Catherine Fookes MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a bit rich hearing the Opposition talk about how to work with the devolved Administrations. I am pleased to see in the Bill that Welsh Ministers will be consulted. The previous relationship between the Conservative Government here and the Labour Government in Cardiff was appalling. Often, the phone was not picked up to Mark Drakeford when he was First Minister. Could the Minister confirm that he will work with the Welsh Government and with our organisation, Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, which is similar to Great British Energy, and how he will do that?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  I rise to speak to amendment 2, tabled by the hon. Member for Bath, which seeks to include community energy in the objects of the Bill. The amendment has gathered support from across the House. I find it encouraging that so many hon. Members understand the important role that community energy schemes play in our energy sector and our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Community energy schemes currently generate 0.5% of the UK’s electricity. However, studies by the Environmental Audit Committee show that they could grow twentyfold in the next 10 years. They not only power many homes but reduce our dependence on energy imports and support the development of critical local infrastructure, and of course they create local jobs. It is clear to me that community energy schemes play a key part in tackling climate change. I have seen at first hand in my constituency of Monmouthshire great schemes such as the community solar project at Bridges community centre, which saves the centre money, which can then be reinvested in the community. Further afield, in Bangor Aberconwy, we have Ynni Ogwen, which does fantastic work to produce electrical energy from hydro power using the Ogwen river. Again, the profits are used to fund community and environmental projects in the community. My commitment to community energy is clear, as is the Government’s. We are inviting communities to come forward with projects and to work with local leaders and devolved Governments to ensure that local people benefit from energy production. Although the amendment is well intended, it is not necessary. The Government and the chair of GB Energy himself made it clear at the evidence session on Tuesday that community energy will be a “core part” of GB Energy.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Mr Whitehouse, you mentioned inclusivity; I think you were referring to including the different devolved Governments in the UK. But when it comes to skills and inclusivity, I am interested in the important work of getting more women and a greater diversity of people into this sector. I was really pleased to see Ms Dawes and Ms Powis give evidence earlier. I purposely did not ask them—the two women in the room—how to get more women into the sector, but how can we get greater inclusivity and diversity into the sector through the strategic plan for Great British Energy? This relates to clause 5(8)(a), so it is in scope. David Whitehouse: Let me talk about inclusivity in general terms. I am studying for a master’s in renewables; I am the energy transition, albeit slightly older. When we talk about inclusivity, those who come from an oil and gas heritage are sometimes excluded from the conversation. You need all those voices. When I talk about inclusivity, it is about “bring all the voices”. How do we improve what we are doing? I have a couple of brief comments. Speaking personally, I thought the legislation on the gender pay gap was excellent. What does it do? It makes conversations and debates happen. Last week in the sector, we spoke about Vision 2030—how we are going to deliver on a sector that is truly inclusive, that looks like the future, not the past, and that is attracting the next generation, with commitments about targets that we wish to achieve. There are seven pillars on the path to getting there. How do we do that? You need commitment from leaders in the sector; I think we can give you that. You need some targets; I think we can give you them. We also need a plan of action that holds us to account. I come back to the path to net zero: we will not do this if we are not inclusive and not attracting across the entire spectrum, the entire country.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Thank you, Chair; I will try to stay in scope. I was really pleased to read about the £2-million tidal energy project at Morlais off the coast of Ynys Môn. Clause 3(2)(d) talks about GB Energy improving the security of our energy supply here in the UK. Is that the kind of project that you see benefiting from and being supported by GB Energy? Dan Labbad: Yes. Both the Crown Estate and GB Energy moving forward will support that type of thing. It is an example of a local community energy project, and I think there needs to be more of that, as I said in my answer to the earlier question. Where we can build community support for renewable projects, we should. The Crown Estate and GB Energy will be looking to that as part of our core mandate moving forward. I am very excited about that type of thing because it benefits everybody, so it is fundamental to what we do moving forward.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I welcome both witnesses to the Committee. Clause 5(5) states that the Secretary of State will consult Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland Ministers, so as a Welsh MP I am content—it sounds like you are, too—that our devolved Administrations will be consulted before things happen. I think it was Mr McGirr who said there were bound to be lots of projects in Scotland. I want to flag the fact that Wales is also extremely well placed to receive some of these projects in terms of hydro, tidal and wind energy. What in the Bill would help us to ensure that lots of the investment comes to Wales? Alistair McGirr: I am very supportive of those projects coming to Wales. Obviously the Celtic sea auctions are another example of the upcoming opportunities in Wales. The reality is that GB Energy is not going to be the vehicle that drives that—that will be the wider policy framework in terms of what happens here in Westminster, and also in the regulatory frameworks that are in place and what happens in the devolved Administrations. My reference to Scotland is not to say that other parts of the country could not have the opportunities for investment. It is just that the sheer scale of the opportunities in Scotland for wind, hydro, some of the grid projects, CCS and hydrogen mean there is a significant opportunity in Scotland. That is one of the reasons why GB Energy has been located up in that area. Tristan Zipfel: I can only concur. Wales is very important for us. We have onshore wind projects that we are actively promoting in Wales. I think GB Energy could play a role there. I want to emphasise, however, that I do not think GB Energy on its own will be the solution to unlocking the opportunities you describe. I think it is really important in Wales in particular that there is an effort on the policy side to provide more certainty and more visibility of the projects, as well as the question of the grid, which is a problem. But I concur that Wales is very important strategically from our standpoint as a renewable energy developer.