Sarah Olney MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Nov 2025 · Draft Trade Act 2021 (Power to Implement International Trade Agreements) (Extension to Expiry) Regulations 2025 · Hansard source

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  I will ask this question in the brightest way I possibly can. The Minister referenced CRaG, which was passed in 2010. Does he still think that that is a sufficient level of scrutiny, given that we are now outside the EU and in a different trading environment to the one that we were in when those provisions were made?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker: what action are they going to take? While the last Government did so much damage to our high street businesses, the Labour Government’s national insurance jobs tax has only made things harder for them and for the workers. The Liberal Democrats have voted against the change to employer national insurance contributions at every opportunity, and I once again urge the Government to scrap these measures. The changes to employer national insurance contributions announced in the last autumn Budget are an unfair and deeply damaging tax measure that is hitting small businesses of all kinds—social care providers, GPs—and the lack of sector consultation and business foresight prior to the changes has been hugely damaging to business confidence. The Government’s handling of the Employment Rights Bill seems to have only compounded that uncertainty. So much of the detail that was expected in the Bill has been left to secondary legislation or future consultation, making it impossible for businesses to plan ahead with certainty. The lack of clarity on probation periods risks piling undue worry on to business managers who are struggling to find the right skills in the first place, for which many of my colleagues have provided evidence.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  The current landscape is extremely challenging for high street businesses. I am sure that Members across the House have heard from countless local businesses in their constituencies, on their high streets and in the hearts of their communities about the challenges they face—from the Government’s national insurance increase to sky-high energy bills and uncertainty about what the Employment Rights Bill means for them. I wish to contextualise the motion and the challenges of the business landscape after years of dire economic mismanagement by the last Conservative Government. On their watch, energy costs soared and economic chaos unfolded following their mini-Budget. Business confidence fell, in part because of the scrapping of the industrial strategy and the huge increases in trade barriers following their botched trade agreement with the EU.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I am very grateful to take advice from the right hon. Gentleman as to what I should and should not include in my speech. What I would say is that it is always targeted pots of money for individual places, but we have always advocated for a much more wide-ranging set of policies that would support all high streets wherever they are in the country. The Government must take bold action to boost our economy. We urge Ministers to scrap the national insurance jobs tax and act with far more urgency on implementing the industrial strategy, cutting energy bills and strengthening our workforce. We call for bolder, more ambitious and fairer measures to replace business rates with a fair new system that can boost high streets and town centres, and we call on the Government to negotiate a new customs union with the EU, which would cut red tape for small businesses and supercharge our economy as a whole.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  By breaking the link between gas and energy, electricity does not need to be sold at the same rate as wholesale gas. We are advocating for a change to the way the market operates. That deserves serious consideration, because currently the current market and the current way it is managed is resulting in enormous energy bills for both businesses and households. Our party also agrees that more must be done to tackle retail crime. Shoplifting not only causes shops to lose out on sales, with the costs then passed on to paying customers; it also means that staff members—often young people—are met with the possible threat of violence. Shoplifting has risen by a staggering 48% in England and Wales over the past five years, and by an even more horrifying 104% in London. Every time I meet the owner of a local store, I am told that shoplifting has become effectively decriminalised, as thieves do not feel the threat of reprisal. And then there is the impact on prices. The Government talk about bringing down inflation. One measure that can be taken to reduce the cost of everyday goods is to tackle the rise in shoplifting. It is incredibly frustrating to me that the Government have not connected the dots between an increased fear of crime and the stripping back of our police forces’ ability to do their jobs. As is so often the case, shop owners are told by the police that it is not a cost-effective use of their resources to follow up on relatively minor thefts. However, to every local business and paying customer, it is. I urge the Government to recognise the detrimental impact that shoplifting is having in our society, and to take this issue seriously. The Liberal Democrats acknowledge that the Government inherited a dire economic landscape from the Conservative party. However, 18 months in, I do not believe that businesses feel that life has been made easier for them. Small businesses are struggling with the cost of doing business. They are finding it hard to plan around parts of the Employment Rights Bill, and they are struggling under the burden of sky-high energy bills and the employer national insurance contributions rise.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is not just one thing or two things, but a whole range of different costs are being loaded on to businesses one after the other, all at the same time and during a time when the economy is very sluggish and growth is extremely difficult.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. There are many parts of the Employment Rights Bill that we are happy to support. However, there are some bits—

