Energy Security and Net Zero: Scotland

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Susan Murray]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, which I absolutely agree with. As I have just said, this is something that needs to be looked at, and there is an opportunity to make sure that communities all across the UK benefit from the power generation that they have to live with locally every day. Will Ministers commit to introducing a consistent community benefit and community energy framework for major low-carbon infrastructure, so that host communities—especially in rural and off-gas-grid areas—share in any long-term benefits?

Beyond the initial generation of power, we forget about the grid. None of our ambitions on net zero or energy security will be met if we cannot move the power that we generate around the UK. We must fix the grid; we must stop paying to waste clean energy. We have built the infrastructure to generate power faster than we have built the network to connect and transport it. The result is that bill payers are burdened with the cost of electricity that they cannot use and that cannot be brought to them.

The National Energy System Operator’s annual balancing costs report sets out the scale of the problem. It reports that grid constraint costs increased by 64% in 2024-25, totalling £1.7 billion. The total energy lost to that failure was 13.5 TWh, which is nearly as much as Scotland sent to England. This is not a theoretical cost; it is money that households and businesses pay because the network cannot always carry the clean power that is available. Will Ministers pledge to accelerate grid development and to drive connections reform at pace and with clear milestones, so that we stop paying for unused electricity and improve resilience, particularly for rural and remote communities?

The grid is not just an infrastructure issue; it is an opportunity to redevelop our industrial heartlands. If Scotland is powering the transition, Scotland should also help to build it. Scotland has a proven history in heavy engineering and industrial delivery, with ports, fabrication, and a supply chain shaped by decades of offshore work. The transition should not become a story of “import the kit, export the jobs”.

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

The hon. Member has already covered the EPL, but it is important to recognise that Scottish Renewables and Offshore Energies UK wrote jointly to the Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Exchequer expressing their deep concerns about its impact on the transition. It will not be possible to deliver the renewables transition we all want if the North sea is allowed—or even forced—to decline at the rate it is doing, and not enough effort is put into the renewables side and supporting that transition. Does the hon. Member agree that the Government need to address that rapidly? We need pace of decision making and certainty for investors and developers if we are to ensure that we make that transition effectively, which will provide the jobs for the skilled workforce she rightly referred to.

[Susan Murray]

I absolutely agree: the vision is there, but we take too long to make decisions. When that happens, our workforce make their own decisions, and businesses do not come that might have considered coming. We have to support the opportunity that is available to us.

We must look seriously at how we encourage companies to build the components of the green revolution here. We have the skills and a history of great steelworks and dockyards. Those can be revitalised, and our communities alongside them.

However, building at home extends further than just good practice: it reduces risk to supply and security. The National Cyber Security Centre publishes dedicated supply chain security principles to help organisations manage supply chain risk. That is the mindset we need for critical national infrastructure, and we have seen why it matters. UK authorities have been looking into reported cyber-security concerns linked to remote-access features in some electric buses imported from China—the same place that much of our green technology comes from. This is not about sensationalising or point scoring: if supplier risks matter for buses, they certainly matter for the systems that keep the lights on and our countries running. Will the Minister use the industrial strategy to set out clear UK content and supply chain commitments, to ensure that demand for grid and energy production components is not only met in a timely manner but protected from foreign interference?

I finish by returning to the household reality, because net zero will not be delivered by megawatts alone; it will be delivered in homes and communities, and it must be made simple, safe and scalable. The Climate Change Committee’s progress report found a 56% increase in heat pump installations in 2024, driven by increased support from Government schemes, but it is clear that scaling remains the challenge. Households respond to a simple proposition: reliable installers, clear standards, stable support and aftercare. That too should be treated as part of the mission to build a UK production base. A national retrofit and heat pump supply chain would create skilled work in every community. Will Ministers treat heat pumps and retrofits as part of the same mission, supporting an installer pipeline, quality assurance, consumer protection and an end-to-end journey from advice, to finance, to installation, to aftercare?