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I draw your attention to clause 5(5) on consulting Welsh Ministers on areas within the legislative competence of the Senedd. I am pleased that, under the Bill, the Welsh Government will be consulted. I wonder whether you have had any intergovernmental collaboration so far to inform the Bill. Michael Shanks: That is an important question. We have done several different things already. I have had many conversations with my counterparts in the Welsh Government, in the Scottish Government and, to a different degree, in the Northern Ireland Executive. Energy is of course transferred in Northern Ireland, but we are keen that they are still part of the Bill, so that they can benefit from some of the GB Energy possibilities, although it will be a different relationship because they are part of a different grid. All my conversations with the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government have been about how we collaborate, not just on the formal process of consulting on the statement of priorities, but on how they can be part of helping GB Energy to set its priorities on an ongoing basis. On Monday, I met the Cabinet Secretary in the Scottish Government. We talked about, for example, the Scottish Government having a role in a much wider sense in the company to help with some of the priorities in Scotland. There are a variety of ways. What is critical is that the devolved Administrations should absolutely be consulted, and we want that to be an open process, but we have also reset the relationships with the devolved Administrations in a way that means that this is not now a combative process. Across the UK, we have broadly the same outcomes in mind for clean power, with slightly different targets here and there, but we are all on the same journey. That allows us to align a lot of our priorities and to deliver for people all across the UK. I want that to be an open and collaborative approach. Consultation is the formal part, but it is not the limit of what we think can happen.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q It is good to see you both. You were not here for the earlier sessions, but there were a lot of questions about whether there is enough detail in the Bill. Before I was an MP, I used to be the CEO of a charity; if the objects of that charity had gone into an incredible amount of detail telling me exactly what to do, it would have been very difficult 10 years down the line, when I joined the charity, to pivot and do what we did. I think you are absolutely right: we are hearing from every single witness that the Bill needs to be general enough to allow the business plan to be developed by the experts running the company. You are chiming with everyone else, which is interesting and good. My question is about tidal power. I represent a Welsh constituency, Monmouthshire. We have the River Severn in the south of the constituency, which is a tidal river, and we have the Celtic sea. What opportunities will the Bill give to generate more tidal power? Dan McGrail: The Bill allows space for GB Energy to take quite an activist role in the sector. I am aware of tidal power companies that are already very keen to engage with GB Energy on specific proposals. One thing about tidal power is that we have seen the success of many projects through the CfD auctions. We need to see them come to investment decisions. The more we can see a state actor enabling companies to take decisions, the more it will help to scale up the industry and then the technologies. From the technologies, we can hopefully deliver the kind of supply chain growth and jobs in local communities to which we all aspire.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Welcome to the participants. My question follows on beautifully from Shaun’s comments around community. How do we think that GB Energy can accelerate and drive investment in the development of community enterprise and community energy? Shaun Spiers: One thing that is necessary to say is that this is a major part of the transition and a priority of the Government. That was the case for periods during the coalition, when there was a really vibrant community energy movement and a sense in which people were coming around to supporting renewable energy—which otherwise they would have opposed—because they could see they had a financial stake in it but had also been engaged in developing it. What snuffed that out had more to do with planning issues than with investment, but there are ways in which GB Energy can pump-prime some of the investment. I am trying to think back to the community energy manifesto we put together in 2018. I cannot think of any specific things, but I can write to the Committee, if that is helpful. There are specific financial incentives that would help get this off the ground. To be honest, though, communities across the country were really keen on community energy. It was a vibrant movement and could be again, with the right political framework as much as investment.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Welcome, Mr Maier. It is great to meet you—thank you for coming before the Committee. In Monmouthshire, we have seen the benefit of a lot of community energy projects, such as solar power on the Bridges community centre in Monmouth. In Wales, we have also seen lots of hydro projects in community energy, such as Ynni Ogwen in Bangor. Can you share how you think the Bill’s provisions will support community energy projects in the whole of Britain and Wales? Juergen Maier: Community energy is definitely a priority for Great British Energy. If you want to point specifically to the Bill, clause 3, “Objects”, refers in subsection (2)(a) to “the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy”. I see community energy as a core part of that. As Great British Energy, we definitely want to support the schemes that you have been talking about, whether those are in Wales, Scotland, England or Northern Ireland. We will definitely be doing that.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Farming and Food Security · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend said, many Labour Members are supportive of farmers. I am a proud farmer’s daughter and I am delighted to speak in this debate. The previous Government sold farmers down the river. We had disastrous trade deals and they suffer from terrible weather—we can, at least, say that that was not the Tories’ fault. Does my hon. Friend agree that if we are to support Welsh farmers, they need a strong financial package?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  9. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases relating to violence against women and girls.

