15/12/2015

:00:08. > :00:14.Hello and welcome to BBC Parliament and live coverage from the House of

:00:15. > :00:18.Parliament. -- House of Commons. There are two debates today tabled

:00:19. > :00:23.by the Labour Party. One is on climate change and flooding and the

:00:24. > :00:30.other will focus on the Government's record on housing. I will be here at

:00:31. > :00:34.11pm this evening. First we have questions for the Secretary of State

:00:35. > :00:37.for Business, Innovation and Skills. The first question is from the

:00:38. > :00:54.Lincoln MP. Order, order. Questions to the

:00:55. > :01:04.Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Good morning.

:01:05. > :01:11.Mr Speaker, I am sure the House will want to join me in sending best

:01:12. > :01:15.wishes to Tim Peake who has blasted towards space only 20 minutes ago.

:01:16. > :01:19.We are reforming technical education and making clear written to

:01:20. > :01:24.education and employment. We are spending ?2.5 billion on

:01:25. > :01:31.apprenticeships and ?1.5 billion on adult skills. We are establishing

:01:32. > :01:39.specialist colleges. I would like to join the Secretary of State. There

:01:40. > :01:43.are a pulled or of opportunities. Does the Minister agree that

:01:44. > :01:49.prioritising funding for young adults is the right thing to do for

:01:50. > :01:55.a Conservative Government? I absolutely agree and I know that he

:01:56. > :02:02.cares passionately about skills for young adults. We have prioritised

:02:03. > :02:06.spending in further education in the recent spending review and this will

:02:07. > :02:14.allow colleges, like Lincoln College, to offer more to young

:02:15. > :02:22.people. Further education colleges are vital in engineering and

:02:23. > :02:26.construction apprenticeships, where there is a shortage of skills across

:02:27. > :02:29.the country. What assessment he has the Minister made in the cuts in

:02:30. > :02:36.funding to further education colleges in delivering these much

:02:37. > :02:40.needed agendas. I'm surprised he's talking about cuts in further

:02:41. > :02:45.education spending. I know the party opposite was care among about that,

:02:46. > :02:47.but we have protected the adult education budget and we are doubling

:02:48. > :02:54.spending on apprenticeships and we have extended the availability of

:02:55. > :02:58.loans. This taken together will mean that by 2020 there will be an

:02:59. > :03:07.increase in further education spending 35% could better this year.

:03:08. > :03:09.I welcome the removal of the cap on university places, but what

:03:10. > :03:14.assessment has been made of the effect of the removal of that cap on

:03:15. > :03:21.further education colleges, such as the one in my constituency, as they

:03:22. > :03:28.are fishing from the same pool in terms of apprenticeships? I welcome

:03:29. > :03:35.the question from my right honourable friend. There is an

:03:36. > :03:40.increase in that and that's the kind of diversity and grow the B want to

:03:41. > :03:46.see. It is smoke and mirrors with the Secretary of State because he

:03:47. > :03:51.knows the Chancellor has announced an extra ?360 million of savings to

:03:52. > :03:54.the adult skills budget. Will he come to the dispatch box and come

:03:55. > :04:02.clean and tell us where the cuts will be made? I can tell the

:04:03. > :04:05.Honourable Gentleman that there will be a skills funding letter issued by

:04:06. > :04:11.my department that will answer some of the questions that he raises, but

:04:12. > :04:16.he misses the point I made a moment ago. The adult education budget is

:04:17. > :04:20.protected, we are doubling the spending on apprenticeships, and the

:04:21. > :04:28.further education budget will be up by the end of this Parliament in

:04:29. > :04:33.real terms. Mr Speaker, the Met office plays a key role in our

:04:34. > :04:39.economy. The public weather service assessed that as delivering up to

:04:40. > :04:42.?1.5 billion of annual value. I am a shareholder and I hope them to

:04:43. > :04:49.account to ensure that they deliver value for money for the taxpayer.