Scotland is delivering Britain’s energy security and clean power. Now the Government must deliver for Scotland, with fairness, jobs and infrastructure that turn Scotland’s contribution into lower bills and better energy security for everyone.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Shanks]

I was going to come on to the North sea later, but let me do that now, because the hon. Lady raises important points. Yes, our domestic supply is important—particularly the gas that goes straight into the pipes around the country—and it creates jobs for thousands of people in the industry, many of whom I have got to know over the past 18 months. However, it is also important to know that it has been in decline for a long time, with a 75% reduction in production between 1999 and 2024. Although it continues to play an important role, we have been a net importer since 2004, and that will only continue in the years ahead. Yes, we should continue to support domestic production, and it will continue to play a part for years to come, but our long-term energy security does not come from fossil fuels in the North sea.

Returning to the points the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire made about the North sea, she asked whether we could pull together a plan for the North sea transition. We did that and published it at the end of last year. The North sea future plan is a fantastic read, and I encourage everyone to read it. It seeks, for the first time, to bring together projections on the future of the North sea, skills and workforce planning, and the opportunity that comes from renewables.

We need to look at both sides of the North sea. It has been hugely important for 60 years, producing oil and gas, and it will continue to be important for decades to come. Equally, we need to build up industries that have been important in recent years but that have not grown as much as we would like, and where we have not seen as many jobs as we need. So there is a workforce plan. A North sea future board has also been set up; it met for the first time in Aberdeen in January, and it will meet again in the coming weeks. It is about driving forward actions—not talking about the transition, but working through the solid things we now need to do to make it a reality.

I am conscious of time, and I want to pick up on a number of points. On new nuclear, we absolutely see nuclear as a critical component of the clean power plans of the future. It will be the backbone of a clean power system and will deliver energy security in uncertain times. We need to build nuclear faster, which is why we will respond in due course to the Fingleton review on how to improve regulation. As the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire outlined, we have also invested in the first small modular reactors at Wylfa in Wales.

I genuinely hope we will see a change of Government in Scotland in May, to one that will look at the opportunities that come from nuclear. I had the great privilege recently of visiting Torness and meeting workers who have worked there for 20 or 30 years in good, well-paid, highly skilled jobs—jobs that Scotland is currently missing out on because of an ideological block from the SNP, which we have to remove so that we can build the power we need.

[Graham Leadbitter]

I take the point the Minister makes on nuclear, but the Government have not articulated what they plan to do with nuclear waste. The current projected price for a radiological disposal facility is about £60 billion, and it is marked as red—as unachievable —yet the Government say it is critical. It has not been articulated how any of that will be paid for, how much will come off bill payers in Scotland and why Scotland needs that when we produce more energy than we currently use.

[Michael Shanks]

That is a well-trodden argument that, unfortunately, the facts do not bear out. The energy produced in Scotland is more than it uses, but at any given time Scotland often relies on nuclear energy; in fact, it is quite often imported from England when necessary—when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. Nuclear is critical, and Scotland was relying on gas from Peterhead power station recently because Torness was undergoing renovation work. Scotland does in fact rely on nuclear, and it is important. Furthermore, the argument about costs would be well placed in the SNP’s own plan on this issue, which says that there would be a third off energy bills with independence. There are absolutely no figures to back that up.

Let me move on in the time I have left to the key points that have been made. First, it is absolutely right to centre the future of the country’s economy and of the clean power that we need to get to households and businesses on improving the grid. For far too long, we have not invested in what is probably one of the most important pieces of infrastructure that this country has. As a result, it is taking far too long to connect projects. As the hon. Lady for Mid Dunbartonshire rightly outlined, every single minute of the day we are wasting clean power, which could be bringing down bills, because we cannot get it through the necessary constraints. We have to build that grid, and with that will come tens of thousands of jobs across the country, so it is a hugely important economic opportunity.

I was glad my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) referenced the importance of community energy and of the local power plan, which was published recently—another fantastic read that I encourage all hon. Members to read. This is about the biggest transfer of wealth and power in the energy space in British history, putting communities right at the heart not just of building energy infrastructure, but owning that infrastructure and benefiting from it. Tomorrow I am going to the Western Isles to see a project that has benefited greatly from being able to own that energy and take the profits that come with it.

