Chris McDonald MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 8 Jun 2026 · Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Dame Harriett Baldwin), for her incredibly generous remarks at the start of the debate. I think we all try our best here with whatever expertise we have; of course, I recognise her expertise in finance, and will aim to address some of the serious issues she raised. At the heart of the Bill and this debate is the future of our steel industry. The difference in opinion between the Government and the Opposition over the use of nationalisation as a tool of industrial strategy may be irreconcilable, but it is a useful tool—although not one to be used lightly. It is important that it is used in situations of market failure or some other private sector issue, which is certainly the case today. It was also the case when the previous Conservative Government briefly nationalised one of our steel companies, before that led to a failed private sector ownership.

• 8 Jun 2026 · Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  There is so much so say, and so little time until the rise of the House. Members who are standing may wish to take a seat, because we might be here for a little while.

• 8 Jun 2026 · Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am really glad that the hon. Gentleman has asked me that question—I know he has great experience in the property industry, and certainly with construction projects. As I mentioned earlier in the debate and as he will know very well, in any construction project you only really have certainty on the timeline when you have got out of the ground, and this project is still very much in the ground. The hon. Gentleman’s question gives me the opportunity to clear up some issues. I know that the delay as reported by Tata Steel—this is Tata Steel’s project, not the Government’s—related to an electrical connection, and specifically the soil condition as it relates to building a substation. At the outset, quite rightly, assumptions were made about the soil condition based on engineering assessments. Right hon. and hon. Members must be aware, though, that there have been steelmaking activities on that site in Port Talbot for well over 100 years. Not all of those operations had been fully documented, and the ground conditions were considerably worse than had been anticipated. That is now being dealt with, and as soon as the project gets out of the ground, we will have great certainty about when the electric arc furnace can turn on. Until that happens, as a project manager, I would hesitate to give a cast-iron guarantee, because you need to get out of the ground first. What I am looking forward to, though, is the delivery of the electric arc furnace in Port Talbot, because that is the point when the project will feel real—when the workforce will be able to see the furnace itself. I have been around the shop and seen the space that has been created for the installation of the furnace, but once it arrives on the dock of Port Talbot, we will all feel a greater degree of certainty about that. That will be a big boost to the workforce when it does happen. I am absolutely confident that it will happen, but to say when—to pin it down to an individual week or month—is more difficult. There was one more point I wanted to make about the contribution of the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin. She essentially called for public ownership of Port Talbot, and I am really sorry, but that is another point on which we disagree. The Government’s view is that where a steel undertaking is running adequately under private ownership, that ultimately should be allowed to continue, because the Government believe in private involvement in the steel sector. It goes back to the point about investment that I think the shadow Minister made earlier. She described her concern about a potential chilling effect on investment.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Cost of Energy: Support for Businesses · Hansard source

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  In the specific case that the hon. Gentleman mentions, if the company is operating a ferrous foundry, that will be part of the British industrial competitiveness scheme. If it is a non-ferrous foundry, he may wish to share further details with me, because I have had representations on both copper and aluminium foundries, which I am looking at very carefully.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Cost of Energy: Support for Businesses · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend and all the other MPs from the Stoke and Staffordshire area for their work in championing the ceramics industry. First, let me say how sad I was to hear the news about Denby, as that company proceeds into administration. The Government are providing support to the workforce. On the point he raised, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s support we are providing £120 million to enable ceramics companies to invest in lower carbon production—essentially, electrical furnaces—so that they can decarbonise and reduce their operating costs. I will be working closely with ceramics MPs on the implementation.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Cost of Energy: Support for Businesses · Hansard source

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  We are concerned about the ability of businesses to connect to the grid, both to expand and to invest in new production facilities. Part of the work we did on reordering the grid queue was to help with that, but my colleague the Minister for Energy has commissioned an Ofgem end-to-end review so that we can bear down on the cost of grid connections.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Cost of Energy: Support for Businesses · Hansard source