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend represents his constituents and their businesses in North Norfolk so admirably. He is absolutely right about skills, which neither Conservative nor Labour Members have yet mentioned, but which are fundamental to powering the growth we really need in our economy. Providing the support that our high streets need should not and cannot be done by cutting public expenditure, as the Conservative motion calls for, but by taking bold action: implementing the industrial strategy with more urgency, addressing the workforce crisis and negotiating a new bespoke UK-EU customs union to grow our economy. In 2019, the previous Conservative Government made a manifesto pledge to fundamentally review the business rates system, and the Liberal Democrats agree that we need a fundamental overhaul of this broken system. However, throughout their tenure, they failed to keep that promise to businesses and local communities, so we will continue to call on this Government to reimagine business rates, and not just by tinkering around the edges and putting in place sticking-plaster solutions.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are talking about high streets, but there is a much wider issue across the entire economy about the workforce. If we can get solutions to work for some of these things, they will have a knock-on impact, and many more sectors will see a boost to their economic prospects. On business rates, which so many of my hon. Friends have raised, the current Government pledged in their manifesto to replace the business rates system, but still no meaningful action has been taken. As we are nearly 18 months into this Government, I wish to ask if they plan to keep their word on that commitment.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend’s local high street in Camberley is very close to my heart, because my first job was in WH Smith there some years ago now. He is absolutely right about business rates, and I repeat my question to the Government: please, what action are you going to be taking on business rates?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  The Liberal Democrat plan aims to halve energy bills within the decade by scrapping the link between gas and electricity prices. We have a positive plan to make a real difference to energy prices for households and businesses. I wonder whether the Conservatives have really learned the lesson from their time in government. I listened with interest when my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) asked the shadow Business Secretary, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), about how their plans for business rate cuts would impact on local government finances, and he had nothing to say. To me, that is an indicator that the Conservatives have not yet learned the lessons of the mini-Budget, and that they plan to repeat all those errors again if they ever get back into government. However, many of the challenges that businesses face are being compounded by decisions taken by this Government, from their damaging national insurance rise to continued uncertainty about Ministers’ approach to the Employment Rights Bill. The economy is practically stagnant, with business confidence down and unemployment up. The Government must act more urgently to support our high streets, which are vital to our local economies and provide the jobs that so many rely on.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Businesses all across the country, including in my own constituency of Richmond Park, have reported similar massive increases in their business rates bills, and the Government urgently need to get to grips with that.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  I am, of course, delighted that we are making some small progress towards a better relationship with Europe—I welcome that wholeheartedly. However, we could go a lot further. The Liberal Democrats have been pushing for a UK-EU customs union, which would unlock many, many more benefits, but the Labour Government are very reticent. I welcome some of the noises from both the Treasury Bench and many Labour Back Benchers. I find it astonishing the number of Labour MPs I have encountered over the past couple of weeks who are suddenly desperate to tell me how very pro-European they have always been. I am very pleased to hear that, but I would say that I have not always heard that from the Labour Benches. But all progress in this area is welcome.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  There are, dare I say, perhaps some bits missing, which mean it does not add up and we can’t put it all together—I don’t know where I am going with that, sorry! [ Laughter. ] The training, hiring and retaining of a skilled workforce are issues affecting businesses across the country. The apprenticeship levy does not work and many businesses cannot get the funding they need to train staff, while hundreds of millions in funding goes unspent. The Liberal Democrats have been calling for the apprenticeship levy to be replaced with a wider skills and training levy, which would give businesses flexibility over how they spend their money to train their staff. We therefore welcome the Government’s intention to reform the levy and refocus it towards growth and skills, but we need faster progress and Skills England made into a properly independent body, with employers at its heart. However, we have concerns about moving funding away from level 7 apprenticeships, as we know this initiative increases social mobility. I will continue to ask the Minister if they will accelerate the announcement of the details of the new scheme, outlining exactly what training will be eligible so that businesses can plan with certainty and develop the workforce we need. Perhaps the most obvious issue that has impacted our high streets over recent years is the last Government’s botched Brexit trade deal. Many business owners have highlighted the reams of red tape and trading forms that they must navigate to import goods from Europe or export them to the continent. This is valuable time taken away from the productive tasks involved in running a business, and Government policy has simply made life for managers far more difficult. Meanwhile, unemployment has gone up and a range of sectors are facing acute labour shortages, as my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) has highlighted on many occasions in this place. Many high vacancies are concentrated in high street sectors such as hospitality, retail, the arts and entertainment. Those are exactly the kinds of industries that young people visiting the UK for a few years might wish to work in. A youth mobility scheme would offer British businesses a real opportunity to address staffing shortages by welcoming young people from EU countries for a limited period, bringing fresh talent and energy to our workforce. I ask the Government to set out a timeline for when their announced youth experience scheme will be introduced. However, the Liberal Democrats welcome the motion’s call to increase support for high business energy bills. I urge the Government to act with more urgency in addressing energy costs for businesses, including by accelerating the launch of the industrial competitiveness scheme, the consultation for which is not even due to be launched until the end of the year. The Liberal Democrats will continue to push the Government to look closely at our proposals to break the link between gas and electricity prices, halving household bills within a decade and significantly cutting business energy costs over the same period.

