Chris McDonald MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Feb 2026 · Draft Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

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  It is very pleasing to see a reasonable level of support across the Committee, not only for the draft regulations but for our energy-intensive industries. Perhaps I can answer the question from the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston while talking at length about ceramics, which my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central and I both enjoy. A general review of eligibility for the supercharger is planned for this coming year, which would certainly be an opportunity to look at eligibility of other sectors. I have already said, and am happy to repeat to my hon. Friend, that I have tasked my officials with looking carefully at the case for the inclusion of the ceramics industry. Qualification for the supercharger system currently relates both to energy intensity and to the risk of export leakage. As my hon. Friend said, the ceramics industry is gas-intensive, which is possibly why it has previously fallen below the threshold, but of course we want the ceramics industry to electrify. The difference between gas and electricity costs is a concern for the industry. My hon. Friend also asked about the funding of the scheme. To be clear, we do not expect any increase in non-domestic or domestic bills as a consequence of the change. This is partially a result of the change in the renewables obligation and feed-in tariff schemes, from the retail prices index to the consumer prices index. Essentially, we propose to pay for the change by bearing down on costs in the system. The hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire talked very well about the challenges for small businesses. Over the past few months, as she will understand, I have laid out improvements in energy costs for energy-intensive industries, through the supercharger, and for manufacturing more generally, through the British industrial competitiveness scheme. Some of those manufacturing businesses will be small businesses, but I appreciate that she was talking about the small business sector more widely. I, too, am concerned about that, but I am leaving no stone unturned in looking at how we can help all businesses across the country with their energy costs. That takes me back to the general point that the shadow Minister made about the level of uncompetitive energy in the UK. Fundamentally, this policy is designed to provide a measure of support as a consequence. I am grateful that the shadow Minister welcomes the draft regulations. He described energy-intensive industries as the backbone of our economy. I could not agree more. Having worked in the steel industry for a long time, it is so nice to hear such warm words, even though the Opposition are perhaps late converts. The former Prime Minister scrapped industrial strategy; he was not keen on it, although a previous Conservative Prime Minister was, which is nice. Maybe we have consensus on industrial policy now; that would be very pleasing to see. The shadow Minister described the environment around energy as hostile. I thank him for laying out so clearly the failure of his Government’s energy policy. Ultimately, this is a result of our reliance on gas in the system. The Opposition might not be keen to acknowledge it, but not only are solar, onshore wind and offshore wind the cheapest forms of energy available to us, but they create demand for foundational industries and offer great jobs. We have outlined an increase of 400,000 jobs in clean energy industries—good jobs for people across the whole of the country. Of course, that home-grown energy offers energy security too. Many Members across the House—not only those on the Government side, but Liberal Democrats—are content to bask in the warm glow of solar power, onshore wind and offshore wind. I appreciate that the Opposition are feeling a chill breeze up their right flank and are tacking across to the climate-denying policies of Reform, but that cannot be the basis on which the country’s energy policy is determined. We must focus instead on low-cost energy for consumers and industry, on energy security and on good jobs, and that is what renewable energy delivers. Through this mechanism, we will ensure that our energy-intensive industries continue to be competitive in Europe. Question put and agreed to.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Draft Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2026. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 12 January 2026. I acknowledge the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, which provided a helpful review of the regulations but did not draw them to the special attention of this House or the other place, and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which has reported the regulations as an instrument of interest to Members. The draft regulations aim to deliver one of the Government’s commitments in the modern industrial strategy: to increase electricity price support to energy-intensive industries through the British industry supercharger. Energy-intensive industries include foundational manufacturing sectors that are critical to the UK’s economic security and the delivery of the modern industrial strategy. They include steel, chemicals, cement, electrical components and gigafactories. The British industry supercharger was introduced in 2024 to reduce the electricity price gap between Great Britain and comparable industrial countries in western Europe, such as France, Germany and the Netherlands. The supercharger is made up of three measures: the energy-intensive industries exemption scheme, which offers 100% exemption from contracts for difference, the feed-in tariff and the renewables obligation electricity policy levies; the capacity market exemption, which offers 100% exemption from the costs of funding the electricity capacity market; and the network charging compensation scheme, which provides 60% compensation on an energy-intensive industry’s electricity network costs. While the supercharger package of measures has been successful, the Government recognise that there remains an electricity price gap between Great Britain and comparable industrial economies