Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower

Mary Glindon Excerpts

Friday 26th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend) (Lab)]

It is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I wish you all the very best in your new role. It is great to be asked to speak first, so thank you—it is a total shock!

It is an honour to speak in this debate as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, as we have a thriving offshore sector along the Tyne. To use the words of the Secretary of State, it is time for Britain to build things again, and my constituency is open for business. The UK has a lot to be proud of in its service sector, but it is a catastrophic error to have let manufacturing in this country decline. To cite the title of a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, manufacturing matters. The conversation around manufacturing and services in this country is often binary—it is one or the other—but the reality for other countries is far from that. Importantly, the IPPR report points out that while we have lost over one third of our manufacturing strength since the 1990s,

“Countries like the US and France, which are similarly services-focussed, have maintained their manufacturing strengths at 1990s levels…Productivity growth in manufacturing was five times higher than in services between 1997 and 2021”.

High productivity means higher wages in good, well-paid jobs—jobs that I want to see in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend and which match the aspirations of my constituents.

[Dame Meg Hillier]

Does my hon. Friend agree that these 14 years of Conservative government have been a missed opportunity? We have been shipping in components for wind turbines that could have been manufactured here, for example. We need the industrial revolution that a Labour Government will deliver.

[Mary Glindon]

Indeed, we certainly need to seize the moment now.

Our determination in this place to raise living standards for working people must be unwavering, and good jobs have their role to play in that. The past 14 years have seen unprecedented levels of wage stagnation. Resolution Foundation data shows that wages returned to pre-financial crisis levels only last year. That decade and a half of lost wage growth has cost the average worker more than £10,500 a year. I thought that there was a one nation tradition among those on the Opposition Benches—an element of the Conservative party that cared about raising living standards for the worst off—but after 14 years the Tories have left us with two nations: one rich, one poor.

As we try to unpick the mess that the Labour Government have inherited, the growth of green industry will be an exciting part of the way forward. I am thrilled that companies seeing the opportunities that Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend has to offer are bringing jobs to the region in the process. The expansion of green hydrogen is just one example of that. During a recent visit, I was amazed at the ambition of GeoPura’s hydrogen project at Siemens Energy in Byker, where it produces hydrogen power units to replace traditional diesel generators. That is an example of the private sector at its best: the sharpest minds coming together to solve some of the biggest problems that we face.

I am proud of the breadth of the energy and offshore sectors in my constituency. That includes the area’s oil and gas industry, which has understandable concerns about its future. We need to think exceptionally carefully about how we shape the sector in the coming years for working people who earn their living from oil and gas.

[Mr Holden]

The hon. Lady and I have worked together closely on some of these issues. Does she accept, as I do, that the Climate Change Committee says that in 2050, even when we have reached net zero, 25% of our energy will be met by oil and gas? It is so important for our energy security that we produce that oil and gas here in the UK.

[Mary Glindon]

That is exactly what the companies are telling me and, as a member of the former all-party parliamentary group on oil and gas, I know it has often been said.

The people working in these industries are worried about how their lives will change if they are not able to adapt to new industries. These are important jobs in our communities, where sweeping job losses are still in people’s memories. In Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, it is not uncommon to speak to people who were affected or know someone who was affected by the de-industrialisation of the 1980s. The closure of the pits, shipyards and factories ruined people’s faith in politics and the economy for a generation.

The offshore energy sector includes independent oil and gas producers, large integrated energy multinationals, renewable energy companies and a supply chain that we need to keep here in the UK. That includes companies in my constituency, such as Baker Hughes and Peterson, which operate right across the UK and, indeed, the globe. These companies have the vision and ambition, which we all share, to deliver a home-grown energy transition and net zero. Almost £200 billion will potentially be spent over the decade, but the companies investing in nascent opportunities such as floating offshore wind and carbon capture and storage will require the cash flow from a stable and predictable oil and gas business to fund these opportunities.

I welcome Labour’s manifesto commitment to manage the North sea in a way that does not jeopardise jobs. However, I would be grateful if the Minister could set out, in practical terms, how he will safeguard important jobs and investment in communities like mine. Britain’s potential to become a clean energy superpower is not only exciting but necessary. As the Government accelerate this journey, I urge Ministers to ensure that no one is left behind.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.