• 12 Sept 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  May I warmly welcome the Solicitor General to her place? I am sure she agrees that the dreadful legacy of the last Government’s record on rape convictions cannot be allowed to continue. She knows that behind the statistics—less than 2% of rapes are prosecuted—lie real people such as a woman in my constituency of Monmouthshire, who has been waiting on a CPS decision for two years and three months. Her life has been on hold and in limbo as she waits to hear whether the perpetrator will be charged. She has summoned up the courage to report, and we cannot leave her or anyone else in indefinite limbo. Can the Solicitor General share what progress has been made on the introduction of the Government’s new rape courts? What impact does she expect them to have on the time lag between reporting and charging, and on prosecution rates for those charged with violence against women?

• 11 Sept 2024 · Port Talbot Transition Project · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for today’s announcement and for reminding us of the role that steel plays in our green transition. He has done more in two months than the Conservatives did in 14 years. Many of my constituents in Monmouthshire, especially in Caldicot and Chepstow, work in the steel supply chain and in steel. Does he recognise that his announcement today has ramifications for the whole of south Wales?

• 4 Sept 2024 · Sheep Farming · Hansard source

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  In my constituency and Wales as a whole, we cannot underestimate the value that sheep farmers bring to our local economy and the importance of our local livestock marts, where farmers of all generations gather each week not only to sell their fabulous livestock, but to socialise and access services, which can really help their mental health. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must look again at the UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand free trade agreements? We have a really big issue with New Zealand lamb. In my local butcher this weekend, I could buy a leg of good Welsh lamb for £46.14, but I could buy a leg of New Zealand lamb in the supermarket for £20. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must see some action to ensure our farmers in Monmouthshire and across Wales are protected against the flood of imports from overseas?

