Oral Answers to Questions

Douglas Ross Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth (Kwasi Kwarteng)]

This subject has come up, and we need to look at how companies and exporters tackle serious carbon emissions. What they are doing in the Amazon is not acceptable. We need to engage with that and have a dialogue.

[Douglas Ross (Moray) (Con)]

T10. I recently visited Orbex in Forres, which is heavily involved in the new spaceport at Sutherland and is seen as a sector leader with its new innovative launch vehicle. Will the Minister outline what support the UK Government can give to companies such as Orbex, which plans to bring 250 high-quality jobs to the region?

[The Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Chris Skidmore)]

The Government support growing our national space capabilities, especially by establishing the new national space council, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister. We are supporting Orbex to develop an exciting new launch vehicle technology with a grant of £5.5 million as part of our industrial strategy. We are keen to work with it as part of the wider national space framework we are establishing.[Official Report, 31 October 2019, Vol. 667, c. 3MC.]