:04:50. > :04:55.The BBC reported in 2012 that in 11 of the previous 12 years predictions

:04:56. > :05:00.about increases in temperature had been wrong and there had been a warm

:05:01. > :05:04.bias. Should the Minister be asking some tough questions at the next

:05:05. > :05:07.board meeting as to why we should be imposed on climate change policies

:05:08. > :05:12.on businesses and householders when the predictions behind them often

:05:13. > :05:20.prove to be an accurate? I like to ask difficult questions. In my

:05:21. > :05:26.honourable friend own constituency the Met office plays a key role in

:05:27. > :05:35.protecting property and lace. We should commend them and the work

:05:36. > :05:40.that they do. Question number three. I cheer the exporter implementation

:05:41. > :05:47.task force which is driving support for exports. In November, we

:05:48. > :05:53.launched a five-year exporting is great campaign which promotes global

:05:54. > :05:58.export opportunities to business. In November I hosted an event in my

:05:59. > :06:01.constituency with the China -Britain business Council. I asked more

:06:02. > :06:05.businesses to come to find out more with trading with China. It is

:06:06. > :06:14.helping to organise 50 people organise similar events. How will

:06:15. > :06:20.the Minister help small businesses expand into these markets? Can I

:06:21. > :06:24.commend my honourable friend on her efforts to encourage businesses in

:06:25. > :06:30.her constituency to export more to China. While exports to China have

:06:31. > :06:33.doubles, there is a lot more potential. The recent visit by the

:06:34. > :06:38.Chinese president helped to highlight that and the effort that

:06:39. > :06:47.she is making is an example to us all. What steps has the Secretary of

:06:48. > :06:55.State taken since the steel summits to increase trade opportunities for

:06:56. > :06:59.the UK's steel industry? He makes an important point, the more that we

:07:00. > :07:03.can exports of the higher value steel products, the more we can

:07:04. > :07:08.help. We have been discussing this with steel producers and we are

:07:09. > :07:13.coming up with a plan. They will feature in our trade meetings that

:07:14. > :07:18.we have in due course. Next month I will be hosting an event to

:07:19. > :07:24.encourage more local businesses to consider exporting. Can my right

:07:25. > :07:29.honourable friend outline what the Government is doing to encourage new

:07:30. > :07:35.businesses to export? I can talk of a number of initiatives. There is a

:07:36. > :07:48.website, a road show that will be visiting constituencies, the work

:07:49. > :07:58.that UK TIA are doing -- UKTI. There will also be a Midlands would show.

:07:59. > :08:03.As part of the work of the exporter implementation group, will the

:08:04. > :08:09.Secretary of State explore all options to access new markets for

:08:10. > :08:15.all of our farm produce. Particularly in North America and

:08:16. > :08:22.Southeast Asia. Absolutely. The honourable lady makes a good point.

:08:23. > :08:27.This has been taken very seriously. One thing we have done recently is

:08:28. > :08:30.to move some of the UKTI resources into the Secretary of State

:08:31. > :08:37.department so there is better coordination. I was talking to a

:08:38. > :08:41.senior Indian businessmen and asked him how we could increase trade with

:08:42. > :08:47.India. He said there one thing we could do is leave the European

:08:48. > :08:53.Union. With the Secretary of State, either as Secretary of State or

:08:54. > :09:00.personally, endorse these comments? Last week I was speaking to a lot of

:09:01. > :09:03.Indian businessmen and women and a lot of Indian students and there is

:09:04. > :09:10.one area that we can certainly increase our exports to India and an

:09:11. > :09:17.active education. -- increase our exports to India and that is in

:09:18. > :09:25.education. The trade deficit is widening. Exports of goods, perhaps

:09:26. > :09:33.he should listen to this, exports of goods from the UK actually fell last

:09:34. > :09:37.month by ?700 million. It is a pity we cannot exports spin as the

:09:38. > :09:42.Government is very good at that. What is his excuse for the

:09:43. > :09:50.Government's dismal record on the trade deficit? The Honourable

:09:51. > :09:56.Gentleman shouldn't do down our world-class exporters as they are