Community benefits remain important as well. We did consult on making them mandatory, and we will announce the outcomes of that consultation soon. We have announced bill discounts for people in the proximity of transmission infrastructure and community benefits from that. We also want to see much more shared ownership of energy, with communities having the ability to take a stake in much bigger projects and take the profits that come with that to invest in their local areas. That is hugely important.

Consenting decisions on these projects are devolved in Scotland, and I urge the Scottish Government to move as quickly as possible on making those decisions. Every delay to a piece of grid in Scotland means we are not getting cheaper power on to people’s bills, which could make a huge difference now. Those delays are significant, so I urge them to make that happen.

Finally on the grid, the industry is working collectively to make sure that the billions of pounds of investment going into building the grid results in supply chain jobs across the country.

There were many other things that the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire raised that I would love to spend longer talking about. However, at the outset she made absolutely the right point about Scotland’s contribution to the UK’s energy security. It is not a story of the past or a promise of the future, but a reality at the moment. We have to seize the opportunities that come from the energy transition. That means creating the jobs that go along with the infrastructure we are building, so that Scotland benefits and gets that economic potential.

I am glad there is some consensus on many of the actions we have to take in this space, but the question is how we move further and faster to make this happen. Communities cannot wait for those community benefits or for cheaper power, and we should always root this issue in the Government’s No. 1 priority: tackling the affordability crisis facing households across the country. The clean power mission is the way to do that. In an increasingly uncertain world—not least the one we see on our TV screens right now—the answer is to move further and faster away from fossil fuels and to the cheaper, cleaner power that is an economic opportunity for Scotland and the whole country.

Question put and agreed to.

UK-India Free Trade Agreement

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

Well, I was going to be generous to the Government and say something slightly positive. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that Governments of all flavours could do an infinitely better job of listening to businesses. They are the people at the frontline in the real world. His constituents have very deep links to the economy of India and it represents a real opportunity. We support the deal, but the only tone today is one of slight regret about the missed opportunities. Of course, it is easy for a Government to get a deal if they take the deal being offered, rather than negotiating and seeking to improve that deal. Therein is some of the difference between the approach of our Government and—[Interruption.] Well, we did not get it because we were not willing to take the deal that was on the table. We were holding out and negotiating for a better deal.

Let me give the Minister an example of that—a quite surprising example, in many ways—which is the complete omission of a legal services sector deal from this agreement. The Law Society called that

“a missed opportunity for a significant breakthrough”.

The chair of the Bar Council said it was

“a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”

missed. How ironic that a Government of lawyers, led by lawyers and stuffed full of lawyers, could not get even that aspect of the agreement across the line. The deal places a 36-month target—I hope it is a target, not an aspiration or ambition—for the conclusion of a mutual recognition of a professional qualifications agreement. That would be a great opportunity. Our services sector would welcome that, but I hope the Minister will agree with me that not to achieve that now would be to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It would be a humiliation for this Government and I hope he will address, when he winds-up, the precise plans to secure that agreement.

In a similar vein, the bilateral investment treaty that was planned to be agreed at the same time—it was in the original objectives for our deal—has also not been delivered. This is the deal that was offered, rather than the deal that could have been negotiated and improved. That leaves British investors exposed to sudden policy changes, unfair treatment and expropriation. I could, of course, be talking about the policies of this Government, but in this case I am talking about the Indian Government and the jeopardy for some significant British investors. Again, this is another missed opportunity—a deal that we support but that could have been better. I understand that the chief negotiator on the deal has confirmed that, sadly, there are no plans to return to the table to get an investment treaty across the line, but I would be very happy to stand corrected on that. Perhaps that point could be addressed in the Minister’s winding-up speech.

