Sarah Jones MP: speeches

Speeches

• 11 Jun 2025 · British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme · Hansard source

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  I will let anybody watching the debate draw their own conclusions on that front, but it is there for all to see. I thank the hon. Member for Ashfield for securing the debate and many hon. Friends for their representations. The Labour Government are absolutely committed to addressing the BCSSS. I look forward to updating Members on our progress towards improving pensions for all our former miners and correcting these historical injustices. Question put and agreed to.

• 11 Jun 2025 · British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme · Hansard source

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  I certainly have oomph, yes, and I am working as fast as I can on this. I will not talk now about the wider support that we are offering people in our former coalfield communities, but a whole raft of Government interventions are there to support people.

• 11 Jun 2025 · British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) for securing this debate, and I welcome the opportunity to set out the Government’s position on the BCSSS. There are a lot of hon. Members in attendance. Many have long associations with the coalfield communities they represent, and I know that this is an incredibly important issue to many people across the country. It is also a matter of great importance to me, and I am pleased to be speaking to the House following a meeting I had with the BCSSS trustees this afternoon.

• 10 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We are developing proposals that will minimise costs and ensure a fair outcome for consumers throughout the country.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend’s comments about the tireless work of our hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe on securing the future of British Steel. The Secretary of State went to the British Steel site in Scunthorpe just after the legislation was passed. I think it is fair to say that there was great relief after our intervention, but workers will also quite rightly be asking us, “What happens next and how will you secure the future of the site?” We are now completely focused on that.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  As the Secretary of State made clear during the debate of Saturday before last, the capacity for primary steelmaking production is important, and the steel strategy will look at exactly how we deliver that. There are new ways of delivering primary steel—using hydrogen, for example—that other European countries are now using and developing. We will ensure that, whatever the future brings, we have the right level of production in this country.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  I think the hon. Gentleman is referring to the situation at Whitehaven. As I have already said, British Streel told us directly that it could not use that coal because of the sulphur content and working coke ovens are needed to—

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his words of appreciation. The construction sector is incredibly important when it comes to steel. We are looking at every measure we can take to ensure that people can buy British steel in a way that is competitive and useful for them. We are looking at procurement and at other measures to make the sector more competitive, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that British Steel provides huge amounts of steel for the construction sector, and we want that to continue.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is completely correct. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition confirmed on the “Today” programme this morning that the Conservative party policy is for an electric arc furnace at Scunthorpe or Scunthorpe and Teesside—it is unclear—which would have cost nearly twice as much as the existing proposals, without any mention of primary steelmaking. I understand that the official Opposition’s position is that they are not in favour of retaining primary steelmaking capacity in the UK.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman says that is not true, but he needs to provide evidence of that, because that is what British Steel has told us, and it does not have coking ovens because they were closed under the previous Government.

• 22 Apr 2025 · British Steel · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a really important point. The supply chain of these big steel production companies, whether Tata, British Steel or others, is really important. I do not have an answer for him now, but I will look into the issue he raises about Rotary Engineering and ensure the right thing is being done.

• 7 Apr 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  British Steel is a private company owned by Jingye, and it is for Jingye to make its own decisions. I have said multiple times that we will continue to talk to see if we can come to an agreement on the very generous offer that was made. We are looking at all options, because we know that is the right thing to do. To be clear, we do not want the blast furnaces to close, and we want to come to an agreement.

• 7 Apr 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  I am afraid I have to disappoint the right hon. Member, as I am not on the verge of anything. I repeat what I said, because it is the right thing to do: we will continue to negotiate with British Steel, mindful of the workers and the insecurity of the consultation they are currently undergoing. We will ensure that we do the right thing through our plan for steel and our response to British Steel, and I cannot say any more than that at this point.

• 7 Apr 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  It is good to hear that the workers in British Steel do not want visits from politicians; I assume the hon. Member, and his party, will take his own advice. I hope that he will understand that we cannot talk about the conversations that we are having with British Steel. It would be very disruptive to the process, the workforce there, the supply chain and commercial confidentiality. I can only repeat that our preference is that we come to an agreement with British Steel based on commercial terms, with Government support, but we are looking at all options and nothing is off the table.

• 27 Mar 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  I am very much looking forward to the meeting with my hon. Friend’s constituents, who are an important part of the steel chain. He makes an important point: we make many different products and have many different assets in the UK that we need to protect, beyond the big six steel companies.

• 27 Mar 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  I will certainly ensure that we do not do anything that reduces our ability to stand on our own two feet. I can give the right hon. Gentleman that assurance.

• 18 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I talk every day to my hon. Friend about her constituency and I am very happy to meet whoever she wants me to, because we think this is an incredibly important matter. The opportunities for her area and the Humber are great if we can harness the talents of the people in her constituency.

• 18 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his concern for his constituents. As I said, I am very receptive to calls from BCSSS trustees. I wrote to the Chancellor, who sent back a positive response, and we are now taking the next steps in this process. I will be reconvening trustees to meet and talk about it again.

• 24 Feb 2025 · Plant Oxford Site · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend as absolutely right to say that this is a commercial decision. As he would expect, we are talking to representatives of BMW; my officials were with them in Munich a couple of weeks ago, and I have met the UK managing director several times. We are talking to them to support the commercial decisions that they need to make. They have made it clear that there were macroeconomic, global and commercial reasons for the delay that has been announced; such delays are not uncommon. I know that BMW remains committed to this investment in the UK.

• 6 Feb 2025 · Manufacturing and Engineering (Northern Ireland) · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. He is now looking at his phone. I do not whether the unions are messaging him during the debate, but if so, it is very effective. Of course I will do whatever is useful in this regard. Commercial decisions are being made; we cannot influence all of them, but we can do what we can, and we are trying. We have a very skilled workforce that we do not want to lose, and I am happy to meet, work with and walk alongside our colleagues who are working in Northern Ireland. I thank the hon. Member for initiating the debate. It is always a joy to talk about what is happening in Northern Ireland, and even more of a joy to be there and see it. I look forward to doing that again soon. Question put and agreed to.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  South Yorkshire has a proud history of steelmaking, as I saw for myself when I was at Sheffield Forgemasters last week. We saw a huge reduction in steel production in this country on the last Government’s watch, and we want to turn that around, which is why we are delivering a steel strategy. As ever, I would of course be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to talk about how we can make this work.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I met Anglo American to talk about Woodsmith just a couple of weeks ago when I was in Saudi Arabia, and it is an important site. I promised to go and see it, so perhaps I can go with my hon. Friend. It is important that the critical minerals strategy we are developing marks a step change from the previous Government’s strategy, which just looked at a moment in time and said, “We need to do a bit more of this, that and the other.” We will have targets, will be driving forward, and will look at our future demand. We are going to look at the eight sectors that we want to grow, consider what critical minerals we need, and think about how to ensure that we have the supply chains to get it right.

• 30 Jan 2025 · International Investment · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I saw the talent and potential for myself when I visited Exeter in September for Great South West’s annual conference. I am visiting the region again in a few weeks, because there is huge potential, huge excitement and huge opportunities to grow. As he knows, there is £1.8 billion from the national wealth fund to invest in our ports. I am very happy to meet him and others to see what potential we can discuss.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  That is absolutely right.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I would be delighted to meet the hon. Member and talk about her plans.