:09:57. > :10:03.doing a fantastic job. They can exports wine to France, chocolate to

:10:04. > :10:11.Belgium, boomerang is to stay earlier. I fear this is the same

:10:12. > :10:18.boomerang that keeps coming back. Question number four, Mr Speaker. Mr

:10:19. > :10:21.Speaker, we have given employers control over apprenticeships

:10:22. > :10:25.standards and we require them all to last 12 months and involve

:10:26. > :10:28.substantial of the job training. We will be setting up an independent

:10:29. > :10:35.employer led Institute to improve standards and ensure quality in the

:10:36. > :10:40.future. I thank the Minister for his response and I welcome the fact

:10:41. > :10:43.there have been almost 1100 apprenticeships starting in the last

:10:44. > :10:47.12 months and my constituency, but I know there are concerns from

:10:48. > :10:50.business that there may be a focus on quantity and not quality. What

:10:51. > :11:00.assurances can the Minister gave that that will not be the case.

:11:01. > :11:04.There is no tension between quality and quantity. We want better quality

:11:05. > :11:10.because they're more employers will offer apprenticeships, like BMW, and

:11:11. > :11:17.I welcome the high-quality apprenticeships that they are

:11:18. > :11:22.creating. The Minister will know that Ofsted have said

:11:23. > :11:26.apprenticeships are not good enough. A lot of people in industry believe

:11:27. > :11:30.that the only way the 3 million target will be hit will be by

:11:31. > :11:37.reducing quality further. What reassurance can he provide?

:11:38. > :11:45.Ofsted has highlighted a practice which was familiar to all of ours

:11:46. > :11:51.for a long time and has inspired the reforms we are putting in place to

:11:52. > :11:56.replace all apprenticeships with the standards agreed by employers that

:11:57. > :12:00.have two last at least 12 months and at least 25% of the job training. We

:12:01. > :12:07.are ensuring that we will have increased quality at all levels.

:12:08. > :12:14.Where I disagree is in the suggestion that a level to

:12:15. > :12:18.scholarship is not high-quality. Existing level to apprenticeships

:12:19. > :12:25.increase incomes on average by 11% three to five years later. There

:12:26. > :12:29.were 970 new starts in my constituency last year, many in

:12:30. > :12:35.engineering and technology. Will he join me by congratulating those

:12:36. > :12:43.apprenticeship is and does he agree that it shows our commitment to

:12:44. > :12:47.apprenticeships of high quality? It is a stunning achievement in his

:12:48. > :12:58.constituency and I know that it is in large part due to the excellent

:12:59. > :13:03.Pro Pat which is one of the first institutions to have become a

:13:04. > :13:14.college in a long time. I would be happy to revisit it any time. Can I

:13:15. > :13:20.suggest that he finds way to harness the power of trade unions in this

:13:21. > :13:24.area? A very interesting suggestion. The honourable gentleman will know

:13:25. > :13:29.that I greatly value the work the trade unions do in encouraging

:13:30. > :13:36.employees to take up training opportunities and it is why we

:13:37. > :13:48.continue to fund Union Learn In That Direction. Snap on is a major

:13:49. > :13:53.manufacturer of tools and its UK headquarters is in Kettering,

:13:54. > :14:02.because they are looking to increase investment in apprenticeships, would

:14:03. > :14:10.he accent my -- accent my invitation to come and open the institution

:14:11. > :14:24.next month. If the whips allowed me, I will be there. My department is

:14:25. > :14:29.leading cross Parliament work on apprentices. The UK export hub will

:14:30. > :14:34.travel around the country to give assistance face-to-face to

:14:35. > :14:40.exporters. Feedback from business in my constituency suggests that there

:14:41. > :14:45.needs to be more support for SMEs exporting less than half ?1 million

:14:46. > :14:50.worth of goods and once given support it is complicated by red

:14:51. > :14:54.tape. How would he minister responded to those businesses? I

:14:55. > :15:03.agree that we should always look to do more to help SMEs export more. He