in Europe, which places British energy-intensive industries at a competitive disadvantage while increasing the risk of carbon leakage and the offshoring of vital manufacturing jobs and investment. That is why the Government’s modern industrial strategy included the commitment to increase from 60% to 90% the level of relief offered by the network charging compensation scheme. That will reduce electricity bills for currently supported energy-intensive industries by a further £7 to £10 per megawatt-hour, bringing the total reduction to £65 to £87 per megawatt-hour, and will deliver up to £420 million of electricity price support per annum. The draft regulations aim to further close the electricity price gap, ensuring that British foundational manufacturing can thrive and grow. They will help to ensure that the 550 companies that currently benefit from the scheme will continue to attract new investment and preserve well-paid jobs and crucial supply chains across Britain’s manufacturing heartlands. The draft regulations will amend the Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy Regulations 2024 to make provision for increasing the level of relief offered through the network charging compensation scheme. In conclusion, the draft regulations will help to reduce electricity costs for the most energy and trade-intensive industries such as steel, chemicals, cement and battery manufacture. They will help to reduce the risk of carbon leakage by retaining critical manufacturing investment and jobs in Britain. I commend them to the Committee.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments. Perhaps we can go through some of the assessments of the impact of cost inflation in more detail when we meet. Our modelling shows that that could largely be eaten up by normal inflation and normal operating practices, but there are decisions there for the operators to take into account. The hon. Gentleman made some pertinent points about the operators, and we can discuss those in more detail. He also mentioned international shipping through the Solent. Clearly, international shipping is not covered currently by this measure, but it is covered in the EU ETS. Finally, I come to the points raised by the right hon. Member for East Antrim and the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim. The hon. and learned Member for North Antrim might be surprised to know that there are actually quite a number of things on which we agree, and one of them, for certain, is that the United Kingdom must be the United Kingdom of equals. I am quite clear about that. I wanted to clear up a couple of points about the situation with Northern Ireland. The 50% reduction that applies to Northern Ireland is there to create parity between vessels that operate between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and those that operate between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. If we had not offered the 50% reduction, Northern Ireland would be disadvantaged in that way, and I want to be clear about why that is.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Gentleman for his service in the Royal Navy, and I am happy to withdraw that remark. Perhaps there was an oversight on his part in relation to that particular issue. I absolutely do withdraw that remark. On the shadow Minister’s comment about the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man is a Crown dependency, as I am sure he knows, so it is not covered by the scheme. He mentioned the Isles of Scilly. The vessels to the Isles of Scilly are not covered by the scheme either, because they are below 5,000 gross tonnage. The shadow Minister also mentioned the Isle of Wight, and I want to respond to the comments from the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East. I looked very carefully at the issues around the Isle of Wight before we tabled this statutory instrument, because those were a significant concern for me as well, and I am happy to offer some additional information now. I am grateful to my colleague my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley), who requested a meeting with me before this statutory instrument was laid. I was happy to have that conversation with him, and I offer that courtesy to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East as well, if he would like to have such a meeting after this debate. Perhaps I can in some way put the hon. Gentleman’s mind at rest. First, regarding the situation on the Isle of Wight versus the ferry operators in Scotland, one of the key considerations for us was that the population on the islands in Scotland is considerably lower than that of the Isle of Wight. There is also no competition generally between the ferry operators, but there are there are a number of routes operating to the Isle of Wight, as the hon. Gentleman will know very well. The scheme will affect only two vessels, from one operator, on the Isle of Wight: one is a diesel vessel and one is a hybrid vessel. Clearly, the impact of the scheme will be felt more on the diesel vessel than the hybrid vessel, and that is because of the 5,000 gross tonnage limit. I am sure that I am not telling the hon. Gentleman anything that he does not know, but I want to be clear that we have thought very carefully about this. The hon. Gentleman and a number of Members mentioned the opportunity for decarbonisation. In my opening remarks, I mentioned a number of ways that that could be done, including more fuel-efficient operating practices and various other things. We have set aside £448 million of Government funding to support that, which was announced previously. If the hon. Gentleman would like to meet with me to go through more of that in detail and represent the views of his constituents, I would be happy to do that.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  Yes, I am very happy to extend that invitation for a further meeting with any Members of the House who wish to discuss the matter. Of course, there has been extensive consultation on this statutory instrument.