Oral Answers to Questions

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue about her constituency and the steel industry, and I would say two things. One is that what this Government have done, which I am afraid was not done previously, is set up a dedicated fund for steel so that we are able to make the green transition. We talked about this in opposition, and we are now delivering billions of pounds to help the steel industry transition. The other is that I will take up the specific pensions issue she raised with my right hon. Friend the Business and Trade Secretary.

[Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey) (SNP)]

The workers of Grangemouth deserved far better than they got from the Labour Government. To add insult to injury, they have had to watch them pull out all the stops for Scunthorpe and Prax Lindsey. In a written answer to me, the Energy Minister refused to confirm how much money the UK Government had spent to continue operations at Lindsey. Will the Secretary of State now come clean and tell us what price they are willing to pay to save jobs in England, which they were not willing to pay to save Grangemouth in Scotland?

[Ed Miliband]

The hon. Gentleman is so wide of the mark it is unbelievable. The Grangemouth closure was foreshadowed before this Government came to power. We have worked hand in glove with his colleagues in the Scottish Government—all the way along, Gillian Martin and I have been working on it—and for him to try to make party politics out of the issue is, frankly, a disgrace.