• 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  22. What progress she has made on increasing economic growth.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  This year alone, two more high street bank branches have closed in Monmouthshire, bringing the total to eight in the past two years. My constituents now find themselves struggling to access basic banking services—particularly in Caldicot. I was recently handed a petition that had been signed by more than 3,500 constituents. I am sure that the Chancellor understands the importance of high street banking not only to our constituents but to local businesses and local economic growth. What progress has she made in her work with colleagues in the Welsh Government to support high street banks and hubs in Monmouthshire and across Wales?

• 2 Sept 2024 · Middle East Update · Hansard source

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  I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement. I absolutely share his pain, horror and dismay at the number of innocent civilians killed in Gaza. I recently received a letter from constituents under the banner of Families for a Ceasefire, signed by over 70 families in Monmouthshire, calling for a ceasefire and a ban on all arms sales to Israel, so I welcome the suspension of 30 arms licences. Will my right hon. Friend share with us when a further review of the remaining licences will be available? Will he consider encouraging other countries around the world to do as we have done and suspend their licences to Israel?

• 26 Jul 2024 · Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has mentioned Scotland, but I would like to mention Wales again, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Mid and South Pembrokeshire (Henry Tufnell). Monmouthshire has plenty of wind and wave opportunities. We have the tidal River Severn, and we also have small tributaries in the Wye valley, such as the Angidy above Tintern. My constituents are really looking forward to benefiting from the community energy projects mentioned in the Bill. When can our community energy projects start bidding into the process?

• 26 Jul 2024 · Infected Blood Inquiry · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. I would like to talk about Linda, one of my constituents, who sadly lost her husband Bill Dumbelton because of the infected blood scandal. He contracted HIV and hepatitis C, and lost his job when he told his employer that he had HIV. He had no life insurance—he was unable to get life insurance at that time because of his HIV status—so Linda had to pick up the pieces and deal with all the financial problems when he died. Can the Paymaster General please update the House on how the scheme will be used to compensate those affected by the scandal, including spouses such as Linda? Are the Government still aiming to make those final compensation payments by the end of the year?

