Sarah Jones MP: speeches

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Speeches

31 Oct 2024 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman makes a really good point, and I would be happy to have a proper conversation with him about it. Marine renewables are a huge opportunity for us. We can build the supply chains across the country and, of course, Scotland is uniquely placed to take advantage of that. I would love to have a conversation about it.
31 Oct 2024 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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For a Government who do not get business, it is surprising, is it not, that we got £63 billion of investment through the international investment summit—twice what the previous Government managed after two years of planning it? The Government are working very closely with the automotive industry. We know that the global situation is very difficult and I talk to Mike Hawes very often, which is why we put £2 billion of funding into the Budget yesterday. It is also why we are working very closely with the sector to create the conditions we need to transition to electric vehicles and to protect our industry in a way that the previous Government, frankly, failed to do.
31 Oct 2024 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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I do not know whether the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) has been paying attention, but we are developing a steel strategy, which the previous Government failed to do, with £2.5 billion of funding. We put a boost of £2 billion into our car industry only yesterday in the Budget, alongside £1 billion for the automotive sector and money for life sciences. We are developing an industrial strategy for the long term for the first time and we will not follow the Conservative party, which let our industries suffer and get to the crisis point that we are now having to deal with.
31 Oct 2024 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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The difference between a Labour Government and a Conservative Government is that we believe that growth needs to be felt in our communities, not just measured on a spreadsheet. I know that my hon. Friend is working hard in his constituency and is already campaigning on issues such as banking services, which are so important for our rural communities. He is right: the industrial strategy needs to be designed and implemented in lockstep with local leaders, mayors and devolved leaders across the country, alongside our wider plans for housing and skills, which of course will be part of the picture. I look forward to working with him on identifying the barriers to growth in rural communities so that we can break them down.
31 Oct 2024 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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The challenge we have is that we have inherited the worst living standards growth during a Parliament in modern history. We have inherited huge challenges that we have to overcome, but we are looking to the long-term with our industrial strategy— [ Interruption. ]
31 Oct 2024 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source
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We have made significant progress in developing a new industrial strategy and I am delighted to report to the House that we published a Green Paper on 14 October, setting out our plans for a modern industrial strategy. We have set our sights higher than the previous Government, we have thrown off their ideological shackles and we have worked in partnership with business and our colleagues across the nations and regions to set us on a path to a credible 10-year plan, delivering the certainty, drive and ambition that businesses need to invest in the UK.
31 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source
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I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. I also agree with the former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, in his article yesterday. I quote: “Conservatives, like myself, should be honest” and “Reeves is cleaning up our mess”.
31 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source
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We held, as we have said, an international investment summit on 14 October, 100 days after we formed the new Government. We secured £63 billion of investment, which is twice the level of the previous Government’s investment summit. The investment will create high-quality, high-skilled, well-paid jobs across the country, and represents a huge vote of confidence in this new Government.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Yes, indeed. I can reassure my hon. Friend that, on this Front Bench, there are Members, including me, who do have private sector experience, and who have run businesses. Of course we have had very strong relationships with businesses, both in the run-up to the election and now, and we will continue to build on those strong relationships for the benefit of all the people across our country.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The Government have no plans to undertake any trials on a four-day week for five days of pay. It is for employers and employees to reach agreements that fit their specific circumstances, but we want to get the balance right and make sure that we work with employers and employees. That is why the Employment Rights Bill will support both parties to reach agreements, where they are feasible.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend often and regularly, as we do, to talk about these matters. Of course, the offshore wind supply chain is incredibly important. We have two big announcements to that end, which she mentioned, in relation to Orsted and Greenvolt, and there is much more that we can do through the industrial strategy to keep that area growing.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for the work that he is doing to represent his community. We are working extensively with all parties to find an outcome for Harland & Wolff that delivers shipbuilding and manufacturing in Belfast, Scotland and Appledore in Devon. I cannot comment further, as he says, due to commercial sensitivities, but we are working extensively with everyone to get the right deal.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I am glad that the hon. Gentleman asks what we are doing to engage with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, because I sit across that Department and the Department for Business and Trade. The entire point of my role is to make sure that we join up the two Departments, so that we can crack some of these problems. The grid is No. 1 on our list.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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In little more than 100 days in government, this Department and its Secretary of State, who is flying to Doha today, have set about delivering on the promises made in our manifesto. We have turned up the dial on growth and published our Green Paper on the modern industrial strategy, which will channel support to key sectors, work across our nations and regions with the private sector, and deliver the conditions for investment and good jobs. We have delivered a huge vote of confidence in the UK by securing £63 billion of investment at our international investment summit, boosted by investment ploughing into our aerospace, automotive and life sciences sectors, as announced in yesterday’s Budget. We have also kept our promises by publishing the Employment Rights Bill, which represents the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation. We are a pro-innovation, pro-worker and pro-wealth creation Government, and are investing all our time in growing the economy for the long term and turning round 14 years of failure.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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We will of course keep the House updated on the results of the investment summit, but the £63 billion, as I said earlier, was a massive show of confidence in this new Government.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman oversaw the worst Parliament for living standards in modern history. We did not choose that inheritance, and we have made choices. Would he rather we did not compensate for the infected blood scandal? Would he rather we did not compensate the Horizon victims, for whom there was no money in the Budget, on his watch? Would he rather we did not invest in the health service? Would he rather we did not increase the minimum wage? Would he rather we did not support carers? Would he rather we made the choices that he made, such as cutting national insurance for workers when there was no budget for that? This Government are fixing the foundations, so that we can have a bright future for all our country.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Yes, I will work with my hon. Friend. We are delighted with the £1 billion investment secured to transform the Shotton mill site. I think that a Labour Government in Westminster and a Labour Government in Wales can work together to deliver great things.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I will not take any lectures from the Opposition, who said “eff business”. Conservative Members have some cheek to come at us when we are clearing up the £22 billion black hole that we inherited, and setting in train stability. I spent quite a lot of yesterday, as the hon. Gentleman would expect, talking to and having meetings with businesses about the Budget and its implications. We talked about the potential for growth, long-term stability, and changes that this Labour Government are making.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I agree with my hon. Friend. It is essential that local communities see the benefits of landmark investments. I am pleased that Blackstone is investing £110 million in a fund to support local skills training and transport infrastructure. I am happy to have a conversation with my hon. Friend about what more can be done.
