Mark Spencer
Main Page: Mark Spencer (Conservative - Sherwood)
Charles Hendry
I would always be delighted to find a chance to go to the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. As he knows, I fought Clackmannan in the 1983 election. They did not see the need for my presence there at that time, but finding other reasons to go back would be a great pleasure. We see this issue as an important part of coal policy, and we want it to provide a long-term future for coal in the energy mix. There are tremendous resources around the United Kingdom, and the work being done in his constituency and elsewhere is important to that process.
Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)
22. The Minister also fought a seat in Mansfield, very close to Thoresby colliery. If he wants to come half way up the country, he might come to see the good work going on at Thoresby colliery. I hope that he can assure the House that when the clean coal technology is developed, it will give this country a great future of energy reserves.
Charles Hendry
I did eventually work out that fighting mining seats was not the best way to get elected to this House; it is more accurate to say that they fought me, rather than I fought them. Many areas around this country have tremendous resources that can benefit from this technology and, in addition, great technological skills that we can bring forward in this process. This is a world-class, world-leading competition, and it is a very exciting time for this industry.