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and llongyfarchiadau, as we say in Wales. It is wonderful to have you presiding over my maiden speech. I also thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon); it is a pleasure to follow him. I congratulate Members on the amazing maiden speeches we have heard this afternoon. I particularly enjoyed the story of such an inspirational maths teacher from my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince). I am really pleased to speak in this debate about education, which is so important. I was a governor at my son’s primary school in Monmouthshire, Cross Ash, as well as at his secondary school. It is so important, as we come to the end of term, to say thank you to all the governors, teachers and headteachers at all the schools in Monmouthshire. I think I am the first of the new Welsh MPs to make their maiden speech, so I hope I do our country proud. I want to give one more congratulation, to Eluned Morgan MS, who has just been announced as our new Welsh Labour leader—another strong woman leading us in the Labour party. I have the honour to represent the beautiful, glorious county of Monmouthshire, and I am its first ever woman MP. As former chief executive of the Women’s Equality Network Wales, where I campaigned to get more women into politics, I can finally boast that I am practising what I preached. I would like to pay tribute not to one predecessor or to two, but to three. David T. C. Davies, the former Monmouth constituency MP, served in four Parliaments. Despite our fundamental political differences, we have one thing in common: our children went to the same fabulous school, Monmouth comprehensive. I say diolch yn fawr iawn to David for his dedication to public service and to his constituents. With the redrawn boundaries, Monmouthshire has inherited parts of the Newport East constituency: Caldicot, Magor, Rogiet and Undy. That means that I owe a huge debt of thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) for her legacy of service to those communities, and for the exceptional generosity and support that she and her team have given me, both during the campaign and as I start my journey in this place. She is a brilliant MP, and if I become half the MP she is, I know I will be doing exceptionally well. Technically, I have a third predecessor, because Monmouthshire was a constituency many years ago, and its last MP was John Rolls, a local man who took his seat in 1880. My hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) mentioned Rolls-Royce earlier, and I will mention it too. Rolls was father not only to Charles Rolls of Rolls-Royce fame, but to Eleanor Shelley-Rolls, a founder of the Women’s Engineering Society, an early campaigner for the electrification of Britain, and founder, 100 years ago, of the Atlanta Company, an engineering business with a real difference—it only employed women. That combination of the technological cutting edge and socially progressive views still represents some of the best of Monmouthshire today. Monmouthshire, particularly the Magor technology corridor, is in many ways a 21st-century economy. We are also proud of our agricultural and farming traditions. Some 80% of the land in Monmouthshire is dedicated to farming, much of it carried out on small family farms. As a smallholder and a farmer’s daughter, I know the joys and the huge challenges of rural life, as well as the vital role played in food production and environmental stewardship by our skilled farming families. Monmouthshire is also a haven for tourists, home to the renowned Abergavenny food festival, the Wye valley national landscape, parts of the Bannau Brycheiniog national park, and the Offa’s Dyke long-distance path, not to mention our incredible historic border castles. I say to Members: please come and visit in the summer holidays. We have Raglan castle, Grosmont castle and many more. Monmouthshire has a proud history of fighting for democracy, as home to the Chartist movement of the 1830s. The Chartists made shocking and radical demands—how very dare they demand universal suffrage, secret ballots, salaries for MPs?—so that ordinary people, not just the super-rich, could enter Parliament. Those are now the pillars on which our democracy is based. The same spirit is alive and kicking in a constituency where, in 2024, I am proud to say turnout was 30% higher than the UK average. As a border county, Monmouthshire is instinctively a place of welcome. One of the early actions in 2022 of our incoming Labour-run county council, on which I have been proud to serve, was a formal application to become a county of sanctuary, welcoming and celebrating the contribution of refugees and asylum seekers. Perhaps it is not entirely a coincidence that many of our leaders in Monmouthshire are women, from our inspirational council leader—another female first—to the three women who bring such tenacity and passion to running our chambers of commerce in Monmouth, Chepstow and Abergavenny. Despite its great strengths, Monmouthshire is, I am sorry to say, one of the most unequal counties in Wales, with great wealth and great poverty existing side by side. As its MP, my first priority will be to support the Government’s drive for economic growth and keeping household bills down so that we reduce that inequality. Talking of the drive for equality, I am only here because of the incredible women who came before me and because of the support I have had from far too many individual women to mention. I must shout out about the work of mentoring programmes such as the Fabian Women’s Network mentoring programme, the Labour Women’s Network, and organisations such as Elect Her and 50:50 Parliament. It is thanks to them that we now have a House in which 40% of MPs are women. We still have a long way to get to 50% and true equality, so I pledge, as my second priority, to continue my work to ensure that we do get an equal Parliament. I will work with every single relevant Secretary of State and every parliamentarian across the House to ensure that we reduce all the inequalities that women face, from ending the gender pay gap, to halving violence against women and pushing forward the menopause mandate campaign. I will, of course, do all that I can to support Monmouthshire’s fantastic charities and community groups, from Cyfannol, a charity working to support those experiencing violence against women, to Reach Out, a group supporting those with addiction. As a keen environmentalist, I will do everything I can to ensure we champion our environment and our rivers, including the River Wye and the River Usk, which flow through our beautiful county. The people of Monmouthshire have made it clear that they expect me to work cross-border and cross-party, with all the regulators, campaigners and action groups, to bring our rivers back to full health. Monmouthshire is back on the Westminster map for the first time in a century and a half. My determination is to make sure that the legacy of this Government for Monmouthshire is a more equal, more prosperous and greener future.