:15:04. > :15:06.may know that we recently had a regional trade mission, the Northern

:15:07. > :15:24.Powerhouse trade mission, which I lead, to the Far East. It included

:15:25. > :15:27.companies from his constituency. The airline has exported luxury boats

:15:28. > :15:35.across the world but we have heard news of redundancies. Many of the

:15:36. > :15:42.employees are currently on lay-offs periods and reduced pay. Would he do

:15:43. > :15:46.what he can to make sure redundancy payments are expedited, particularly

:15:47. > :15:54.with Christmas around the corner. It is a difficult time and I will look

:15:55. > :16:01.into that with discussions to find a potential buyer. Does the government

:16:02. > :16:07.foresee difficulties long-term with the transatlantic trade agreement

:16:08. > :16:11.with the United States. Especially with regard to exporting to the

:16:12. > :16:19.United Kingdom agricultural food products. Discussions are still

:16:20. > :16:28.going on. It is by its very nation complicated. Agri- products need

:16:29. > :16:36.carefully looking at. Once the dealers done, it could be worth ?400

:16:37. > :16:41.to every household in the UK. In my former career, I exported

:16:42. > :16:45.broadcasting equipment to 48 countries worldwide, no thanks to

:16:46. > :16:59.the EU and their regulations. Really, you need to have ten three X

:17:00. > :17:09.chutzpah to export. How can we go about getting more of that? Wenping

:17:10. > :17:16.can be sure of is that the honourable gentleman has plenty of

:17:17. > :17:25.chutzpah and I'm he will deliver more of that. We want all Company to

:17:26. > :17:29.do everything they can. The government's so-called support for

:17:30. > :17:35.exports has seen grants converted to loans and the sudden closure of the

:17:36. > :17:38.business growth service. Businesses supported by it grew four times

:17:39. > :17:45.faster than other businesses. The scheme created 83,000 jobs and

:17:46. > :17:52.netted over 3.5 billion to the National economy. As one mentors

:17:53. > :17:56.said, the closure doesn't make sense considering its huge success and may

:17:57. > :18:01.prove detrimental to Britain's economic help. What message does the

:18:02. > :18:18.closure send to businesses that want to grow and given the outstanding

:18:19. > :18:24.record of success it to show and -- doesn't it show the government

:18:25. > :18:27.attitude to export. There was little evidence that it was the best way to

:18:28. > :18:34.help those businesses which is to make sure we have a continuing the

:18:35. > :18:40.growing economy, faster than our rivals, so we can support the

:18:41. > :18:51.long-term economic plan. We are providing 39 LEPs with funding

:18:52. > :18:57.through growth hubs. Employers with a payroll bill of over ?3 million

:18:58. > :19:03.per year will be required to pay the apprenticeship levy which will raise

:19:04. > :19:10.?3 billion to support apprenticeship training throughout Scotland. We

:19:11. > :19:15.hope that the apprenticeship levy will provide opportunities for young

:19:16. > :19:19.people south of the border, as well as the 25,000 who started an

:19:20. > :19:29.apprenticeship in Scotland this year. Is he aware of the Association

:19:30. > :19:33.of learning providers concerns that the money raised by the levy is

:19:34. > :19:40.likely to be less than was previously thought? I'm delighted

:19:41. > :19:44.that he is proud of the 25,000 modern apprenticeship starts in

:19:45. > :19:48.Scotland. We are proud of the half a million stats that we have had in

:19:49. > :19:53.the last year in England. It would suggest that we can both take pride

:19:54. > :19:55.in our commitment to apprenticeships. I hope we will

:19:56. > :20:02.welcome the fact that the apprenticeship levy will be

:20:03. > :20:10.generating resources that will impart the sent to Scotland. The oil

:20:11. > :20:19.and gas industry faces distinct challenges at present. I know that

:20:20. > :20:24.this levy May represent a significant challenge to those

:20:25. > :20:27.businesses. It represents an additional cost at a time when

:20:28. > :20:33.controlling cost is of paramount importance. Will he meet a

:20:34. > :20:46.delegation from the industry to hear their concerns and how they can take

