Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mick Whitley and Rachel Maclean

Thursday 29th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Rachel Maclean)]

We are working to finalise our bold and ambitious plan to decarbonise transport, and we expect to publish it as soon as possible this spring.

[Mick Whitley [V]]

The Government’s Brexit deal means that in order to avoid tariffs on electric vehicles, 55% of vehicle parts, including batteries, will need to be locally sourced by the end of 2026. Will the Government back Labour’s call for investments in at least three battery gigafactories by 2025, and can they commit to building one of those factories on Merseyside?

[Rachel Maclean]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that a gigafactory will play a critical role in decarbonising our transport sector. We have a world-beating automotive industry in this country, and at the election the Government committed £1 billion to back investment in a gigafactory in this country. Can I remind him that leaving the European Union has provided us with a lot of opportunities to set our own pathways to decarbonise transport? We will be setting out those plans in detail in the transport decarbonisation plan.