Graham Stuart MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. If I said anything to that effect, I withdraw it.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  Does my right hon. Friend, like me, feel sorry not only for all the consumers up and down the country who see billions of taxes that could be paid if we just produced more oil and gas here—that could be used to lower their taxes when they fill up their cars and travel to work—but for the two Ministers on the Front Bench, the hon. Members for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey) and for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks)? Neither of them is an idiot, but they have been captured by an ideological Secretary of State who is literally making them swear that black is white.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  The only doubling down being done is by the Minister, who insists that we import more from abroad. Where energy is produced makes no difference to how much we consume. It can either be produced abroad or it can be produced here, with jobs, tax and lower emissions. Why on earth would he choose for it to be done abroad?

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to take part in this debate and to follow the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge), who follows in a tradition of Government Back Benchers standing up and trying to make the case for the utterly insane, the truly crazy and the utterly groundless. I feel more sorry for the hon. Lady than I do for the Ministers on the Front Bench, because we know that this impossible position cannot be maintained. I do not know whether the Government are on U-turn No. 13, 14, 15 or 16—who can count them?—but I guarantee that it is impossible to maintain the current position; it rests on a number of fallacies. The hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale said it as passionately as any of the Government Members, did she not? They say, “Oh, it is outrageous! The Conservatives are suggesting that our producing more oil and gas in the North sea will change the global price.” Well, I went back to the motion, and nowhere does it say that. That is the case of the “crazies” on the Government Benches—I do not know if that is parliamentary or not—and I include the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings), in that. This is lunacy made flesh.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  For the purposes of today, I will leave aside the renewables market, but I notice that RenewableUK agrees with the chief executive of Octopus Energy that it is crazy, along with the heads of the unions responsible. They all agree that this is crazy. There is going to be a U-turn, and we are going to have the comic sight of the poor Minister on the Front Bench—a very likeable and very competent Minister—coming to this House to explain why the exact opposite of what he is arguing today is now the truth. That is going to happen, and it has to happen, because if the Government do not U-turn, we will lose jobs, tax revenue and energy security. I notice that those are the three qualities that are in the motion, because they are the vital things that we are missing by not drilling for oil and gas in the North sea while we continue to import it. We are importing more, with higher emissions than if we produced it here, and the net result is that we do not consume or burn a single drop less of oil or gas. The Labour party’s position is untenable.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is right. I was incredulous when listening to the incredible things that the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire said. Let me go back to this big, passionate attack. That production will not change the global oil price, but it will help to employ 200,000 people in this country, with all the engineering expertise and the deep supply chain in this country, in oil and gas. It will help to provide gas, nearly all of which—practically 100% of the gas produced in the North sea—comes into the UK grid. Nearly all of it is consumed here. Some of it goes through interconnectors in either direction the other way, but the idea that it does not directly contribute to our energy security is for the birds. I return to the point about price, because Labour colleagues put so much effort into saying, “How dare they suggest that it will change the price?” There are localised prices, so it is also not true to say that oil and gas have a global price and we have to take that price regardless. As the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) interjected earlier, in the United States, the price of gas is between a third and a quarter of the price that it is here. Getting supply and demand in the right balance does make a difference. Relying on LNG means that we have to liquefy it, gasify it, ship it with specialist ships and put it into specialist infrastructure to bring it into the UK gas grid, which all costs money. It is even more ironic, given the attitudes of Labour Members, that according to the North Sea Transition Authority, that gas comes with four times the embedded emissions. It is environmentally insane as well as economically insane.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  If we were to accept the argument that it would make no difference to the international price—notwithstanding the fact that there are global markets and that supply and demand leads to much lower prices in some places than in others—we are still talking about billions of pounds in forgone taxes, which could be used to reduce prices, to reduce VAT and to reduce all sorts of impositions on the British people, saving not pennies but many pounds on ordinary people’s bills. That is true, isn’t it, Minister?

