Katie White MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jun 2026 · Climate Change · Hansard source

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  This week has been like no other. At this very moment, people across our country are experiencing another reminder of the world we now live in. If anyone in this Chamber still thinks that climate change is a problem for tomorrow, they should step outside today. Parents will struggle to get their children to sleep through sweltering nights. Farmers will look anxiously at weather forecasts and cloudless skies. Hospitals, schools and care homes will prepare for temperatures that would have seemed extraordinary in Britain just a few decades ago. Parts of our country are facing temperatures of up to 38° this week, while experts warn that 40° days may arrive far sooner than anyone expected. Today’s debate is not taking place against the backdrop of climate change; it is taking place in the middle of it, and I cannot make it clearer to the House that this is not normal. A Met Office extreme heat warning is in place for parts of the UK today and tomorrow. In fact, it has just confirmed that today is the hottest June day ever. In recent months the crisis in the middle east has felt like a ghost from the recent past. Once again, the world has found itself staring at a major fossil fuel-producing region and wondering what happens next. Once again, energy markets have been holding their breath. Once again, families, businesses and Governments have been reminded just how fragile the system can be. This is, of course, the second fossil fuel shock in barely half a decade. It is only four years since Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine and sent shockwaves through the global economy, four years since family budgets were shredded by soaring energy bills, and four years since Britain was reminded that when our energy system depends on volatile fossil fuel markets, a crisis on the other side of the world can land on our doorstep in a matter of days. When faced with challenges of this scale, there is always a temptation to focus on the immediate crisis, to become consumed by the pressures of the day, and to postpone difficult decisions for another Parliament, another Government or another generation.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Climate Change · Hansard source

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  Let me just finish. Back then, it often felt like a cause that sat at the margins of politics, rather than at its centre. Progress felt slow; success felt uncertain. If someone had told me that one day I would stand at this Dispatch Box I might have struggled to believe it, but what that journey reminds me of is that real change is rarely the work of one person, one Government or one political party. It happens because people keep building year after year, Government after Government, Parliament after Parliament. Eighteen years ago, this House came together to pass the world’s first climate change Act. Seven years ago, it came together again to make Britain the first major economy to legislate on net zero emissions. Different Prime Ministers, different Governments and different political traditions have all helped to write that story.

• 6 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I enjoyed being part of the hon. Gentleman’s sunshine debate. I have been excited to work closely with the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, who is with us in the Chamber, and we look forward to the future homes standards coming shortly.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Emission Reductions: Progress Report · Hansard source

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  Homes and home standards are absolutely key to decarbonisation for a variety of reasons, including the health benefits for residents. We will consult on the warm homes plan, and the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey), spoke about the warm home discount earlier. We are working with MHCLG on bringing forward the future home standard.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I share my hon. Friend’s concern regarding those reports. This Government are focused on making transport greener, including by cutting air pollution to improve health and the environment. We also need to ensure that people are abiding by the rules. The responsible body, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, is pursuing the potential diesel emissions non-compliance using its procedures and the tools available. Officials at the DFT have assured me that the findings from these investigations will be published in a timely and appropriate manner; as an impatient politician, I can assure her that I will continue to press for a prompt and thorough interpretation of “timely”.