• 3 Nov 2025 · Draft Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025 · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. Thank you for allowing me to respond on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. We have long been calling for a ban on supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic, and we are extremely pleased to see this legislation introduced. We have always been incredibly concerned about the environmental harm caused by single-use wet wipes, which block our sewage network and pollute our waterways with microplastics. I add my voice to the tributes to my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Putney, for her incredibly hard work over the past four years. She highlighted a particular issue in my constituency: the wet wipe island next to Hammersmith bridge. An estimated 5 million wet wipes have built up on the riverbed; I pay tribute to the selfless volunteers from my constituency who have dedicated their time to helping to clear that appalling build-up, and to the Port of London authority for taking action to remove 180 tonnes of congealed wet wipes. As the hon. Lady mentioned, the build-up changed the course of the River Thames and potentially harmed aquatic wildlife and ecology in the area. The hon. Lady asked whether anyone had seen a fatberg. One of the UK’s largest fatbergs was excavated from under Kingston hill in my constituency about 10 years ago, so yes, I have seen one up close. I put it on record, by the way, that despite having wet wipe island and the UK’s largest fatberg, my constituency is still one of the most beautiful in London—indeed, in the country—and will remain so, thanks to this statutory instrument. I am extremely pleased to support the draft regulations, but I call on the Government to do more to tackle microplastic pollution in our waterways and improve labelling to ensure that single-use wet wipes are clearly marked “Do not flush”, as so many hon. Members this evening have highlighted.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In July, a Treasury Minister agreed to meet me about the closure of the Lending Standards Board ahead of the launch of the ethnicity code. This meeting was scheduled to take place in September, but was cancelled due to the Government reshuffle. Despite an initial indication that this meeting would be rescheduled, I have had no recent response to requests from my office for a date and a time. Given that the Lending Standards Board is due to close tomorrow, I wish to ask for your advice about what further steps I can take to ask the Government to engage with me on the ethnicity code.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  I also welcome the ministerial Front Benchers to their new roles. The Liberal Democrats have long championed an industrial strategy. In government, we created the Green Investment Bank, the British Business Bank and the regional growth fund, and we opposed the Conservative Government’s damaging decision to scrap the industrial plan. We welcome the industrial strategy’s return, especially its focus on investing in skills. However, businesses know that the apprenticeship levy does not work: funding is hard to access and millions go unspent. We welcomed the pledge in June to replace it with a more flexible growth and skills levy, but firms and young people are still awaiting details. Will the Minister provide details of what training this will fund, so that businesses and young people can plan ahead with certainty?