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  No, the shadow Minister does not. Well, perhaps he needs to think about it a bit longer. The shadow Minister talked about the administrative burden placed on maritime companies, which is of course something of which the Government are very conscious. He mentioned some of the information that would need to be recorded, such as port of departure, fuel use and so on. I do not know when he last spoke to somebody who actually operates a vessel, but a lot of this information is routinely recorded. Perhaps his ignorance of maritime operations is second only to his ignorance of the United Kingdom.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I have given way multiple times, which I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will appreciate. I think it is time I brought the debate to a close. These changes have the support of all four Governments of the United Kingdom, and consensus in advancing carbon pricing policy to include domestic maritime is key to delivering our decarbonisation goals and driving green investment across the United Kingdom. I commend the draft order to the Committee. Question put.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that this measure will need the support of the Governments of all four parts of the United Kingdom.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I thank all right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions to the debate. I hope to be able to respond to them. We heard, from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, the Opposition’s clear objections to the emissions trading scheme. We also heard them last week, in a statutory instrument debate about the emissions trading scheme and the future introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism. This is clearly a significant change in policy from the Opposition, as they line themselves up with the climate deniers in the hope that they might scrounge some votes back from Reform, but— [ Interruption. ] It absolutely is a desperate measure. The shadow Minister talks about protection for industry. We discussed that extensively in this Committee Room last week. Of course, the carbon border adjustment mechanism is precisely there to protect British industry from unfair competition from imports from more polluting industries in countries without such regulations. The Opposition’s objections to the carbon border adjustment mechanism, which we heard in this room last week, actually put British industry on the block. I do wonder whether they have fully thought through their policy, because when the statutory instrument went to the Lords, their spokesperson was not clear about whether the Opposition opposed the carbon border adjustment mechanism. Perhaps the shadow Minister might want to say whether that is Opposition policy.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026. I am grateful to you, Sir Jeremy, and to the Committee for its consideration of the draft order, which was laid before Parliament on 13 January 2026. The UK ETS was established under the Climate Change Act 2008 by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 as a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme contributing to the UK’s emissions reduction targets and net zero goal. The scheme was established to increase the climate ambition of the UK’s carbon pricing policy, while protecting the competitiveness of UK businesses. The scheme is run by the UK ETS Authority, a joint body involving the UK Government and the devolved Governments. Under the scheme, a cap is set on the amount of certain greenhouse gases that may be emitted by the sectors it covers, and the cap is reduced over time so that total emissions must fall. Under the UK ETS, operators participating in the scheme are required to monitor, report on and surrender allowances in respect of their greenhouse gas emissions. The scope of the UK ETS is being expanded to maritime activities as part of the Government’s strategy of decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet our net zero target by 2050. The draft order is an effective lever to reduce emissions and delivers on a key commitment in the UK’s maritime decarbonisation strategy. We expect it to help to overcome key barriers to maritime decarbonisation by incentivising low-carbon fuels, fuel-efficient technologies and fuel-efficient operating practices. The statutory instrument amends the legislation that gives effect to the UK ETS. It expands the scheme to cover carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from domestic voyages and in-port activities in the UK. Effective from 1 July 2026, maritime operators are required to participate in the scheme and allowed to bid at auction for UK allowances. The instrument will apply to ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above, but a small number of exemptions apply, such as for Government ships, including military and law enforcement ships, and ferries operating services to Scotland’s islands and peninsulas. The provisions set out in the instrument require the maritime operator of a ship—either its registered owner or the company responsible for its compliance with the international safety management code—first to obtain an emissions monitoring plan in which it will document the processes used to ascertain their ships’ emissions. For each scheme year, maritime operators will be expected to monitor, independently verify and report their maritime emissions to the relevant regulator, and surrender an equivalent level of allowances. The instrument also introduces the concept of surrender deductions, reducing by 50% the number of allowances for surrender in respect of voyages between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to deliver equivalence in carbon pricing on routes across the Irish sea. Operators will be assigned to a UK ETS regulator based on the location of their registered office or place of residence. This is the same approach as for aircraft operators. One emissions monitoring plan will cover all the ships for which the maritime operator is responsible, and emissions must be monitored using one of the four methods prescribed in the instrument. Maritime operators will be required to report emissions from all ships for which they are responsible through an annual emissions report, which must be submitted to the regulator on or before 31 March in the year following the scheme year to which it relates. Maritime operators have an obligation to verify their annual emissions report. The verification must be carried out by