31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I admire the hon. Gentleman’s ability to shoehorn in a question on a subject that is not in the Department for Business and Trade’s remit, but we are of course happy to help with his endeavours to talk to Ministers in the Department for Transport.
17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source
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The hon. Member for Grantham and Bourne (Gareth Davies) was doing so well. [ Laughter. ] He was doing so well in the first half of his comments and then he returned to the same old tired lines that got the Conservatives defeated in the general election. I am so pleased to be closing this debate today, which in a parliamentary context draws to a close a hugely positive and successful week for the United Kingdom. I thank all hon. Members who contributed to the debate. I am disappointed that only one Conservative MP managed to make it here to speak in the Chamber and that nobody from the SNP managed to come. I am surprised that they are not here to welcome the week we have had so far. The Prime Minister made this Government’s guiding mission clear from day one: we will go for growth at every opportunity, and we are doing that in spades. A week ago today, we launched our landmark Employment Rights Bill to create more secure employment and a happier and more productive workforce. On Monday, we launched our industrial strategy Green Paper, something business has been crying out for, which lays strong foundations for 10 years of growth and investment in our most important sectors. Also on Monday, the Prime Minister hosted some of the world’s biggest investors to show them why, under this growth-driven Government, UK plc will be a blue-chip company that they should invest in. As was mentioned, Elton John was there to speak. I should tell the House that he took no fee—he took no fee. He wanted to come and celebrate with us the commitment of companies from across the world coming to the UK. Before I talk a bit more about the investment summit, I want to pay tribute to the Members who spoke today, in particular those who made their maiden speeches. As someone who wells up quite often and quite easily, this was a difficult debate for me. There were many moments when we looked up at the Gallery and saw parents and other family members wiping tears from their eyes. It was lovely to see. I loved the motto of my hon. Friend the Member for Ossett and Denby Dale (Jade Botterill). Working hard and talking straight is a great motto for this new Government. My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Mrs Russell) gave us a wonderful tale of her constituency and its people, including a slightly odd story, I have a say, about Beartown. [ Laughter. ] But there we go; that’s Congleton! My hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham and Bletchley (Callum Anderson) gave a great speech, telling us about the importance of Bletchley Park and its influence not just in world war two but on the technical age we are in today, and talking about the advanced manufacturing in his constituency. My hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Sean Woodcock) was a Labour Student. I do not know how many members of the Cabinet were Labour Students —I was not—but it is quite a good stomping ground for future Cabinet members. He paid wonderful homage to the people and the place of Banbury. Diolch to my hon. Friend the Member for Bangor Aberconwy (Claire Hughes) for an incredibly beautiful speech about her constituency, its proud industrial history, and the ingenuity and innovation that it still shows. My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale) spoke without notes and made a really impressive speech. The passion with which she wants to reignite pride in her town and in our country was very well understood. My hon. Friend the Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang), who has incredible experience, not least working at the Financial Times , talked about the life sciences in her constituency and how important they are. I look forward to meeting her next week to talk about that more. My hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan) also spoke without notes. He spoke lovely words about his predecessor, told a lovely story about the history and beauty of his constituency, and paid tribute to his constituents. Many of us have spent many happy days in Barry island—I certainly have. At the investment summit, £63 billion of investment was announced, more than double what was raised at the Opposition’s summit last year. Iberdrola doubled its wind energy investment in the UK from £12 billion to £24 billion; there was £10.5 billion from Orsted and Greenvolt, and more than £200 million from SeAH Wind. There was £8 billion for carbon capture, which will create 4,000 jobs and support 50,000; £2 billion from Octopus Energy and £1.3 billion from Macquarie for solar projects; £6 billion of new money for data centres, on top of the £10 billion recently committed by Blackstone and £8 billion from Amazon; £1 billion for DP World’s London Gateway, and £200 million for a new freight ferry terminal at the Port of Immingham; more than £300 million for Holtec’s advanced engineering plant in South Yorkshire; £500 million from BMW Group for battery energy storage; more than £2 billion for rail and air projects from Network Rail and Manchester Airports Group respectively; and £400 million for life sciences and healthcare innovation. Moreover, our fantastic Imperial College London will put £150 million into a new R&D campus. On top of these transformational investments, we have proved our credentials as a pro-business Government. Thanks to the Chancellor’s announcement that the UK Infrastructure Bank would be turned into the national wealth fund, we are catalysing tens of billions of pounds of private investment into the UK’s clean energy and growth industries, including green hydrogen, carbon capture and gigafactories. We are establishing an industrial strategy advisory council, led by Clare Barclay, to help deliver the pro-business environment on which our industrial strategy will depend. We are creating a British growth fund that will fuse