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  Supporting businesses with the cost of energy is a priority for the Government. We have expanded support through the British industrial competitiveness scheme and increased discounts on electricity network charges, and we stand ready to act if market conditions worsen due to the middle east crisis.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Cost of Energy: Support for Businesses · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his letter on the Lea Valley growers. I have had discussions as a result of his prompting with Ministers in other Departments, not only about the Lea Valley growers, but about the horticulture sector more generally. I will update him on that in response to his letter. I thank him for saying that my answers so far have been acceptable, and hopefully that one is too.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  As I mentioned in answer to an earlier question, we are concerned about the role of third-party intermediaries and the proper functioning of the market, and, subject to finding parliamentary time, we intend to bring forward the opportunity for Ofgem to act as a regulator in that regard. The hon. Gentleman’s question clearly identifies why it is so important that we return to energy stability in the UK through our own home-grown clean energy.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  Clearly, on a personal level, I say to the hon. Member’s constituent that I fully understand the position she is in, having lived through such transitions myself. But the difference with this Government is that we are taking care to ensure that communities are supported—1.1 million jobs now in net zero, £105 billion of gross value added and £90 billion invested in clean energy industries since this Government came to power. We are building the British industry of the future and attracting investment to do that. We are creating the jobs of the future, while the Conservatives sat and oversaw a decline.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady raises an important point about managing the transition, and that is certainly what this Government are doing. I just want to challenge the point about the number of jobs being created by the number being lost. I know that the Opposition are always keen to quote the research from Robert Gordon University, but it does point to more jobs being created than lost. Actually, the recent report from the Confederation of British Industry now says that 1.1 million jobs in our economy are now dependent on net zero. But clearly, we do need to support the transition—it will not happen on its own. That is why, through our North sea transition funding and the opportunities through our clean energy technical colleges, we are providing that opportunity for people.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  I have to say that caring for the transition of our oil and gas workers is not something on which the Opposition have a monopoly, because only the Government have taken any action. The previous party when in government oversaw a decline in the North sea and did nothing to support a transition. This Government are supporting the transition in the North sea. Through our tiebacks policy, we are ensuring that we can make the best use of the available resources, but by continuing to invest in our cheapest form of energy and by ensuring that the supply chains are here and that the skills remain here, we will create those opportunities for people to work in those areas of the UK.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  I think we have found something on which we can agree, which is that we need to invest in renewables further and faster. I look forward to those on the Opposition Front Bench supporting our clean power 2030 plan.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  Clean energy is a huge economic opportunity for every corner of the country. Our clean energy jobs plan highlighted 860,000 high-quality jobs across the whole of our nation by 2030—jobs that young people will not need to leave their home town for.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  The Government and I recognise the importance of the food and drink sector. My hon. Friend is right to point out that the sector is not included in the British industrial competitiveness scheme, but our boiler upgrade scheme does apply to these industries. One thing that I am doing is looking at the role of third-party intermediaries. The Department intends to provide a regulatory role for Ofgem, and subject to parliamentary time, we should be bringing forward measures that will benefit the food and drink industry.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Energy Transition: Supporting People in Work · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to point out the vulnerability to oil price shocks—Wales has been identified as a particularly vulnerable area. Like me, he has paid close attention to the report by the former Member for Darlington, Alan Milburn, on the need to provide opportunities for young people; in fact, I believe he has invited Alan Milburn to a meeting of his all-party parliamentary group later this week. The clean energy industry is one of the industries that will provide good-quality jobs, and in the Department we are using grants and procurement to ensure that we have strong trade union engagement.

• 21 May 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right: £200 million is available for such projects. The initial £14.5 million of funding that was announced will help businesses to test the feasibility of their project ideas in order to secure long-term funding from the National Wealth Fund.

• 21 May 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the potential in Cornwall, which is a unique and distinctive part of the country. It powered our industrial past and it will power our industrial future. I am happy to meet her and colleagues to talk more about the opportunities in Cornwall.

• 21 May 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend knows that I am a strong advocate of steel in construction, but she is right: there has been a missed opportunity on timber, particularly as many of our hardwood forests are coming to maturity, which means we will have a real surplus of hardwood in the UK. Something we will suffer from, though, is downstream processing of timber, so we need to look at how we can encourage more investment in the sawmills and downstream processing industry.

• 21 May 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises an important point about support for small businesses. It is important that their cash flow is protected and that they are paid on time—hopefully my hon. Friend will have noticed the announcement of the Commercial Payments Bill in the King’s Speech, which will give us the strongest legal framework in the G7.

• 21 May 2026 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend knows that when he talks about reindustrialisation and improving the manufacturing base of this economy he finds a very sympathetic ear in me. Certainly, we have all seen over the course of the past few years, through multiple crises, how the resilience of global supply chains has been reduced. Increasing the share of our economy that is dedicated to manufacturing will serve the ecological aims that he has mentioned, improve our national resilience and provide good, well-paid and high-productivity manufacturing jobs in our industrial heartlands across the whole of the country.

• 21 May 2026 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  At the time that the industrial strategy was established, the Government carefully selected those sectors that had the greatest growth potential for the economy, but we were also extremely clear in communicating that that does not mean that sectors that were not identified as having high growth potential were not important—quite the contrary. Our food manufacturing sector is incredibly important, and the Government are acutely aware of the issues around food prices. I believe that the Chancellor of the Exchequer may well have more to say on that subject in a statement later today.

• 21 May 2026 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right that automotive manufacturing is a key part of our advanced manufacturing sector, and she has done a huge amount here in the House to champion the sector in her area nationally. One area we are focusing on is supporting the sector with the development of new technology, such as autonomous vehicles; last week, the Secretary of State signed a memorandum of understanding with Wayve. We are determined that the UK will become Europe’s first market for digital driving services, driving the market and driving our automotive industry.

• 21 May 2026 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Lady for championing the chemicals sector in the House. I am extremely concerned about the sector, including chlorine, because it is vital to the UK economy, as she says. This Government are taking action through our industrial strategy to focus on heavy industry and energy-intensive industries. I might have an opportunity to speak with her later today, if that would be of interest.

• 21 May 2026 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  We have just heard from the Secretary of State about our active industrial strategy. This question is timely, because we are one year on from setting out our industrial strategy. We have announced our British industrial competitiveness scheme, expanding its scope to support 10,000 businesses with their energy costs, a £500 million sovereign AI fund, and the creation of 19 new technical excellence colleges, giving opportunities for young people across the country.