Oral Answers to Questions

Marie Tidball Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

First, may I take this opportunity—I know we are short of time, Madam Deputy Speaker—to congratulate the permanent shadow Energy Secretary, the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), on the birth of her baby boy? I am sure the whole House will want to join me in congratulating her. I also congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his temporary elevation.

On the issue of plutonium disposition and the decisions I and my hon. Friends have made, we are acting on the best advice we have inside Government. It has the potential to create thousands of jobs—thousands of long-term jobs—and it is the right thing to do not just for jobs, but for nuclear safety.

[Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

T3. Stocksbridge Speciality Steels in my constituency has world-leading specialist capability to produce high-grade steel parts currently used in aerospace. I am proud of this Government’s steel strategy, which will ensure we buy British for new infrastructure, and Great British Energy provides an ambitious opportunity to bring down bills and ensure energy security. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss the potential for using specialist steel capacity at Liberty Steel in Stocksbridge for new, net zero energy infrastructure?

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Sarah Jones)]

South Yorkshire has a proud history of steelmaking, as I saw for myself when I was at Sheffield Forgemasters last week. We saw a huge reduction in steel production in this country on the last Government’s watch, and we want to turn that around, which is why we are delivering a steel strategy. As ever, I would of course be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to talk about how we can make this work.