pension investments and venture capital markets. We are expanding the Office for Investment to ensure that international investors receive the information and guidance they need to invest in Britain, and we are cutting red tape to remove redundant reporting requirements, while making it easier for companies to re-domicile themselves in the UK—and all this within 100 days of our taking office. From more rights for a more productive workforce, to a pioneering industrial strategy for our sectors of the future, to scores of investments worth tens of billions of pounds, this Government are delivering change. The last Government’s scattergun approach to growth left our country starved of investment, economically divided and struggling to maintain our competitive edge in the global economy. Growth was anaemic; wage growth flatlined on their watch. Productivity was down; the gap between France, Germany and the United States doubled since 2008. We saw the lowest investment share as a percentage of GDP in the G7, and we ranked 27th out of 30 in the OECD last year. That is on top of the state of the public finances that the Conservatives left us, with public services starved of investment, millions of days of work lost to strike action, and rocketing debt. However, in just 100 days this Government have already laid down the blueprint for 10 years of growth through our biggest and most innovative sectors; secured £63 billion in new investments that underline our potential as a world leader in renewable energy, life sciences, technology and clean growth; and brought forward a raft of reforms to create a happier, more secure and more productive workforce.
17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source
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The shadow Minister knows that we are working very closely with businesses, business organisations and others to ensure that the changes we bring in grow our economy. We have huge confidence from a raft of people. For every quote the hon. Gentleman can find, I can find 10 that say the opposite. He can pick on one if he wants to, but I suggest that £63 billion does not lie. Let us not forget that our summit on Monday was organised in a matter of weeks. The Conservative party had two years between their investment summits, yet we secured double the amount of investment compared with its summit last year. To respond to a couple of other points, the Lib Dem spokesperson, the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper), rightly mentioned business rates. We are looking at that and will deliver on the commitments in our manifesto. She was right to raise skills, which are a huge challenge for us. We see huge opportunities for growth across the entire country but we must ensure that we have the skills landscape, which is why we are setting up Skills England. She also talked about the national wealth fund and its ability to crowd in funding for the green sector and green technologies; it absolutely will do that. To summarise, across the House we are united in the belief that Britain needs to facilitate growth. Let us face it, we have been severely starved of it. Only through growth can we keep taxes lower for working people, invest in our public services and create secure, well-paid, high-skilled jobs. Of course, this is against a backdrop of the poor economic inheritance left by the Conservative party, who lurched repeatedly from Prime Minister to Prime Minister, gave us seven growth plans in 14 years, made millions of people pay the price of a Trussonomics Budget and saddled the people of Britain with a low-growth, low-productivity, low-investment economy. The steps that this Labour Government have taken in just 100 days show that we are overturning the Conservatives’ legacy of inaction, stagnation and deterioration, and creating a country of stability, innovation and prosperity. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the International Investment Summit.
17 Oct 2024 · International Investment Summit · Hansard source
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I am always happy to meet and to talk about what more we can do in our next 100 days, and indeed—we hope—our next five to 10 years in government. Some Conservative Members have questioned whether some of these investments were teed up under the last Government. They know perfectly well that business confidence can rapidly change investment decisions. All the announcements included are of new, firm commitments being made by companies to invest in the UK either when final investment decisions have been taken or when announcements have been accelerated or unlocked because of actions taken and support provided by this Government. I am sure that Conservative Members will have seen the letter, published in The Times at the start of the week, from five of the world’s biggest banks, joined by private equity firms, insurers and tech giants, saying that it was “time to invest in Britain”, and that Britain’s “greater stability” had increased its attractiveness to investment, which was of course a reference to Labour’s decisions when we took office. They concluded: “We are optimistic about the future of the economy, and believe it is time to invest in Britain.” The fact that scores of investors attended our summit on Monday, with tens of billions of pounds being firmly committed to new projects, shows that under this Labour Government, business and investors have a great deal of confidence in our growth mission.
16 Oct 2024 · Steel Industry · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman will understand that I am not in a position to define what commercial companies do. While we are trying to do what we can, I cannot do anything other than say that we are working incredibly hard with the owners to ensure that we get to a point that we want to get to. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned Harland and Wolff, and the same situation is true there. We are working hard to understand the situation and we are hoping for a resolution relatively soon.
16 Oct 2024 · Steel Industry · Hansard source
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indicated dissent.

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