Darren Jones MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  From the nature of his question, I am not sure the hon. Gentleman enjoyed the statement today. Look, there are lots of examples today, both in this statement and in the Chancellor’s commitment, that have stimulated investment and, as a consequence, will stimulate growth in the economy. The key question here is: are businesses seeing the UK as a place to invest, are they investing in the country, and are they building in Britain? The answer is: yes, yes, and yes.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  We share the hon. Member’s ambition for the Northern Ireland economy and the people of Northern Ireland. We continue to work with them to unleash that potential. In respect of our trading relationship with the EU, Ministers are in active discussions right now.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his leadership of the Labour growth group, which shows that from the Back Benches all the way through to the Front Bench, this Labour party in government is committed to stimulating growth in the economy in the interests of working people, unlike the Conservative party which just argued with itself for years and failed the people.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I am not sure I agree with the premise of the question. We do not seek to undermine Scotland, but to enable it, as an important part of the United Kingdom. That is why we have put significant money into the Scottish Government, why GB Energy will be based in Scotland, and why exciting plans on energy infrastructure have already been announced. I am sure there will be more to come, not least for Edinburgh, given its expertise in the technology space, which we are very aware of. I encourage the hon. Lady not to be so gloomy. We are here to support Scotland as much as England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  Thank you. I thought it was “EU” again—I could not read my own handwriting. The whole premise of the growth corridor is that we will have a transport spine through that corridor that allows for all the developments—housing, lab space or communities—around it. That is a crucial part of our plans, and we will make sure that it is delivered.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question and congratulate him on his upcoming paternity leave. He knows that the Government are committed to protecting the environment but also to cutting red tape. We have shown that that can be done in a win-win way, through the nature fund announced by the Environment Secretary recently. We will be doing further work on this issue in the coming months to ensure that we can deliver for Britain and for the natural economy.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I am afraid I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a date, because negotiations are, as he will know, negotiations. They are ongoing, but I am hopeful that we will be able to come back shortly with updates to show that we are able to deliver deals much faster than his party, when it was last in government.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  The Chancellor will be disappointed that the right hon. Member did not listen to her speech. She announced today— [ Interruption. ] We are in negotiations with the project leaders at the lower Thames crossing. We are committed to bringing that forward and will have further announcements to make in due course.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to announce to the House today the Government’s commitment to build, baby, build. We will deliver that for this country. My hon. Friend is right to point out the difference that a change in Government can make. This Labour Government are getting on with the job of dealing with planning regulations and blockers, bringing forward investment and delivering for the country, whereas the Conservative party promised the earth and delivered nothing.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right, and she is a great advocate for businesses in her constituency. She will know that Mayors in the UK, for example, have committed themselves to buying electric buses from British manufacturers, and we will be working with mayoral authorities in the years ahead to ensure that we can do more of that, not less.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I am sure the hon. Member shares my view that we can achieve growth through our net zero plans. These things are not an either/or. For example, the announcement of this Government supporting investment in Heathrow and in the sustainable aviation fuel sector will stimulate investment in net zero technologies and industry in the UK. This can be a win-win for the economy and the environment.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and his campaigning on behalf of his constituents. As I am sure he will have seen, the Government recently announced hundreds of millions of pounds of inward investment for skills in the green economy in his side of Wales, in Pembrokeshire, where there is enormous potential both for onshore and offshore wind development, and training people to be able to build those bits of infrastructure. That was the first of what I am sure will be many announcements to benefit his constituents.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  The House is indebted to the shadow Chancellor—Mr Melmentum himself—for his lecture on the need for speed from this Government. Let me tell him that we have done more in the last six or seven months than that lot did in the last 14 years. The shadow Chancellor asked me about our plans to work with business. The comments today from business leaders and investors speak for themselves: our plans are welcomed by businesses, and we will be working in partnership with them to deliver for this country. He also asked me about work. Those of us in the Labour party make no secret of the fact that we like to support people into work—strong, secure work with workplace rights and secure incomes to help make people’s family finances add up. That is why our party was created in the first place. The real truth from the data is that under the last Government, too many people were waiting at home sick, unable to get NHS appointments or access to mental health services so that they could be helped back into work. Too many people were waiting at home, waiting for training and unable to seize the opportunities advertised in front of them. This Labour Government will not treat those things as a luxury, but will work at speed to give people the work they deserve. At the heart of the shadow Chancellor’s statement was a truth for the country to consider. Under the last Administration, it was promises cancelled; under this Administration, it is promises being delivered.