• 30 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Businesses across the country are struggling with unaffordable energy costs. The burden of this Government’s national insurance contributions rise and uncertainty over the Employment Rights Bill are compounded by the immense struggle caused by sky-high energy bills. I urge the Government to act with more urgency in addressing energy costs for businesses, including through accelerating the launch of the industrial competitiveness scheme, the consultation for which is not even due to be launched until the end of the year. What discussions has the Minister had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to cut operating costs for businesses, and will the Government consider Liberal Democrat proposals to break the link between gas and energy prices, halving bills within a decade and easing pressures?

• 27 Oct 2025 · Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay · Hansard source

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  It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) and the Petitions Committee for this debate. As a survivor of three maternity leaves—all on statutory pay—a c-section and a spell in the neonatal unit, all the topics that have been raised are very close to my heart. I thank each and every hon. Member for their contributions and for representing their constituents so well. This summer, the Government announced that they would undertake a parental leave and pay review, expecting it to conclude in 18 months’ time. The Liberal Democrats welcome the Government’s commitment to that much-needed review of parental leave. Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the opportunity to flourish, no matter their background or personal circumstances. Too often, parents struggle on inadequate parental pay and without good enough access to shared leave. Childcare costs are eyewatering, and balance between family life and work has only become harder and harder to achieve. Not only is that unfair on families, but it weighs down our economy. The Liberal Democrats have called for an overhaul of the parental leave system to give parents a genuine choice over how to manage their affairs in the first months of their child’s life. The Liberal Democrats were proud to introduce shared parental leave when in government. Years later, however, millions of parents are still being denied the choice to spend more time at home, with about a quarter of fathers ineligible for paternity pay. Meanwhile, the Government are introducing wide-ranging changes to employment law through the Employment Rights Bill. The Bill will introduce a suite of new protections and entitlements for working families, including enhanced rights on leave, protection from dismissal and bereavement support. Eligibility for paternity leave and unpaid parental leave requires employees to have a minimum length of service in order to qualify, but from April 2026 the qualifying service requirements will be removed. That means that paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will become entitlements from the first day of employment, as the Liberal Democrats called for in our 2024 general election manifesto.

• 27 Oct 2025 · Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. The Liberal Democrats support measures that work to strengthen employment rights. We welcome aspects of the Employment Rights Bill, such as boosting statutory sick pay, strengthening support for whistleblowers and increasing support for carers, all of which move us in the right direction. However, we remain concerned about the specific way in which many of the measures are to be implemented. We must ensure that the legislation strikes the right balance for employees and for business, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. I have spoken with businesses in my constituency that tell me that they are being left in limbo by the vague framing of the Bill, which leaves crucial detail to secondary legislation and Government reviews. That prevents long-term planning, and I am disappointed that the Government did not support the Liberal Democrat amendments, which would have created more certainty for businesses. New measures to support workers must go hand in hand with much-needed reforms to support our small businesses and bring down their costs. We know that the Government inherited a mess. We know that the cause of the mess is the legacy of reckless economic mismanagement by the previous Government, whose record is a dispiriting picture of low growth, high interest rates and a record fall in living standards. But it is disappointing that the current Government have taken decisions that have compounded many of the challenges for communities, businesses and families, while presiding over very tight public finances and a stagnant economy. That is why we urge the Government to put in place a range of measures that will bring down business costs, unleash the power of our SMEs and power economic growth—measures such as scrapping the unfair national insurance rise, fixing the broken business rates system, bringing down the cost of energy by decoupling electricity and gas prices, and finally repairing the economic damage caused by the previous Government’s shambolic Brexit deal by cutting red tape and negotiating a new bespoke UK-EU customs union. Those actions could breathe new life into our economy and our small businesses and would go a long way towards facilitating improvements to parental leave and pay. In our 2024 general election manifesto, we called for statutory maternity and shared parental pay to rise to £350 a week, for paternity pay to increase to 90% of earnings with a cap for high earners, and for the introduction of an extra “use it or lose it” month for fathers and partners, paid at 90% of earnings, again with a cap for high earners. Those policies would benefit not only families, but businesses and the economy, by encouraging workforce participation and making it easier for people to advance their career while starting a family. We hope that the Government will look closely at those proposals, while introducing a robust plan to cut business costs, boost growth and empower our SMEs. More broadly, I urge them to look into the prevalent inequality in caring responsibility. What steps are they taking to support millions of family and kinship carers who have no paid leave at all? Will they commission a similar review into provision for unpaid carers and make carer’s leave paid?

