Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 16th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

This is a debate about the balance of rights, and balancing the right to strike of our constituents who work in essential public services with the rights of our other constituents, and their right to get to work, to school, to have their operation, and even in the case of blue-light services, their right to life. That is what we are talking about. The Bill is not about views on the rights and wrongs of the current strikes. It is certainly not an attack on public sector workers, and suggestions otherwise from Labour Members are both disgusting and an attempt to stifle genuine debate.

I deeply value the work of nurses, teachers, firefighters, ambulance drivers and rail staff across Rushcliffe and the country, and of course they should have the right to withdraw their labour. The Bill is about how they can do so safely. The Labour party would have us believe that this is some outrageous attack on workers’ rights—“political violence”, said the hon. Member for Jarrow (Kate Osborne)—and something that no civilised country could possibly contemplate. No civilised country other than Spain, Italy, Germany, France, or indeed the United States, Australia and Canada, which in some areas have an outright ban on strikes in blue-light services. Normally, Opposition Members idolise Europe’s approach to employment rights, but on the issue of minimum services they are keeping very quiet. Why? It is because their paymasters in the unions do not want to let them do otherwise. I understand, I do—[Interruption.] I will happily give way to the hon. Gentleman.

[Sam Tarry]

Most Labour Members will be proud of the fact that trade union members in their local branch meetings vote democratically to make donations to local Labour party Members of Parliament. I ask the hon. Lady to withdraw that preposterous, outrageous and untrue comment.

[Ruth Edwards]

I certainly will not, because the hon. Gentleman failed to declare in his intervention that he received £13,000 from unions. I notice there are a lot of proud union members who are not declaring their donations. That is not me being party political—it is a requirement of this House.

I understand the position of Labour Members. It is not easy to turn round to the union barons who have given them and their colleagues more than £1 million in the past four years and tell them that they are wrong. The Bill builds on principles in the Trade Union Act 2016, which put higher vote thresholds on important public services when unions ballot on strike action. It builds on the principle of life-and-limb cover, and will prevent the situation that we had at the end of last year when different ambulance services had different agreements in place with unions. That resulted in a postcode lottery for patients, which is unacceptable.

The Bill complies with the criteria set out by the International Labour Organisation, as my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Laura Farris) set out in detail. In short, the Bill sets out a pathway for workers to exercise their rights safely. It should not be controversial. It has precedent in the UK, all over Europe, and in international conventions. We are making the responsible choice to protect all our constituents. On the Opposition Benches, however, it may be a new year, but it is the same old Labour, still acting as the mouthpiece of their paymasters, the union barons. They have been bought by the barons, and are still doing their bidding.

Ban on Fracking for Shale Gas Bill

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Wednesday 19th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

Today’s debate is less about fracking and more about the Labour party’s next social media campaign. If the Opposition had wanted to show the true strength of the House’s opinion on fracking, they could have tabled a normal motion today, calling for the moratorium to be reintroduced at a later stage, or they could have amended a parliamentary Bill. With either of those routes, they would have had a reasonable chance of carrying many Conservative colleagues with them, but instead they have chosen the one route that they know no Government Member could possibly support: a confidence vote. I do not support fracking, but I am even less keen on the idea of letting the Labour party play at being in government for the day. I remember what happened last time.

My views on most things, and certainly on fracking, are no secret. I do not buy the argument that it is less environmentally friendly; gas is gas, whether it is drilled here or overseas, and the carbon footprint of gas produced in the UK is smaller than that of liquefied natural gas shipped from overseas. Nor am I convinced by the argument that it is unsafe, but I do think that it is unsuitable in a country like the UK with a high population density, especially as even relatively small tremors can be felt by the local community. As the British Geological Survey, which has its headquarters in Rushcliffe, says, our ability to predict such tremors has not improved since the moratorium was put in place.

My main objection to fracking, however, is that, after all the division and local anguish it has been causing, even the industry itself estimates that it will produce very little gas. We would be better off focusing on increasing output from our North sea industry, renewables and nuclear. I am relieved that we will have a binding vote on the process for gaining local consent, because that is vital: communities must know that they have a legally enforceable route to either accepting or rejecting fracking under their homes.

My final observation tonight is for our own Front Benchers, for they have enabled the Opposition to force colleagues to choose between voting against our manifesto and voting to lose the Whip. They should take a look at the faces of colleagues behind them—colleagues who have fracking sites in their constituencies—and they should hang their heads in shame. A Conservative Government will always have my confidence, but their leadership today has severely tested my trust and the trust of many colleagues, and I would advise them not to do so again.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Stuart]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

We will continue to lead the world and drive forward offshore and onshore wind and solar energy, we will have SMRs and gigawatt-level nuclear, as well as support for AMRs, and we will come forward with proposals to support hydrogen and CCUS. We are looking all across the piece to drive the green revolution, but as part of that work we need to secure the gas and oil we rely on at the moment as we manage and drive down our usage on the path to net zero.

[Ruth Edwards]

I really need to press the Minister on this question of a confidence vote. Many of us have been told today by our Whips that if we vote for, or abstain from voting against, this motion, we will lose the Whip. Will he please confirm whether that is the case?