As we heard from the Minister, on day one the deal will grant Indian exporters of such wonders as textiles, gems and engineering goods immediate duty-free access to the British market. This is a welcome deflationary measure. It will come as good news for households as the price of goods in their weekly shops fall. Leather shoes, clothes, home furnishings and more will be cheaper under this deal. However, it is disappointing that this welcome reduction in tariffs is very far from symmetrical. Indian exporters benefit immediately, while British exporters sit in the waiting room. Scottish whisky producers, whom we have heard about, manufacturers of electric vehicles, the medical consumables industry and chemical producers will have to wait for between five and 10 years before tariffs are fully reduced.

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

The hon. Gentleman briefly mentions whisky. The deal is broadly welcomed by the Scottish whisky sector and I have welcomed it myself as an MP for a constituency with 49 distilleries—I am trying to visit them all. He talks about asymmetry in the deal, but is there not asymmetry in Labour Government policy, between the export deal, where they are trying to get the best possible deal for whisky, while whisky is still paying the highest levels of duty for alcohol in the UK? That is putting undue pressure on a sector that is already under pressure.

[Andrew Griffith]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I do not want to simply agree with him for the sake of it: it is not easy for Chancellors of whatever flavour to balance the books, but where we have wonderful industries such as all our drinks and spirits industries, including, if I may say so, our English wine industry, the Government must do everything they can to promote them—

Oral Answers to Questions

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Thursday 29th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that all jobs provide a baseline of security and predictability, and she perfectly outlines exactly why that is important. The next step is to consult before setting regulations to get that detail. I would love to hear from her further about those experiences—she has done hard work in this area over a long period of time. Providing workers with guaranteed hours is crucial for security.

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

T2. In its recently published quarterly statistics, the Aberdeen chamber of commerce confirmed that business confidence in the north-east has slumped to levels not seen since the height of the covid pandemic, with almost half of companies forecasting a fall in profits. The clear reason cited was the Labour Government’s refusal to ditch the tax on Scotland’s energy, resulting in 1,000 jobs being lost each month—akin to what Thatcher was doing to the coal communities in the ’80s. Can the Minister tell me why his Government are happy to see crucial north-east businesses suffering, and the communities that their workers support? Will he apologise to the workers of the north-east for the thousands of jobs that have been lost at the hands of this Labour Government?

[Chris Bryant]

We have been working hard to secure good outcomes for many businesses in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. Walker’s Shortbread is doing a phenomenal job of exporting around the world. I know that because I have seen them in supermarkets in Auckland, Melbourne, Dubai and all over the place. Similarly, we are trying to get a good deal with the United States on whisky. We already have a good deal with India on whisky, and the Prime Minister and others will be talking about whisky in China over the next few days. I do wish the hon. Gentleman would be a bit cheerier. He has one of the most beautiful constituencies in the land. Whether it is the Lairig Ghru, the Rothiemurchus estate, the ospreys in Loch Garten, or Loch an Eilein, it is absolutely beautiful. He could just be a bit cheerier!

INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

My hon. Friend is correct that the Government’s decision here and their previous industrial strategy decisions have been in marked contrast to the decisions of the Scottish National party and the Conservatives previously.

There is something astonishing about this. I know that the Conservatives are hidebound by their free market ideology, which means that they are prepared to let British businesses and jobs go to the wall, but surely they should stand up for things like defence and national security, for which these businesses are so vital? They support our defence supply chains, as well as health and water. It should be natural for the Conservatives to stand up for things like that. The past inaction of the Conservatives and the SNP on this issue has been astonishing. The big message to the voters of Scotland is: vote Labour in the spring.

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

I know that Government Members forget which Parliament they are actually in—who knows, maybe they would feel better in the Scottish Parliament.

This is a welcome announcement. For months now, the Scottish Government have been calling on the UK Government to intervene to protect jobs at Grangemouth and Mossmorran at a scale seen in other parts of the UK. The news will give some much needed Christmas cheer, at least to the Grangemouth community and the workers at Ineos Olefins & Polymers. Last week the Scottish Government, jointly with the UK Government and Celtic Renewables, announced an £8.5 million investment at the Grangemouth industrial cluster, including in MiAlgae. That will create up to 460 jobs, demonstrating that a long-term industrial future at the site is achievable. We will continue to do all we can within the limited powers that the Scottish Parliament has.