• 22 Oct 2025 · Heathrow: National Airports Review · Hansard source

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  The DFT’s own updated appraisal report shows that the economic benefits of a third runway are either exaggerated or misguided. The Labour Government are yet to produce their economic analysis. Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport Ltd is in more than £15 billion-worth of debt and its own proposal has increased in cost by 50% since 2016. What makes the Secretary of State so confident that private financing will be found not just for the proposals on the table, but for all the surface transport upgrades that will be required?

• 21 Oct 2025 · Co-operative Sector: Government Support · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) for his work in securing this important debate. It has been a real pleasure to hear contributions from all the Labour and Co-operative party Members this afternoon. The current economic landscape is challenging for our businesses and industries. Years of dire economic mismanagement by the last Conservative Government have led to businesses, including co-operatives, facing huge challenges, ranging from recruiting and retaining staff to soaring energy costs. Those issues have been exacerbated by the increase in trading obstacles following the last Government’s botched trade agreement with the EU. However, many of those challenges are now being compounded by decisions taken by this Government. Co-operatives are owned by and run for the benefit of their members. As the Liberal Democrats have always believed in empowering individuals to engage in decisions that impact their lives, we are supportive of the co-operative sector, credit unions and non-profit financial institutions owned by their members. The co-operative sector is made up of more than 10,000 enterprises across every sector and region, from local community pubs and credit unions to building societies, mutual insurers and retail societies. Together, they represent one of the most resilient and values-driven parts of the UK economy, rooted in communities and owned by their members. The Liberal Democrats believe that employee participation in the workplace, together with wider employee ownership, is important for diffusing economic power, promoting enterprise, increasing job satisfaction and improving service to customers. Co-operative enterprises offer considerable potential for member and employee involvement and are an important part of a modern mixed economy. In the recent “Backing your Business” plan, published in July 2025, the Government committed to growing the co-operative and mutual sector over this Parliament, and launched a call for evidence on how we can support the sector and its businesses to grow. The Liberal Democrats support that ambition, but will the Government be more decisive in their support by acting on some of the recommendations of Co-operatives UK, such as on access to finance, which would expand the possibility for many of these organisations to scale up. Co-operatives often struggle to raise capital because, by virtue of being member-run organisations, they are more limited than companies in issuing shares that are attractive to external investors. Often, co-operative enterprises provide fairer workplaces; they are four times as likely to be living wage employers, and women lead nearly a quarter of the UK’s top 100 co-operatives—more than twice the proportion in the FTSE 100. Meanwhile, although women earn 12% less on average than men across the UK economy, that figure is reduced to 7.5% within co-operatives. Community-owned pubs are also on the up, with a 51% increase over the last five years, and a 13% increase in the last year alone. However, training, hiring and retaining a skilled workforce are issues that affect businesses of all kinds across the country. The Liberal Democrats therefore welcomed the industrial strategy this summer and the commitment to an increase in skills and training. The apprenticeship levy does not work, and many businesses cannot get the funding they need to train staff, with hundreds of millions of pounds of funding going unspent. The Liberal Democrats have been calling for the apprenticeship levy to be replaced with a wider skills and training levy, which would give businesses flexibility over how they spend the money to train their staff. We therefore welcome the intention to reform the levy and replace it with a broader growth and skills levy, but we have concerns about moving funding away from level 7 apprenticeships, which we know increase social mobility.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Co-operative Sector: Government Support · Hansard source

