Critical Minerals: Domestic Production

Tom Hayes Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)]

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and to speak in a debate called by my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon), with whom I often joke about critical minerals. Honestly, it is funny. I had thought that if I were to put a pound into a jar every time that my hon. Friend mentioned tin, I would be financially challenged, but after today’s debate, I would be bankrupt. I thank him for calling the debate.

As the MP for Bournemouth East, I belong to the south-west, so I have a particular interest in seeing that region develop and strengthen its green economy so that the people I represent can thrive and prosper. As the first ever Labour MP for Bournemouth East, I am particularly proud to be speaking about a region that has the largest concentration of Labour MPs in a very long time. When local people vote for Labour, they do not just get an investment in critical minerals development but in clean energy infrastructure and the jobs of the future that will help people to have a better way of life.

The south-west has a remarkable mix of nationally significant critical minerals, which will be vital to the UK’s energy security and industrial resilience, especially in the advanced manufacturing sectors, which rely on a supply of lithium and tin. I am pleased that the south-west is home to the world-renowned Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, which has received £4.5 million to establish a green economy centre to accelerate the mining of lithium, tin and tungsten in collaboration with local businesses and Government bodies. I hope that there will be a role for Bournemouth University in the development of this project.

Critical mineral extraction was once a major industry for Cornwall—also in the south-west—and its rejuvenation must be a key component of our green economy. When the Labour Government came to power, they inherited a very difficult cost of living crisis. Because the Government we replaced had left the country exposed to fossil fuel dictators, we saw inflation rise to 10% and 11%. A third of that was driven by the gas shocks prompted by the invasion of Ukraine. The cost of living crisis has been a disaster for Cornish constituencies and constituents of mine, with typical energy bills nearly doubling in the space of a year and family finances in a mess for so many. The previous Government were forced to spend £94 million to support households with the cost of living crisis.

We need to achieve clean energy not just to create the jobs of the future but to ensure that our country is no longer exposed to the whims of fossil fuel dictators. The last Government ducked and dithered and delayed some difficult decisions on critical minerals, which has left us in this difficult place. Every time they ducked and delayed, they denied our country the clean energy infrastructure we needed. The Climate Change Committee report, published two weeks after the Labour Government came into office, laid bare the true reality, and said that

“last year…the previous Government signalled a slowing of pace and reversed or delayed key policies…The…announcements were given with the justification that they will make the transition more affordable for people, but with no evidence backing this claim.”

The Climate Change Committee’s assessment was that only a third of the emissions reductions required are currently covered by credible plans.

I welcome this debate in bringing to the fore critical minerals and the contribution that Cornwall can make to our clean energy revolution. The faster we go, the more we will be able to secure and create jobs and tackle our climate crisis. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth for calling this debate, and I thank all Members for contributing. Together this House will have the solutions we need so that we can all be in a better place.