However, the announcement today does not help those at the neighbouring refinery whose jobs have already been lost. Although there may be some crossover support for nearby Mossmorran workers, there is still a substantial gap in support. Will the Minister finally accept that one of the most fundamental causes of the need for support is the fiscal regime being inflicted on oil and gas and the use of the energy profits levy, which make a just transition a near impossibility?

[Chris McDonald]

The hon. Gentleman mentions the refinery; as I said earlier, Ineos made the final decision to close the refinery in November 2023, having provided data for years to the Conservative Government in Westminster and the SNP in Holyrood, who said and did nothing.

The hon. Gentleman talks about the scale of investment; I am really surprised, to be honest, that he has not raised that even more firmly. We are talking about a complete package of investment in Grangemouth, announced by this Government, that approaches half a billion pounds: £100 million in the summer, £200 million from the National Wealth Fund, £14.5 million in the Budget and £150 million in this package. That is only a rounding error shy of half a billion pounds for Grangemouth. I would have thought that the SNP would at least acknowledge that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has worked extremely hard with the Government and with the national wealth fund to ensure that we are bringing projects forward. More than 100 projects came forward for that £200 million investment by this Labour Government through the wealth fund; we are considering all of them, and hope to make announcements soon. However, as my hon. Friend will understand, given the substantial amounts of public money involved, we must ensure that due diligence in respect of all those businesses and projects is complete before we can make any announcements.

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

In the light of the deeply damaging situation at Mossmorran, what is the Minister’s assessment of the potential impact on the Acorn carbon capture, utilisation and storage project?

[Michael Shanks]

We are obviously still processing that news this morning, but I can say that I have had a number of conversations to ensure that the wider energy infrastructure as it relates to Mossmorran and to Grangemouth itself, and the pipelines that connect them, will not pose any risk to our energy system. As for the wider question of Acorn, I have taken that forward recently, having gained the carbon capture part of the brief, and I meet the company regularly. We have put money into that project because we want to see it succeed.

ExxonMobil: Mossmorran

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

I point the hon. Member in the direction of our clean energy jobs plan, where we set out how that transition can be effected. There is also the £5.8 billion that we have committed to the National Wealth Fund to support investment in new projects. The transition of workforce and communities is very important to me and to this Government. Not all companies are the same; many different companies operate in different ways. This Government are absolutely committed to working with the private sector to achieve this transition, but in a way that is a partnership between Government, industry and trade unions. We are committed to that.

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

We are talking about 400 direct jobs at Mossmorran, more in the supply chain, hundreds more at Grangemouth and a thousand a month out of Aberdeen. Those are independently assessed figures and figures that we know from the statement today. As somebody whose father worked at Ravenscraig in the 1980s, I know very well the impact such things have on families. The Minister has talked a lot about commercial decision making, but it does not happen in a vacuum; it is done on the basis of the policy environment and legislative environment in which companies are operating. He is not addressing that key issue, which is making a just transition unviable as it stands. Will he address those points?

[Chris McDonald]

I am pleased to meet another Member from a steelworker family. In fact, Ravenscraig is a plant that I never had the opportunity to work on, but I worked with many people who did, and they always spoke of the great sense of camaraderie among the workforce there. I absolutely refute the suggestion that this Government are not attracting investment. In fact, for Scotland alone, we have seen £800 million of investment in battery storage projects by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and £55 million has been awarded to the port of Cromarty Firth for small floating offshore wind. These are the industries of the future and the industries in which people in Scotland will be able to work in—in fact, they already are. The real responsibility of Government is to ensure that we help people to transition across into these industries. Fundamentally, that is the difference between this Government and every previous Conservative Government—and certainly the one in office over the past 14 years.

