Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Simon Fell Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Simon Fell (Barrow and Furness) (Con)]

I will speak briefly because I know that many Members want to speak. There is much to like about the Budget, which is focused on growth, getting people into work, incentivising investment, driving down inflation, and providing people with security on energy costs and the future of their energy needs. I will touch on three areas that I think are the most important: energy support, energy security and the environment.

The illegal invasion of Ukraine has layered stresses on a global economy already weakened by covid. Food and fuel shortages have led to global inflation and the pressures we all face now. Two ways to resolve that are support in the here and now, and planning for the future so that we are not exposed next time round. The £94 billion cost of living package, one of the most generous in Europe, is a remarkable intervention by the Government and will continue to shield families while the market stabilises. Continuing the energy price guarantee, freezing fuel duty and ending the premium on prepayment meters are interventions that will make a genuine difference to people’s lives, and I support them wholeheartedly.

The other side of the coin is energy security. I particularly welcome two measures announced in the Budget, categorising nuclear as environmentally sustainable and launching Great British Nuclear. Crucially, changing how nuclear is categorised means that pension funds and asset managers under pressure to make green investments are now in a position to do so. Great British Nuclear and small modular reactors are also crucial to unlocking the UK’s potential in capacity and resilience, and offer huge opportunities for the Cumbrian coast at Sellafield and Moorside.

It is worth noting that those SMRs, in which the Government have already invested £210 million, power an existing nuclear fleet as the engines of our submarines. One reason such programmes are costly and fragile is the infrequency of their production; not having a common nuclear energy fleet layers complexity and cost on the roll-out of nuclear power. However, given the security in the submarine programme through Astute, Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS, the drumbeat of production and the progress of the submersible ship nuclear replacement programme, that symbiotic relationship should bolster the defence of our realm and our energy security.

The Government’s commitment to carbon capture and storage in the Budget is a welcome push for that industry and will inspire confidence in market participants that the Government are serious about achieving their target of storing 20 to 30 megatonnes of sequestered carbon by 2030. I declare an interest, because in Morecambe bay we have a cluster with the potential to store a gigatonne of CO₂ and will provide long-term decarbon-isation solutions to businesses across the whole UK, creating thousands of jobs in industrial heartlands. My right hon. Friends on the Front Bench are welcome to visit at any point.

I welcome this Budget for the clear emphasis it places on growth and delivering against the people’s priorities of halving inflation, growing the economy and reducing debt, all in aid of creating better-paid jobs and opportunities across the UK and in constituencies such as mine in Barrow and Furness.