Today we have set out our proposal for the seventh carbon budget, as new research from CBI Economics shows that over a million workers are now supported by the UK’s net zero economy. This comes after 2025 set a new record for solar generation, and we have already set a new record in 2026 for offshore wind generation. We are taking these steps because they are the right choice for energy security, and for investment in good jobs and growth, and because it is the right thing to do for future generations and to prevent climate breakdown.
Red diesel costs have rocketed from 78p a litre on 26 February to around 98p a litre now. For Nick, who farms in South Petherton, price rises mean an extra £7,000 per week cost that he basically has to take on the chin. Can the Secretary of State tell Yeovil farmers what steps he is taking to support them with the cost of red diesel?
We take this issue incredibly seriously, and we are talking to the Competition and Markets Authority to make sure that the pricing is fair. We continue to monitor this, and to look at what further action may be necessary.
T3. My constituents Gillian and Ross worked at INEOS Olefins & Polymers, and started retraining in 2024, following the announcement in 2023 that the Grangemouth refinery would close. However, they were recently denied support, due to limits on the Grangemouth workers training guarantee. Will the Government, alongside the Scottish Government, review the Grangemouth workers training guarantee, so that support can be extended to workers like Gillian and Ross?
I thank my hon. Friend for all the work he has done to support the workers from Grangemouth. I wrote to him earlier this week on the case of his two constituents. The training fund was set up to provide that support. We will continue to look at it, and I am happy to meet him to discuss it further.
I would like to offer my condolences to the Secretary of State on the death of his mother. It is clear that she was a remarkable woman, clearly much loved by her family.
I have a yes-or-no question for the Secretary of State: can he guarantee that not a single solar panel put on a British primary school by his Government has been produced by Chinese slave labour?
First, I thank the shadow Secretary of State for her kind words about my mum. If you will allow me to say so, Mr Speaker, I feel incredibly sad to have lost her, but very lucky to have had 56 years with an amazing mum, who taught me values of kindness, warmth, love and justice. It is a reminder to me of what really matters most in our lives. I sincerely thank the shadow Secretary of State for the message she sent me.
On the question about the use of forced labour, we take this incredibly seriously. We inherited a regime from the last Government, which we applied in the early stages of what GB Energy was doing, but the shadow Secretary of State will know that, through the passage of the Great British Energy Bill, we have strengthened GB Energy’s commitment to this. Frances O’Grady is now the champion of dealing with slave labour. I can absolutely assure the shadow Secretary of State that we will do everything we can to prevent the use of forced labour.
Well, there were words there, but there was no guarantee, so let me just remind the House that the Secretary of State has sold his entire agenda as being one of providing moral leadership to the rest of the world, but there is no moral leadership in sending British children to schools powered by Chinese slaves.
On 2 May, our electricity grid almost breached its frequency limit. That has the potential to cause nationwide blackouts. The Secretary of State’s plans are making it harder and harder to balance the grid—there is no denying that—so can he confirm who is legally accountable if we have a blackout, thanks to grid instability, and what repercussions would that person face?
I am afraid that the shadow Secretary of State is indulging in the worst sort of scaremongering to justify her anti-clean-energy agenda. It is incredibly sad what has happened to her. She used to believe in clean energy. Today, a report comes out from CBI Economics, showing 1 million jobs in net zero, and what does she do? She starts quibbling about the small print, and saying that the report does not represent the views of CBI, when the CBI chief economist is actually advocating for clean energy.
T4. A constituent of mine has raised concerns that the biodiversity net gain commitments, linked to the development consent order for the Riverside energy park in Belvedere, which was granted in April 2020 by the previous Government, have yet to be met at three mitigation sites in my constituency—Barnehurst open space, Whitehall Lane in Slade Green, and Bursted woods. What action is available if a developer does not fulfil its biodiversity net gain commitments in a timely manner?
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this incredibly important issue. We need to make sure, when pushing forward with our planning developments, that they are undertaken with communities, and that the commitments made are delivered. I would very much welcome hearing more about the case that he raises, and I will talk to my colleagues and to him to take this forward.
The UK should be the world leader in greenhouse gas removals, but the sector is struggling to attract funding and off-takers because of uncertainty about Government support for GGRs. Will the Government please confirm when they plan to publish their response to the independent GGRs review, and whether the Department is considering the launch of a UK buyers’ club, running along similar lines to the EU system?
The hon. Member is right about the ambition, and that is why we commissioned the independent review by my noble Friend Lord Whitehead. We will respond to that review in due course, and we are ambitious about the role that GGRs can play.
T6. I thank the Minister for the £13.5 million for the Temple Quarter heat network in my constituency. Where Bristol leads with City Leap, others can follow, so what are the Government doing to support other places in following our example, in order to get investment in decarbonising our cities?
My hon. Friend is a big champion of not just Bristol, but climate action more generally. Bristol is one of the trailblazing heat network cities, and its City Leap partnership is a model of what other local authorities can consider. I am pleased that we have announced nearly £35 million in this Parliament for the further development of its heat networks.