Terrorist Attack: Nice

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Amber Rudd

Monday 18th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

The hon. Lady raises an important point about the value of collaboration between the Ministry of Defence and the Home Department to ensure that we always get the best outcome. We have done that work previously, and I look forward to continuing it with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Will the Home Secretary say a little more about the defence measures that we might have against such an attack taking place in the UK, and particularly about the ability of potential terrorists to get hold of, for example, a commercial vehicle?

[Amber Rudd]

We have particular assets that we use to combat such an attack. We have, for instance, the national barrier asset when the police assess that there is a risk of vehicle attacks. My hon. Friend may have seen those barriers—big plastic items set up outside areas of risk to combat exactly such an attack. We will make them available to areas where there are to be big gatherings, which are exactly the sorts of area that could be most vulnerable.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Amber Rudd

Thursday 12th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

1. What steps she is taking to encourage innovation in new energy technologies which are both cheap and clean.

[The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)]

Encouraging and supporting innovation is central to everything we do. The United Kingdom has a proud record of leadership in energy innovation, through, for instance, our success in driving down the costs of offshore wind technology. The Government took steps to build on that in last year’s spending review, more than doubling our energy innovation budget over the next five years to a total of £500 million. With that budget, we can continue to support the development of clean, cheap and reliable technologies.

[Mark Pawsey]

I recently visited two farmers in my constituency. J.C. Channing and Sons is generating electricity through anaerobic digestion, while Dale Aston of Brinklow Biogas is using the same process to generate and supply biogas via a connection to the national grid. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating those entrepreneurs, who are demonstrating considerable innovation in the use of new technologies, and will she tell us a little more about how the Government are supporting the sector?

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend is, of course, right. One of the biggest challenges that we face is how to decarbonise our heat and electricity supplies over the coming decade. Anaerobic digestion has played an important role in meeting the challenge to date, providing low-carbon heat and electricity for consumers in the United Kingdom. I congratulate employers such as those in my hon. Friend’s constituency who, by using food and farm waste, are helping to deliver the kind of renewable energy that we need.