an impartial and accredited verifier, independent from the maritime operator. If satisfied, the verifier will draft a verification report, which will be submitted to the regulator alongside the annual emissions report. Maritime operators will also be required to surrender a level of allowances equivalent to their emissions by 30 April in the year following the scheme year. However, the instrument introduces the concept of double surrender, whereby the date by which allowances must be surrendered in relation to the first scheme year, 2026, is 30 April 2028 and not 30 April 2027, as would otherwise be the case. These changes follow comprehensive engagement and consultation with stakeholders. The UK and devolved Governments carried out a consultation in 2022 on the development of the UK ETS, including whether to include maritime activities in the scheme. A second consultation ran between 28 November 2024 and 23 January 2025, seeking views on the details of how maritime would be incorporated in the UK ETS from 2026. The relevant responses to those consultations were summarised in the interim and main authority responses published in July and November 2025, respectively. The expansion of the UK ETS to cover maritime activities will support its role as a fundamental pillar of the UK’s climate policy. It plays a key part in the Government’s strategy of decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet our net zero target by 2050. It also delivers on a key commitment within our maritime decarbonisation strategy, and I commend the draft order to the Committee.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Morecambe and Lunesdale · Hansard source

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  The Department is driving economic growth by delivering the long-term certainty that businesses need and by supporting the growth of businesses across the UK, including in Lancashire, where the Lancashire business growth hub is ensuring that businesses in Morecambe and Lunesdale have the advice to grow, to scale up and to succeed.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Economic Growth: Morecambe and Lunesdale · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her work in championing small businesses in her constituency, particularly the Electech cluster, where businesses such as Teleplan Forsberg, Like Technologies and Mazuma are working in the clean energy sector. Our clean energy industry sector plan focuses on capitalising on the strengths of these businesses and doubling investment levels across our frontier industries to more than £30 billion a year by 2035. That will directly support businesses in that cluster. I would of course be delighted to come and visit.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Industrial Energy Costs · Hansard source

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  The Government recognise the challenge of high industrial energy costs. From April we will raise the discount on electricity network charges from 60% to 90% under the network charging compensation scheme, supporting around 550 electricity-intensive businesses. This year we also plan to review eligibility for the British industry supercharger and the energy-intensive industries compensation scheme. From 2027 the British industrial competitiveness scheme will cut electricity costs by around £35 to £40 per MWh for around 7,000 manufacturing businesses.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Industrial Energy Costs · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for championing the businesses in his constituency. One such business, GS Yuasa Battery Manufacturing in Gwent, is receiving support from the supercharger, exempting it from several renewables levies and electricity network usage costs. This is all part of the Government’s clean energy superpower mission, which will cut costs, boost energy security and accelerate grid connections.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Industrial Energy Costs · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman knows that I share his concerns about the ceramics industry. He is quite right that many ceramics companies failed to qualify for the supercharger. There will be a review of the supercharger this year, and I have asked officials to look very carefully at the potential to include ceramics companies in it. I discussed that with the ceramics industry at an event in Parliament this week, which the right hon. Member attended—as, I think, did the Yorkshire brick company that he mentioned. I can also inform him that I and my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade will meet ceramics industries in the near future.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for so clearly representing the importance of the ceramics firms in his constituency. I heard the message loud and clear from the ceramics industry this week about the impact of energy costs and, as I mentioned earlier, in the review of the supercharger scheme, I have asked my officials to look carefully at the opportunities for including the ceramics sector.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for the work she is doing to highlight the north-east’s role as a key part of our life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. She mentions Organon in her constituency. Its Cramlington site was singled out by the leadership of that business at the J. P. Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco recently. In two weeks’ time, I will be opening Fujifilm’s biotechnology factory in Billingham in my own constituency—a £400 million investment in north-east biosciences. Our life sciences sector plan is backing the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry with £2 billion of investment and our UK-US deal is delivering zero-tariff access for UK pharmaceutical exports.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that the British industrial competitiveness scheme will provide a significant discount to up to 7,000 manufacturing businesses of up to 25% of their energy costs. It will certainly help manufacturing businesses in his constituency and across the whole UK. I encourage businesses in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency to contribute to the consultation, the results of which we will announce in due course.