[Hon. Members]

Oh!

Shale Gas Extraction

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

In relation to Cuadrilla, the gentleman in question I believe left the company 10 years ago, so he is somewhat out of date in terms of the company that he purports to represent. The current management of Cuadrilla are in favour of this.

I think local support is important, and one of the things that companies that want to drill for shale gas will have to do is come up with packages that are attractive to local communities. That will ensure that people get some financial reward from shale gas being extracted near them.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

I would like to press my right hon. Friend further on how community support will be defined and measured, because I have many concerned constituents who want to know that they will have a genuine route to rejecting fracking applications that do not have local support, and I am still not clear what that would be.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

There are parts of the country, particularly in relation to nuclear, where there is local consent and very enthusiastic support for the development of additional energy sites, so it is perfectly possible to measure and see local support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 12th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

The shadow Minister raises an interesting and good point about how the UK electricity market is structured. That is one reason why we have launched the REMA—review of electricity market arrangements—process and why we are taking action in the Energy Bill on aspects of the domestic energy system that will yield real gains for consumers, such as the onshore distribution and transmission network, so that there will be more competition in the network. There will be other measures in the Bill, which I very much hope that he and the other Opposition Front Benchers will support in due course.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

7. What steps his Department is taking to help support the creation of new low-carbon technologies.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Jane Hunt)]

Low-carbon technologies are fundamental to meeting our net zero target and securing our energy supply. The Government have set out their ambition to invest up to £22 billion in research and development by 2026-27. Our £1 billion net zero innovation portfolio is accelerating the commercialisation of innovative low-carbon technologies, systems and processes in the power, buildings and industrial sectors.

[Ruth Edwards]

I thank the Minister for her answer and welcome her to her place. May I bring to her attention the excellent bid from Uniper for carbon capture and storage technology to be built into its new energy from waste plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which sits in the heart of the east midlands freeport? Does my hon. Friend agree that the UK’s first inland CCS facility, creating a carbon-negative and fully sustainable waste treatment solution, is worthy of investment through phase 2 of the carbon capture, utilisation and storage fund?

[Jane Hunt]

I commend my right hon. Friend—[Interruption.] Sorry, I commend my hon. Friend—it is only a matter of time—for working incredibly hard not only in Rushcliffe, but to promote the freeport for the whole of the east midlands. She is doing an incredible job. We are committed to deploying CCUS, including from energy from waste plants. We will announce the projects to proceed to the next stage of the track 1 CCUS process in due course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 11th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

The hon. Lady will know that I have extensive conversations with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor about that very issue. That is why we have kept to the energy price cap, increased the warm homes discount and got a winter fuel payment. The issue is squarely at the heart of our concerns as a Government.

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

T8. Will my hon. Friend join me and my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Jane Hunt) in backing Intelligent Energy’s bid for investment from the automotive transformation fund, which will bring a hydrogen fuel cell gigafactory and highly skilled green jobs to Rushcliffe and the wider east midlands? Will he accept my invitation to visit Rushcliffe to learn more about those exciting plans?

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Ruth Edwards Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

This virus has dealt our economy its worst blow in 300 years, but I am confident that we will rise phoenix-like from the ashes. I am confident because our support has already protected more than 11 million jobs. I am confident because our economy is now expected to recover to pre-crisis levels six months sooner than predicted. I am confident because of the speed of our vaccine roll-out and, above all, I am confident because I believe in the ingenuity and hard work of the British people. That is not to say that there has not been a great cost. On a tour of a local business last year, the scale of the harm was brought home to me. The silence of its almost empty offices spoke louder than any words. That is why I am so relieved that the Chancellor has put jobs, both protecting and creating them, at the heart of this Budget: extending furlough and support for the self-employed and providing restart grants and recovery loans, but also setting the stage for our future economy through investment in towns and communities across our country, helping businesses to invest through the new super-deduction, and turbo-charging whole regions through a new network of freeports.

I want to highlight what the East Midlands freeport based at East Midlands airport, the intermodal rail park in Derbyshire and the Ratcliffe on Soar power station site in my constituency will do for people in the east midlands and for my constituents in Rushcliffe, because I believe that in debates such as this about big infrastructure projects, the very real benefits they will have for local communities are often lost in the noise.

At its heart, a freeport attracts more businesses, and more businesses mean more jobs—60,000 more jobs, in the case of the East Midlands freeport. The site at Ratcliffe on Soar in Rushcliffe will be the heart of our shift to a green economy, encouraging employers in green energy generation to locate on the site. Proposals for a new zero carbon research centre there, backed by six universities across the region, will be accelerated. Creating attractive career paths in growing industries will encourage more university graduates to stay in the region; currently only 17% do so. It is also good news for local businesses, which will form part of the supply chain for the building and infrastructure associated with it.

Successive Governments of all political colours have underinvested in the east midlands. Today marks a change. The Budget represents the biggest Government investment in the east midlands for a generation, so I will be proud to vote for it tonight.