:20:47. > :20:57.advantage of these circumstances? I will ask them what they think of her

:20:58. > :21:03.party's plans for Scotland which rested on an oil price of ?100 per

:21:04. > :21:10.barrel. It would currently find themselves linked to the IMF. We are

:21:11. > :21:17.protecting funding for adult education at 1.5 billion per year in

:21:18. > :21:20.cash terms. We are extending advance loans to adult learners and

:21:21. > :21:25.increasing spending on adult apprenticeships to ?1.5 million by

:21:26. > :21:32.2020. This means that the total funding for adult skills training

:21:33. > :21:39.will be 36% higher in the last year of this parliament man in the first.

:21:40. > :21:47.Salford city College is one of over 100 colleges who have protested at

:21:48. > :21:53.real year-on-year funding cuts. A mounting now to 40%. Despite this

:21:54. > :22:01.promise not to cut adult skills from FC colleges Treasury documents now

:22:02. > :22:06.say that there will be ?360 billion worth of savings and efficiencies.

:22:07. > :22:13.Can the Minister tell others how this can be achieved? Her college

:22:14. > :22:18.like many others wrote to the Prime Minister before the spending review

:22:19. > :22:24.and in response to the flag-waving before from the opposition who

:22:25. > :22:28.predicted a 25-40% cut in the adult skills budget. If the honourable

:22:29. > :22:33.lady had taken the trouble to attend the spending review she would have

:22:34. > :22:36.heard that actually he is protecting it in cash terms while increasing

:22:37. > :22:43.the funding for apprenticeships which colleges could bid for. If she

:22:44. > :22:48.spoke to her college, she would discover that they are pleasantly

:22:49. > :22:55.surprised by the funding settlement. Any credible long-term economic plan

:22:56. > :22:59.would recognise the critical importance of adult reskilling but

:23:00. > :23:07.this government has systematically cut adult skills by 40% since 2010

:23:08. > :23:13.including a 24% cut in February of non-printed ship funding. That is

:23:14. > :23:17.probably why the Chancellor. About making any reference to the further

:23:18. > :23:25.cuts in the Autumn leaving it in his blue book to talk about saving

:23:26. > :23:31.through efficiencies. Will the Minister say precisely what the ?1.5

:23:32. > :23:37.billion he talks off of core funding is made up of? Does it include over

:23:38. > :23:51.25 you rolled Lowes, 50% of which won't be taken up? Aisling --

:23:52. > :23:58.25-year-old loans. I am earning my salary today. We have launched a

:23:59. > :24:05.process to consider every area's skills needs. And how we can best

:24:06. > :24:13.meet them. The Kent review is due to start in 2016. I welcome the review

:24:14. > :24:21.and I would like to point out that Sittingbourne, the largest town in

:24:22. > :24:24.Kent is without its own further education college. We have an

:24:25. > :24:30.opportunity to change that situation and I invite the Minister to visit

:24:31. > :24:35.the skills Centre in my constituency to learn how it could be easily and

:24:36. > :24:43.cheaply X banded into a small college. I have had a message from

:24:44. > :24:49.the whips saying that they would only be too delighted to allow me to

:24:50. > :24:54.visit more constituencies. Of course, we don't hear from the

:24:55. > :24:57.opposition celebrating when new institutions are setup, including

:24:58. > :25:01.the Swale skills Centre which has been set up by a very successful

:25:02. > :25:10.academies trust which is already doing a great job of running local

:25:11. > :25:15.schools. I consulted on the proposal to free student loan repayment

:25:16. > :25:20.threshold and received responses from interested parties. I have

:25:21. > :25:28.decided to proceed with the freezing of the threshold. Does the Secretary

:25:29. > :25:30.of State agree that if if a commercial company had made a

:25:31. > :25:36.retrospective change to a contract in this way, costing students ?6,000

:25:37. > :25:44.in the process, there would likely be an investigation? Does he accept

:25:45. > :25:50.that in doing so he has breached the trust of former, current and future

