Oral Answers to Questions

Irene Campbell Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

I am not sure if the shadow Secretary of State is conflating the various carbon taxes with the emissions trading scheme, but to be clear: the Government do not set or comment on the value of the carbon in the emissions trading scheme. That is a matter for the market. It is of course a policy on which the previous Government were very keen, because it drives the most efficient forms of decarbonisation. Ultimately, it places a price on carbon emissions that ensures private capital floods into the right places to decarbonise, as we have seen so successfully with the power sector in the UK.

[Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)]

6. What estimate he has made of the potential impact of the construction of small modular reactors on the number of clean energy jobs.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)]

There is huge potential from small modular reactors for both our energy security and jobs. I am proud that the decisions this Government have taken have enabled us to fund the UK’s first SMRs at Wylfa, supporting up to 3,000 jobs on site and thousands more across the supply chain. We want every part of the country to benefit from this potential, including Scotland.

[Irene Campbell]

An SMR and new nuclear at Hunterston power station would make a huge difference to my constituency, given that nearly 650 people are already employed in highly skilled and well-paid jobs in the civil nuclear sector there. I was concerned to read a BBC article about a Scottish nuclear worker who relocated from Hunterston to Hinkley because there is no new nuclear in Scotland. Does the Secretary of State agree that we are losing talent and investment because of the SNP’s continuous opposition to nuclear?

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend speaks incredibly well on this issue. It is just common sense to have nuclear as part of our energy mix. We know why it is not going to happen in Scotland under the current regime. It is because SNP politicians, for dogmatic reasons, have set their face against it. They are even embarrassed to have this policy. The answer to it is to vote Labour in May.