• 29 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his positive and constructive engagement on this issue. I do understand the concerns of the steelworkers in Scunthorpe. I know precisely the projects he is referring to; they were not procured under public procurement rules, and the developers and tier 1 contractors involved have followed their own rules and commitments. However, it is the case that this Government want to see more British steel used in both public and other projects around the country, which is a matter both for developing steel capability and, potentially, for reviewing our procurement rules.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I thank everyone for their contributions to the debate, which was considerably more fulsome and energised than is usual for a 4.30 pm Committee. I am incredibly grateful, because Members in all parts of the Committee made a number of points, giving me the opportunity to clarify some details of the workings of the scheme. The shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for East Surrey, said that it was a very dense report with a lot of governmentitis. I know that she understands the details of this subject well, because she is the former Secretary of State, but I appreciate that it is technical, and it behoves all of us to try to explain as clearly as possible what the draft order means. I will start by addressing some of the specific points in the draft order and then talk a bit more generally about some of the points that Members have raised. I appreciate the concerns on both sides of the House about the impact on industry and the risk, when we are decarbonising industry, of deindustrialisation. I know that this concern is sincerely felt by everybody in this room, even if we might differ at times on what we think the best approach is. That is why we have been so careful to consult industry on these measures, as I outlined in the long catalogue of dates in my opening speech. We have consulted carefully with industry and made sure we have listened to what they have said. Some of the issues here run quite broadly around industrial competitiveness. Possibly one of the main points to recognise is that it is important through the whole decarbonisation process that industry manages to maintain access to its key markets, and clearly one of the key markets is the EU. That is where we come to the discussion about linking the EU ETS and the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism with the EU to enable our UK industries to continue to trade there. Negotiations with the EU started in November, but I want to be clear that they will only conclude in this way if it is in the UK interest to do that. We will continue to consult with UK industry on that matter too. In relation to points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central, the ceramics industry made three specific requests during the consultation. We managed to adopt requests to include ceramics on the carbon leakage list, no tiering of free allocations, and greater engagement with the ceramics sector, which is why we set up the UK ETS working group. My hon. Friend asked me specifically if we could reallocate free allocations from other sectors to ceramics. That is not possible within the current rules, but that does not mean that I am not aware of the issues surrounding the ceramics sector. We can use the UK ETS group to look at ETS issues, but we should also look more broadly at the concerns of the ceramics sector. I look forward to starting that conversation over dinner with my hon. Friend and the ceramics industry later this evening. On the question of power and the impact of the instrument on energy bills, the important point is that the ETS applies to power that is produced from fossil fuels, not renewable energy. This Government’s policy is to pursue our clean power mission by 2030, which involves investing in the cheapest forms of power available, in onshore and offshore wind, solar power and nuclear energy. The purpose of the ETS is to incentivise that. The carbon price incentivises investment; it provides the incentive in power and in industry to invest in new green technologies.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I think what the shadow Secretary of State has outlined is exactly the success of this policy—it has driven coal out of the system in favour of cheaper power. That is exactly the point of the ETS and the industrial investment. Of course, as we said, we are pursuing our clean power mission for energy security and to lower energy bills, as well as to ensure that we also have green energy.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  The shadow Secretary of State and I are clearly both concerned about the same thing. I know that that concern is shared across the House, but deindustrialisation and decarbonisation need not be in competition. Sadly, under the previous Government, there was a 30% reduction in UK cement production, a nearly 50% reduction in automotive production and a 30% reduction in chemicals production. That is why, alongside the ETS policy, we published our industrial strategy; it is why I introduced the British industrial competitiveness scheme to reduce energy costs for 7,000 manufacturing businesses; and it is why we increased the supercharger to 90% for energy intensive industries. Clearly, we recognise that energy costs have been too high in the UK for industrial businesses as well as consumers. That is primarily a result of the policy of the previous Government to leave us at the mercy of petrostates and fossil fuel dictators, on the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices. The shadow Secretary of State said that my priority is decarbonisation. I happen to be in a place where there is a happy coincidence between energy security, decarbonisation and the lowest cost of energy. That is recognised by industry, and that is why it is Government policy.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  What can be true is that there are both costs and savings for industry, particularly the savings for industry associated with being a member of the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism, which will come into force in 12 months. If we link the UK and the EU ETS, that will enable UK industry to trade freely within the EU, as it has done in the past.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  These changes have the support of the four Governments of the UK. That consensus on advancing carbon pricing policy adds to the strength of the UK ETS. I therefore commend the draft order to the Committee. Question put.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 · Hansard source

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  I feel I have detained the Committee for too long, so if the right hon. Member will excuse me, it would be a good idea to draw the debate—and we have had a good debate—to a close. The statutory instrument will give certainty to the industry around benchmarks and free allocations. The free allocations reduction is specifically for those sectors that are part of the carbon border adjustment mechanism, so some other sectors will not be affected. The legislation needs to be in place for applicants to apply for their free allocations for the period to April 2026. The statutory instrument will implement the proposed improvements to the scheme.