:25:51. > :25:55.students? I accept that these were the right set of changes. I

:25:56. > :26:00.considered the responses carefully. It is important to strike the right

:26:01. > :26:05.balance between students having the ability and opportunity to go to

:26:06. > :26:09.university and the interests of the taxpayer, making sure we have an

:26:10. > :26:16.affordable and sustainable funding process. Can the Secretary of State

:26:17. > :26:21.confirmed despite negative, it is opposite that record levels of young

:26:22. > :26:25.people secure places at university, including from disadvantaged

:26:26. > :26:32.backgrounds? My honourable friend is absolutely right. That is true of

:26:33. > :26:38.England. We have seen a record increase to 382,000 people in the

:26:39. > :26:44.last year and the number of disadvantaged students has gone up

:26:45. > :26:49.from 9.5% to 18.2%. In Scotland we have seen a fall because they don't

:26:50. > :26:50.have a funding system that allows everyone to go to university who

:26:51. > :27:00.wants to to do so. Given the report in the Independent

:27:01. > :27:06.that Cabinet ministers are tried to find a way to increase the cap on

:27:07. > :27:09.tuition fee without a proper vote in the House, can the Secretary of

:27:10. > :27:13.State confirm that any attempt to increase the cap on two agencies

:27:14. > :27:16.will come back to the House for a debate and a belt and can you

:27:17. > :27:21.confirm that Government proposals in the Autumn Statement to extend

:27:22. > :27:25.tuition fees to nurses, midwives and health subjects will also be subject

:27:26. > :27:31.to a proper debate and vote in the House? If the Government does decide

:27:32. > :27:39.to change the cap on tuition fee there will be a debate in the House.

:27:40. > :27:43.Robbie Secretary of State agree that retrospectively changing the terms

:27:44. > :27:47.of the contract is mis-selling? And will he guarantee that in this

:27:48. > :27:54.Parliament there will be no further changes to thresholds or interest

:27:55. > :27:58.rates? The changes in question are lawful, that is the advice that I

:27:59. > :28:05.have received. It is consistent with the games. Honourable members should

:28:06. > :28:09.remember that the loans that are provided are on better terms than

:28:10. > :28:14.what is available commercially and it allows all those who want to go

:28:15. > :28:23.to university to have the ability to do so. Question number ten, Mr

:28:24. > :28:27.Speaker. Could I am so this question and question 14 together. I was

:28:28. > :28:34.delighted that in the spending review the Government committed an

:28:35. > :28:38.extra ?900 million for aerospace research and development, meaning

:28:39. > :28:47.that Government will invest nearly ?2 billion on aerospace research

:28:48. > :28:51.over 13 years to 2025 and 2026. This will mean that our world leading

:28:52. > :28:58.aerospace industry can stay at the forefront and capitalise on the

:28:59. > :29:05.estimated ?3.6 trillion market for new aircraft that will be needed in

:29:06. > :29:10.the next 20 years. I recently met the trade union representatives for

:29:11. > :29:16.two sites in my constituency. They welcome the contingency of support

:29:17. > :29:19.for the aerospace industry, but they remain concerned about the

:29:20. > :29:23.outsourcing of high-value engineering jobs to low-cost

:29:24. > :29:29.countries. What more can my honourable friend do to address this

:29:30. > :29:33.concern? I'm happy to meet with the Honourable Gentleman to discuss

:29:34. > :29:37.these concerns and I should say that Rolls-Royce and beer was this sector

:29:38. > :29:40.is a major contributor to the economy in the United Kingdom so we

:29:41. > :29:43.understand how important it is and that is why we have protected and

:29:44. > :29:49.extended the investment that we are making in research and development.

