Oral Answers to Questions

Justin Madders Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I was laughing at the right hon. Gentleman, actually.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

11. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on levels of investment in low-carbon industries.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)]

Nearly £200 billion has been invested in low-carbon sectors since 2010, which is 50% higher than has been invested in the US as a share of GDP.

[Justin Madders]

This is a global race and I fear that, with the US Inflation Reduction Act, we are being left behind. I am sure the Secretary of State will be aware of last week’s comments by Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall Ellesmere Port, about the need for urgent investment in the move to electric vehicle production. The Faraday Institution has reported that we need between five and 10 gigafactories in the UK to protect the automotive sector, and at the moment we have one, maybe two, coming on stream. How many does the Secretary of State think we need to save the automotive sector?

[Grant Shapps]

First, it is good news that the US has woken up to the need for this energy transition. I was in the US last week and they were pointing out to me that we had already spent £200 billion on this, with another £100 billion being leveraged in over the next six and half years to 2030. The point is we are ahead of the US, including on the transition to electric vehicles. The proportion of EVs sold in this country is way in excess of where the US is. By 2030, the US only hopes to get to 50%, whereas we will have ended the sale of pure petrol and diesel vehicles, so in fact we are ahead of the game.