UK Modern Industrial Strategy

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

It was a pleasure to see my hon. Friend this morning with my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. I was absolutely blown away by that facility, not just by the obvious “big name” investment from the companies there, but by the young people in particular. Of course, we are trying to deliver a strategy for business, and that requires businesses to have access to the pipeline of people, talent and skills that they need. Within that story, there are so many opportunities and careers for young people. I find that absolutely inspiring. Having an offer for the kind of apprentices and advanced manufacturing we saw today, alongside pride in our service and creative sectors and what we are doing on defence, is all key to ensuring that there are not just the things we need as an economy, but equities and opportunities for young people, as there should be in every part of the UK, to get the lives that they deserve.

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

While the UK Government announced a strategy that, as usual, barely gives Scotland any news, the Scottish Government under the SNP have just secured Scotland’s position as the highest ranking destination for foreign investment outside of London and the south-east for the 10th year in a row. While the UK Government refuse to see Scotland’s potential, the rest of the world are lining up to invest in us—think of what we will achieve when we are independent. Does the Minister accept that the only obstacle to Scotland’s success is the continuing devastation of a Brexit that we did not vote for and a UK Government that stubbornly refuse to see Scotland’s potential?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

Well, you can’t please everyone, can you? I am depressed just from listening to that question.

On the substance of the hon. Member’s question, he is categorically wrong. Look at what we are proposing for clean energy and what that means for Scotland. Look at the new supercomputer in Edinburgh and what that means for tech and digital. Look at the creative industries and the brilliant opportunities there. Look at the ambition on net zero and all the opportunities for investment in Scotland while cutting industrial energy bills.

Of course, there are parts of the strategy that respect the devolution settlement, as we would expect. Skills is something we can only address in England. The money has gone to the Scottish Government for whatever they want to do to take that forward. That is just the nature of a national industrial strategy that respects the devolved settlement. Independence would be ruinous for the economy. It would shed Scotland’s renewable energy potential from the customer base in England. I believe that at the time of the independence referendum, the SNP wanted a UK energy market anyway. If the hon. Member was being honest and candid, he would recognise that there are things that come from the massive strengths of the Union, come what may. This is a strategy that speaks to building on those opportunities for every bit of the United Kingdom, especially Scotland. Scotland’s economy could be described by the eight high-potential industrial strategy sectors in this document, so let’s have a bit of optimism and hope for Scotland.

Post Office Horizon: Redress

Graham Leadbitter Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I very much recognise the conversation that my hon. Friend has had with her constituent, and her need and desire to progress that claim. The issue is about ensuring that the records are accurate. Cross-referencing between Ministry of Justice databases and court documents is proceeding apace. If her constituent has not yet had a letter and needs to register their credentials, they can do so, but I assure my hon. Friend that this is of maximum priority.

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

I thank the Secretary of State for the statement. It is welcome that the appeals process has been set out. I pay tribute to my SNP colleague and former MP, Marion Fellows, who, as many Members will know, put considerable effort into the issue. She has provided me with wise counsel on it. How satisfied is the Secretary of State with take-up so far—there is obviously some helpful detail in the statement—and what awareness campaigns are planned? There may still be people out there who are not aware that they can claim compensation. It is important that as many methods as possible are used to get to them.

There have recently been complaints, even from legal experts, that the application form for redress is overly complex, and that even experts would struggle to fill it in. Can the Secretary of State look to simplify it, obviously without our getting away from the key points, and bearing in mind the data that need to be collected?

Finally, I associate myself with the comments made about the wider impact. It is only a week since the Grenfell report’s publication, and mention was made during the previous statement about the covid contracts. These issues go right to the heart of trust in the Government, which is a really important point to address.

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I echo the hon. Gentleman’s comments about Marion Fellows and her contribution to the scheme. He asks how satisfied I am. I will not be satisfied until everyone has had redress; it is as straightforward as that. There was a group of about 2,417 claimants under the Horizon shortfall scheme, but following the television drama, a whole range of people who were not aware that they were eligible came forward, which was incredibly positive. I think that over 1,500 people came forward. Indeed, Members may still be finding people who are coming forward because of the awareness that raised. We should be thankful for the power of the arts to get a message out to people. Given the situation, none of us can be satisfied until we can be sure that we have got redress to everyone. That is what this Parliament collectively has to commit to.