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  That is really good to hear, as it is a good example of how the co-operative movement promotes innovation, particularly in promoting wider social participation. However, the fact that we have to have innovative schemes driven by the co-operative sector points to the challenges that so many people find in using the apprenticeship levy. The Liberal Democrats would like to see a much broader range of potential uses for the apprenticeship levy, which would benefit the co-operative sector as well as the rest of the economy. More broadly, co-operatives, like many other kinds of business across the country, are struggling under decisions made by the Government, such as the increase in national insurance contributions imposed at the last Budget. Small businesses in particular have been left struggling under the heavy burden of this jobs tax. The Government must take steps to support those businesses, which are at the centre of communities and local economies. Thousands of local businesses, including many in the co-operative sector, which often provide community services, are feeling the damaging impact of the national insurance increase and many other changes. That is why I and all my Liberal Democrat colleagues have repeatedly called on the Government to reverse the employer NICs increase and will continue to campaign for them to scrap that damaging policy. We also call on the Government to introduce vital reform to the business rates system. In 2019, the Conservative Government promised a fundamental review of business rates, but they failed to deliver it. Labour pledged in its manifesto to replace the system, but still no action has been taken. A year into Labour’s time in the power, will the Minister say whether the Government plan to keep their word on that commitment? Critically, as we look at measures that will boost growth, the Liberal Democrats will continue to be proud advocates for a closer relationship with Europe. Liberal Democrats want to see a bespoke UK-EU customs union to reduce red tape and allow all businesses the freedom to grow without heavy regulation and huge export costs. The co-operative sector generates a combined annual income of £42.7 billion. Its significant contribution to the economy and defiance of current business trends highlights its resilience and stability in a challenging economic landscape. In 2025 there are 7,400 co-operatives in the UK, with 16.6 million memberships, employing around 240,000 people. I am glad that in my constituency of Richmond Park, co-operative enterprises exist not only for the services that they provide, but as community spaces to bring people together. I thank the hon. Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton for securing the debate and hope the Government will go further in supporting the co-operative sector.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. People across the UK are suffering in silence with gambling addictions. The proliferation of online betting has only added to the issue, as people are able to wager more money than they can afford with just a click on their phone screen. Will the Minister speak to her colleague the Chancellor in advance of the upcoming Budget to support the Liberal Democrats’ call for a double gambling tax, which would not only raise millions of pounds but disincentivise harmful gambling?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill · Hansard source

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  New clause 2, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover), would require the Government to publish a report within six months of securing the supply of bioethanol for sustainable aviation fuel production. The Government have repeatedly cited the increased use of SAF as the answer to questions about how the UK will meet our net zero targets while expanding multiple airports in London. It was wishful thinking nine months ago, but that argument has now dissolved almost into impossibility. Not only did the summer proposal submitted by Heathrow Airport Holdings for a third runway include a request to add nearly 300,000 flights to our airspace each year, but the concerns regarding the production of SAF have become more prominent. That concern has grown following China’s implementation of its own SAF mandate, which will result in it using more of its production domestically. That will undoubtedly cause a challenge for the UK given that over 90% of our current SAF is imported from China. The challenges to the UK’s ability to produce and import SAF were underscored by the Climate Change Committee’s recent report, which estimated that only 17% of the UK’s aviation industry will be using SAF by 2040. That is 5% lower than the Government’s own mandated targets, and 8% below the EU’s target. The estimate does not even take into account the additional flights that would come in and out of the UK as a result of the proposed airport expansions. In fact, in 2024 only 10% of bioethanol certified as renewable and consumed in the UK was produced domestically. That was down from 17% in 2023 and 15% in 2022—a concerning trend and one that the Government must report back on. In addition, the UK-US trade deal presents a threat to the UK’s domestic bioethanol production, as the agreement removed tariffs on US ethanol and replaced it with a zero-tariff quota of 1.4 billion litres. The US bioethanol industry is heavily subsidised and its companies will be able to undercut UK bioethanol industries. Vivergo Fuels’ plant in Hull, which had the largest capacity of any UK bioethanol producer, has already closed, with the managing director citing the US-UK trade deal as a significant factor that contributed to the site’s closure.