Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Thursday 21st July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

That is a slightly curious question. The hon. Lady said the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was insufficiently senior to take the decisions, but she then appeared to propose halving the size of his Department, which would probably make him less senior.

On the hon. Lady’s central point about the net zero strategy, this country remains on course to deliver net zero by 2050. Nobody ever said it would be straightforward or easy. The strategy set a 29-year path at the time of publication, and we are on good course. I have every confidence that the strategy will be the blueprint as we move forward.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I do not recall so much complacency oozing from the Government Front Bench in a very long time. I do not know about the Minister’s background, but when I studied economics, I was impressed by what John Maynard Keynes said:

“In the long run we are all dead.”

I believe the heat over the last few days means that 2050 will be too late for much of our population. We have to revise the target and move faster. There are some good things coming, but there are still so many closet climate change deniers in the Government and in the country. It is about time they opened their mind to the fact we now have to move faster and firmer.

[Greg Hands]

I am afraid to say that is an extraordinary attack, even by the hon. Gentleman’s standards. Actually, this Government were the first to introduce a net zero target. At COP26, we saw our Prime Minister and our COP President leading the world on action against climate change—action that others now seek to copy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Tuesday 12th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend is always on the front foot on low-carbon energy and innovation in Heywood and Middleton. He will know that the Government’s flagship £1 billion net zero innovation portfolio is making those important investments in hydrogen, advanced nuclear technologies and so on. On fusion, we are investing £700 million in research facilities and programmes over the next three years. My hon. Friend will also know that the energy security Bill we published last week includes launch pads for both hydrogen and nuclear fusion.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

That was the very first mention of hydrogen this morning. Does the Minister agree that there is such potential in hydrogen energy? We can already buy heavy goods vehicles and trucks that are hydrogen driven, and a network of hydrogen filling stations is being opened at the moment across our country. If he does agree, why does he not put more research money into hydrogen for every kind of energy use?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Tuesday 7th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Laura Farris), we are engaging constantly with the sector and the CMA to make sure that the tax cut is passed on. However, I find it a bit rich for the Liberal Democrats, who, if I am not mistaken, voted against all the fuel freezes and this year’s Budget, to then claim that the reduction in fuel duty, which they opposed, is now not being passed on to their constituents. If they had voted for the reduction in the first place, I would have a lot more sympathy with their position.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

We have been trying to find out today exactly what the Secretary of State’s job is, because he kept saying “That is not my job”. May I remind him that he is responsible for energy and that, in the recent energy strategy, energy from waste was hardly mentioned? It could produce 20% of our energy needs. Why is he ignoring that?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is vital that we have a North sea transition; that is the purpose of the Government’s North sea transition deal and that is what we are delivering on with the sector. Some Opposition parties want to see an extinction. That would not be in the nation’s interest and would only lead to a rise in imported hydrocarbons, which is also not in our interests at this time.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Minister realise he is guilty of being too nice? We do not just need, “Where’s the plan, Stan?”; we need, “Where’s the money, honey?” Why does he not get into No. 11, shake the Chancellor of the Exchequer until his teeth rattle, and get the money that he should be putting into environmental concerns and saving our planet?

Continuity Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Tuesday 17th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

I thank my hon. Friend for his keen interest in Ghana, which is an interest I share. I went with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in 2009 to help train up Ghanaian politicians. It is a country that I have kept a keen interest in for the past 11 years. There is a deal on the table. It replicates the EU agreement, gives full duty-free, quota-free access to our market and is consistent with the EU-Ghana stepping stone deal applied in 2016. There is no evidence that that existing EU deal has damaged Ghana’s relations with its ECOWAS neighbours.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

I am surprised that the Minister keeps evading the whole thrust of the urgent question he was asked. Why is he so terrified of parliamentary scrutiny? He can talk about chaos on the Labour side, but chaos and confusion reign in No. 10. There is chaos and confusion in our relationship trying to get an agreement with the European Union as we leave. What is wrong with this Government? I am a member of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union, which is being abolished just when we need it for parliamentary scrutiny. Why are this Government so terrified of being responsible and accountable to this House?

[Greg Hands]

I just remind the hon. Gentleman, because he was definitely in the House in 2010, that the CRaG process, which was set up by the last Labour Government and which I strongly suspect he voted for, is exactly the system of parliamentary scrutiny that we are using as the basis for these continuity trade deals now. Not only that, but, as I have already outlined, we are building on the CRaG commitments with additional reports and additional involvement from the International Trade Committee and the House of Lords International Agreements Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Tuesday 19th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

May I press the Minister? He cannot just hide behind what he claims to be happening in all advanced economies. We are performing worse than most, particularly France. Is the reason for that not to do with the lack of skills of our workers and the lack of good education in our country? Will the Chancellor’s silly policy on forced academisation help or hinder?

[Greg Hands]

We recognise that there is an issue with productivity, which is why we published the productivity plan, but in terms of growth, the UK was the fastest-growing major economy in 2014. Last year, we were in second place; this year we are also projected to be in second place, growing at a healthy rate. Therefore, with regard to growth, this country is doing very well indeed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Hands and Barry Sheerman

Tuesday 1st March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend raises a very interesting point. Helping the self-employed is one of the Government’s key priorities. We will have to see what is in the Budget on 16 March.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is the Minister aware that I, like many Members, represent a university town? The university is one of the best and biggest employers in my constituency. Universities up and down the country are terrified of our leaving the EU. Our universities receive the most money for research and collaboration of any country in the EU. They will be destroyed by leaving the EU.

[Greg Hands]

I join the hon. Gentleman in campaigning for the UK to remain a member of the EU. That is the right thing for us to do both for the public finances overall and for the future of the UK economy, as the G20 communiqué made clear over the weekend. It may well have an impact on the university sector, too. I am sure that that will be one of the questions featured in the forthcoming debate leading into the referendum.