Industrial Strategy Consultation

Steve Double Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Last, but certainly not least, I call Steve Double.

[Steve Double]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I know you have been saving the best for last.

Many references have been made to mobile technologies and electric vehicles as growth areas for the future. They both rely heavily on batteries. Will the Secretary of State therefore join me in welcoming last week’s news that large deposits of lithium have been found in Cornwall? This creates a great opportunity to build on our mining heritage in Cornwall and develop new industries around the extraction of lithium. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this industrial strategy is designed precisely to support industries such as this one?

[Greg Clark]

I am interested to hear this—I had not picked up that news—from my hon. Friend. It is certainly true that the technological developments in energy storage, including batteries, provide a big opportunity. If Cornwall has an opportunity to contribute some of the raw materials for that, I am sure that this will be excellent news for the county.