The Growth Plan
Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Shaun Bailey(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Kwasi Kwarteng
It is always our duty to help the most vulnerable in society. That is why we have had the energy intervention and the covid-19 pandemic intervention. It is also incumbent on the Government to seek to enable growth. That is what we are focused on, too, in this plan.
Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con)
I welcome my right hon. Friend to his position. As he will know from his previous portfolio, highly energy intensive industries have been acutely affected by rising energy prices. I welcome the Government’s intervention on energy prices, but what we need in the black country, particularly in our advanced manufacturing and metals industries—this point was stressed yesterday to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy—is continued communication between the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that those discussions will be ongoing, and that as circumstances change for highly energy intensive industries, the Treasury remains open to carrying on that dialogue?
Kwasi Kwarteng
My hon. Friend will appreciate that as the Secretary of State at BEIS, I was very focused on energy intensive industries. I did engage Treasury colleagues then, and now that I am in the Treasury, I will be very happy to engage with BEIS colleagues on this pressing issue.
UK Steel Production: Greensill Capital
Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Shaun Bailey(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Kwasi Kwarteng
I admire and am always impressed by the right hon. Gentleman’s passion for these issues, and I think he is absolutely right. We do have a need for huge amounts of steel in infrastructure in this country. That is why I have said repeatedly that there is a future for the steel industry in the UK.
Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con) [V]
Obviously, steel is also a crucial part of this Government’s decarbonisation strategy. Can my right hon. Friend reassure my constituents in Oldbury, where a Liberty Steel site is currently based, that he will ensure that Black Country steel is placed at the heart of that decarbonisation strategy and that they will get the support they need from the Government as we go through this difficult time for Liberty Steel Group?
Kwasi Kwarteng
I assure my hon. Friend that we are committed to the steel industry in the UK. That is why, last week, we published the industrial decarbonisation strategy, which I was very pleased to commission as energy Minister. I look forward to speaking to him about the next steps forward for this industry.