east of England space cluster hopes to grow to 10,000 employees over the next few years.

Our regional strengths are in space manufacturing, earth observance, climate intelligence and connectivity. Having listened to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), I think there are great similarities between the strengths in the north-east of England and in Northern Ireland—clearly, the satellite communications and technologies are similar; perhaps our shared history in the aerospace and defence sectors has enabled us to develop those.

However, there are gaps in this growing cluster and things we could do to enhance it. I have spoken a bit about the strength in our local universities, which provide early-stage research, and in the businesses. But there is a gap in the middle—there always is. Our catapult centres can help with that, but in the UK many sectors have suffered from having developed technologies but then not progressed them through the so-called valley of death, so that they are then exploited elsewhere. If we want to take advantage of our great opportunity for financial investment, identified by the hon. Member for Wyre Forest—it could be the engine that really drives the growth of the 48 primarily smaller businesses in the north-east of England—then we need the Government to work with industry to de-risk and accelerate those technology investments. I hope that the Government will invest, particularly in those catapult centres at NETPark, while supporting small businesses as they develop those technologies as well.

Space is happening in the north-east of England. It is one part of the UK’s space economy. It will certainly be important for the future of the economy of north-east England and vital for our defence and aerospace industries, too.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

We now move on to the Front-Bench speakers. I call Victoria Collins, for the Liberal Democrats.

US-UK Trade Deal: Northern Ireland

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

We have discussed this issue across the Chamber on several occasions. We as a Government are not proposing any changes in how the UK and Parliament ratify treaties. I have never given the promises that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned; I have not changed my position. The position is as it always has been—that Parliament has a key role in scrutinising treaties, and any changes that require legislation or alterations in our domestic laws go through Parliament in the usual way.

I think the hon. Gentleman will recognise that this week there could have been announcements of job losses and restructuring that would have been very difficult for a range of important sectors in our economy, and I do not think any Member of Parliament would have wanted to see that happen because of a parliamentary process. I understand that the Liberal Democrats want us to rejoin the customs union, and that therefore trade deals with the United States or India would not be possible. That is consistent and fair, but it would have been very painful if that had been the UK Government’s position going into negotiations.

The hon. Gentleman asks about the impact of any potential issues in the global trading system on small businesses and the wider economy. They are significant for our bilateral relationship, but he will also know that the UK is very exposed to wider relationships because we are an outward-facing economy. That is why we have to be on the pitch with our sleeves rolled up, trying to find solutions for ourselves that other countries can follow.

The hon. Gentleman asks a very pertinent question about the film industry. Again, for any area where there has been the suggestion of sectoral tariffs but they are not yet in place—to be honest, it is not entirely clear what would be the subject of a tariff in the case of a film—we have language in the agreement that reflects that. We would cite that as an existing area where there is a really strong and mutually beneficial bilateral trading relationship between ourselves and the United States.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

I welcome this trade deal, and particularly the beneficial impact it will have on the steel and automotive sectors. I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State mention his discussions on ethanol, where I know some concerns have been raised. I have spoken to industry representatives, and they are confident that they have a solution that will work well for the Government’s trade deal. Notwithstanding his meeting with Ensus on Wednesday, will my right hon. Friend meet me and senior representatives of the UK’s two bioethanol producers to discuss how they can make the Government’s trade deal with the US a major success?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question, and for his industrial expertise. I promise to have that meeting. Whenever trade arrangements have an impact on domestic industry, it is important that we work as a partner to industry in order to address that. He is right to say there are two substantial bioethanol plants in the United Kingdom that might be affected, and we are already setting up a process to work with them, as he has requested.

British Steel

Chris McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I hope the hon. Gentleman understands that the interventions that we made in this case were different for a number of reasons. When we were in Opposition, we worked with Tata to try to get it to change its plans, but we were unsuccessful. When we came into Government, we improved the deal that the previous Government had negotiated and we improved the redundancy offer. We got Tata to commit to invest in assets and free up land for other things, and we got it to provide a package of measures to improve that situation. The hon. Gentleman is right that that package meant the closure of the blast furnaces and the building of an electric arc furnace, with the closure happening before the electric arc furnace arrived, and because of the way that electric arc furnaces work, they are more efficient and need fewer people. We have been working really hard through the transformation board, led by the Secretary of State for Wales and the Welsh Government, to ensure that everybody has a significant package of support to try to ensure they transition to other jobs. That work is ongoing and progressing well, and we will continue to focus on it.

The two situations were fundamentally different. In Scunthorpe, British Steel was in the middle of a consultation on potential redundancies, and it failed to secure the materials to keep the blast furnaces going, which would have completely broken what British Steel should have been doing during that consultation. We could not allow that to happen, those blast furnaces to close and thousands of people to be suddenly made redundant, which is why we intervened in the way we did.

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her statement and for her action on British Steel. I extend my thanks to the officials in her Department, who I know have worked tirelessly in support of our Ministers to secure a future for the business. The Government’s plan for change has changed the lives of steelworkers in Scunthorpe and Teesside. People I work with, and their families, will feel a sense of relief—I feel a sense of relief. Ultimately, it is the customers of British Steel who will pay the wages of those workers in the future. In one of the future updates that the Minister has promised, can we cover the product and market development for British Steel, and how British Steel can better penetrate the UK market and increase its market share for domestic production?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for his work and for the support that he has provided to me, officials and others because of his expertise in this space. He is right to thank staff; they have worked unbelievably hard, and I am very grateful for what they have done. He is also right to talk about how we ensure that the product market develops in the way that we want it to. We are looking at how we increase demand in the UK, as well as at procurement and other issues, so that we are not just trying to save our existing provision, but to expand our provision so that the steel industry can start to grow, instead of halving as it has done over the past 10 years under the Tories.