• 24 Mar 2026 · Oil and Gas · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we also need to see the hydrogen storage and transport model issued by the Government as quickly as possible?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to participate in this debate. Graduates were promised a fair deal, and we have heard all the promises that were made from when the current Prime Minister stood to be Leader of the Opposition to the announcements that were made afterwards. People were told to work hard, go to university and have a shot at a better life, and that their efforts would pay off. On those principles, Labour Members entirely agree with those of us in the Opposition. The Education Secretary knows that those things should be in place, because in 2023 she wrote that graduates will pay less under a Labour Government. She, the actual Education Secretary, said that graduates would pay less under a Labour Government. Now in office, she says: “We are where we are.” The Chancellor knows it, too. In January, she said the student loan system was fair and reasonable—in January, this year. Yesterday, suddenly, she admitted it was broken, but, importantly, not a priority. And the Leader of the Opposition knows it. Last month, she said the current system created an unfair debt trap for graduates. But what is the difference? The difference is that the Leader of the Opposition has a plan—a plan to cut interest rates that no one would accept on a normal loan. The moment a graduate throws their cap in the air, unfortunately the Labour party sees a target to tax. We Conservatives see a dream to back—dreams like Sammi’s. Sammi, from Keyingham in my constituency, is one of the first in her family to go to university. She borrowed £40,000. She works in the medical field and makes a payment every month, but she now owes £46,000 because of interest rates that no one would accept on a normal loan. Graduates such as Sammi need to earn £66,000 before they even start to reduce their loans. By refusing to cap interest at the rate of inflation to help people like Sammi, as the Conservatives are proposing today, the Chancellor, who admits that the system is broken, is making them pay more for longer. For too many, the degree that was meant to help them get on is now holding them back. That is why, in a tough situation, we are making tough proposals about finding courses that are not adding value. They exist. We have had Liberal Democrat and Labour Members suggesting that there is not a single course at a single institution in this country that should not be put under question. That is not the right attitude. Under our plans, interest rates on plan 2 student loans will be capped at inflation, saving graduates tens of thousands of pounds. A doctor from Hedon, graduating in 2029 with £80,000 of student debt, will save £58,000 in lifetime repayments. An engineer from Roos with £40,000 of student debt earning £50,000 would clear their loan five years faster. So, when these young people enter the workforce or start a business of their own, they will have the space to build a future of their own: saving for a home, starting a family, creating something of value—fairness, a future, freedom. People like Sammi are the risk-takers, the innovators and the builders of what is to come and they are being let down by this Government. That is the choice before this House tonight: vote for our plan to make effort pay again or do nothing, because it turns out that graduates are at the back of the queue. Colleagues on the Government Benches know the right thing to do. Deep down, the Education Secretary knows it and the Chancellor knows it. What they need now is the courage to do something about it.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend will have noted, as I have, that the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore), the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Brash) and other Labour Members wish to talk about the past. Our constituents, and graduates who are paying these outrageous sums, want to talk about the future. At the general election, they listened to Labour’s promises on lowering costs for graduates, but the Government are doing exactly the opposite. By deflecting and talking about the past rather than accepting responsibility for the government that they are delivering, Labour Members are letting down all those young people, whose aspirations should be respected.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is giving a powerful speech. On behalf of her generation, is she disappointed that, having promised to reduce the costs for graduates repaying student loans, the Government are making it worse? Is she disappointed that, when challenged over this broken system, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the hon. Lady and people like her are at the back of the queue?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman said that the Government are helping young people, and mentioned transport. Bus fares have gone up by 50%, from £2 to £3; for somebody who travels every day to work and back, that is £500 a year out of taxed income. That is not helping. Fuel duty is going to go up in September—that is not helping. The cost of heating oil is going through the roof, and there is going to be nothing for anyone who goes to work—that is not helping either. Can the hon. Gentleman start to look at the reality of what is happening? It is not good for young people, and unemployment among young people is going up, not down.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  Young people in my constituency are looking for a bit of hope. How should they interpret the Minister’s answer to her hon. Friend, the hon. Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel), and the fact that the Chancellor has said that young people are at the back of the queue? From that very recent mood music, it does not sound as if there is much to hope for from this Government.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  Would the hon. Lady not find it rather worse if we were not reflecting on our time in power and the fact that we were thrown out and were not trying to come forward with constructive proposals to make things better? The important thing is to listen to people like the hon. Lady and our constituents, reflect and come forward with proposals. That is what we are doing. We are trying to look forward, not play some history game.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is making an impassioned speech and we hear where he is coming from, but over the 14 years of Conservative Government, 800 jobs were created every day and unemployment was brought down to near record lows. Since his party has come to power, with the mission that he is describing, what has happened? Unemployment is up by 25% and youth unemployment has now eclipsed even that of Europe. The Government are not delivering. I hope in the next part of his speech, he is going to talk about what the Government need to do now in order to make things better for young people, because at the moment every indicator is going the wrong way, including the cost of student loans.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Student Loans · Hansard source

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  I am trying to follow the mental perambulations of the left. The argument seems to be that people from working-class backgrounds can go on courses that lead them to have negative outcomes—poor earnings—and that the very course they are on, which does them little good, with so much promised and so little delivered, actually has the opportunity to cross-subsidise other people doing other courses. Both the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Gloucester (Alex McIntyre) seem to think that is a good thing. Can they not see that, in reality, it is not?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  Will my right hon. Friend give way?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. With the strait of Hormuz in effect closed, does that not prove the point we have been making for years, which is how important it is for our energy security to have new licences in the North sea? The Minister is known as “Torsten Tax”, so I will ask him about tax. Does he accept that not having new licences in the North sea will lose this country billions in tax revenue—yes or no?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  Is that the best you can do?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  I do not know whether I am being picked on or specially singled out, but in any case, Mr Speaker, thank you for selecting me. One aspect that my right hon. Friend has not mentioned today is the Clean Power 2030 action plan. Bringing it forward from 2035 means that we are overpaying for the renewables, and locking in those overpayments for 20 years. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, along with the immediate negative impacts on our economy and, most importantly, on our constituents, locking in long-term contracts for overpriced renewables will increase the cost of living even further?

• 18 Mar 2026 · Fuel Duty · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point about North sea oil and gas extraction. The Labour party says that will not make any difference to the global price of oil and gas, but billions and billions of pounds in tax will be lost as a result of having no new licences in the North sea. Those billions could be used to replace the revenues generated by fuel duty. In fact, if the Government wished, they could convert those billions into cuts in price at the pump for every single family in the country, including those in rural Beverley and Holderness who are suffering today.

• 16 Mar 2026 · Heating Oil Support · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government coming forward with a proposal, but many of my constituents are facing £600 or £700 increases on bills that are coming immediately at them. The Minister cannot tell us today who exactly will be eligible for help—perhaps he can answer that. He cannot tell us how much they will actually get when they are looking at an increase of £600 or £700 on one bill just to fill up. He did not even seem to know which particular council is going to administer this help. Can he please give some clarity? Otherwise, we are getting the appearance of action and no real relief for most of my constituents.