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member is inviting me to speculate on the OBR forecast, which will be presented to the House on 26 March.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I have to confess that “build, baby, build” was not included in the “lines to take” this morning, but perhaps it is now. My hon. Friend asked about private capital. We know that there is an enormous amount of interest in investing in the UK, so long as we can show that we can deliver and get things done, and we are working actively with partners to do just that. More details will be confirmed in the spending review and the infrastructure strategy early in June.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  Pithy, Madam Deputy Speaker! Yes, I completely endorse my hon. Friend’s question. He knows very well that in the technology space there are huge opportunities for investment in the UK. Our AI investment zone announcement will be the first of many such announcements in the years ahead.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Member will know, at the Budget, in our design of the national insurance contribution scheme for employers, we protected small businesses to ensure that over 50% of businesses will pay either the same as they did before or less than they did before in employer national insurance contributions. That is in addition to a permanent discount on business rates for retail businesses on the high street, many of whom will be small businesses of the nature he refers to in his question.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member has been down this path before because it was his Government who went down it and blocked all these developments over the past 14 years. This Government are working on reforms to the planning system, looking at national policy statements, thinking about skills and infrastructure supply chains, and unlocking private capital because we are a Government who want to get Britain building again, and not block the projects that were stalled for years under the previous Administration.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right; our ports play a really important role in the UK economy—I declare an interest in respect of my own constituency. She will, I am sure, have welcomed initial Government investment in our ports, not just for trade and logistics but for our ability to deliver infrastructure—for example, in floating offshore wind. I know that the Government have more plans in this area, and more announcements will be made soon.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In working on the plan for change’s priority of 1.5 million new homes, the Deputy Prime Minister has already identified that as a great opportunity for the Government. Working with partners in Network Rail and elsewhere, we can unlock the land adjacent to existing infrastructure for new developments. Some of that was referenced in the part of the Chancellor’s speech about the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, but we are actively looking at opportunities across the country as well.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  Scotland is an important part of our United Kingdom economy. We will continue to invest in the country, as we did at the recent Budget, with the largest real-terms increase in spending since devolution. I am always ears-open to opportunities for growth, but the hon. Member might want to speak to his SNP colleagues in the Scottish Government and try to stimulate some investment there as well.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  We always get a bit grumpy as we get older, don’t we, Madam Deputy Speaker? But I agree with the right hon. Gentleman: we should go back to our childhoods and sing the song of that bright future that is ahead for all of us. It will cheer our spirits and lift the House as we look forward to the future with positivity. Look, we have made announcements today that will benefit the Northern Ireland economy, not least in the aerospace, life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors. On a recent visit to Northern Ireland, I heard about the businesses innovating and investing in these spaces, and they will benefit from the announcements today. As he knows, the Government are in negotiations with our counterparts in Europe to improve trade barriers, which I am sure, in time, will benefit the Northern Ireland economy as well.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her suggestion. It is not for me to get in the middle of boundary disputes, but I will take that back to the Treasury and see what we can do.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising that case. Let me encourage him to write to the Transport Secretary and copy me into his correspondence, so that we can look at the details and consider it further.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend. As he has seen from announcements today, but also from our ambition for the country more generally, we are on the hunt for growth opportunities, wherever they may be. We worked in partnership with business investors to unleash their potential to generate great jobs, businesses and innovations for UK plc in every region of the nation. I look forward to working with him and his friends in the region to ensure that that comes to his constituency too.