:29:50. > :29:54.The recent announcement of the expansion of the year will help

:29:55. > :30:03.enterprise zone in Cornwall has been welcomed in Cornwall. -- the

:30:04. > :30:11.aerospace enterprise zone. This is Cromwell and opportunity to be

:30:12. > :30:14.awarded the aerospace... He will continue to make that case because a

:30:15. > :30:17.number of airports are in the running and we aim to launch the

:30:18. > :30:23.selection process next year. The United Kingdom space sector, we have

:30:24. > :30:30.heard there is great news about the launch today, with Tim Peake going

:30:31. > :30:40.into space. Ground control can report that the UK space sector has

:30:41. > :30:43.almost doubled, ?11.8 billion. It is most unfortunate that the honourable

:30:44. > :30:50.members opposite are now singing and it is not good. I hope that they

:30:51. > :30:58.might cheer at these facts, ?11.8 billion in just seven years.

:30:59. > :31:03.Employing 37,000 people. Send but no member of this House can match David

:31:04. > :31:10.Bowie. That is relevant as far as ground control is concerned.

:31:11. > :31:15.Rolls-Royce 's strategic importance to our aerospace industry, not just

:31:16. > :31:21.in my constituency but also in Sheffield in Bristol. Can I ask

:31:22. > :31:25.Minister what the Government is prepared to do to safeguard that

:31:26. > :31:30.capacity, which we know is increasingly in the news at the

:31:31. > :31:36.moment, to ensure and safeguard the future of the industry, making sure

:31:37. > :31:42.that the UK stays at the forefront of it was this manufacturing. We

:31:43. > :31:48.should mention the importance of Rolls-Royce to a city like Derby. We

:31:49. > :31:52.are monitoring the situation carefully. We recognise the

:31:53. > :31:56.importance that Rolls-Royce placed to our economy and it is important

:31:57. > :32:01.that we do not talk things down. There is a tendency on the opposite

:32:02. > :32:07.side to talk things down and it is important that we do not do that and

:32:08. > :32:14.we continue to support Rolls-Royce. In order to stop Rolls-Royce falling

:32:15. > :32:17.into the hands of the Chinese, why does this Government not take

:32:18. > :32:25.Rolls-Royce back into public ownership? I know the Honourable

:32:26. > :32:29.Gentleman will have trouble understanding this, but it is 2015

:32:30. > :32:35.and we're not back in the 1960s and the dark days of the 1970s and we

:32:36. > :32:39.know we have a long-term economic plan that actually delivers, unlike

:32:40. > :32:47.his plan which is a disaster for our country. As we have heard from our

:32:48. > :32:50.honourable friends, we have been watching the recent developments in

:32:51. > :32:56.relation to Rolls-Royce very closely, not only because of the

:32:57. > :33:00.implications for security, but because it is the biggest employer

:33:01. > :33:06.for Britain's it was space sector. As we have heard from the Minister,

:33:07. > :33:10.the global air crash market is going to be worth considerable money in

:33:11. > :33:15.the next 20 years we welcome the investment in the game technology

:33:16. > :33:19.Institute. But is it not time that the Secretary of State developed an

:33:20. > :33:24.industrial strategy rather than continuing with this piecemeal

:33:25. > :33:28.approach? I am not going to repeat everything I have said about

:33:29. > :33:35.continuing investment. ?900 million of taxpayers' money going into

:33:36. > :33:39.aerospace. We recognise its significance and it is easy to put

:33:40. > :33:43.labels on it. It doesn't matter what labelled you put on it, it is about

:33:44. > :33:51.delivery and that is what we are doing. As my right honourable friend

:33:52. > :33:55.the Chancellor demonstrated, the Government puts investment as a top

:33:56. > :34:00.priority in our long-term economic plan. I'm delighted at the

:34:01. > :34:05.announcement that the science budget will be ring fenced. In addition,

:34:06. > :34:10.the Prime Minister has recently announced a 50% increase in our

:34:11. > :34:16.funding of climate finance and we have just announced ?60 million into

:34:17. > :34:21.the energy research accelerator. Launching an investment coalition in

:34:22. > :34:28.Paris at the weekend made the point that if we are to avoid global

:34:29. > :34:32.warming we need to develop new renewable energy technology. To

:34:33. > :34:38.ensure that the UK places part, what progress has the Minister made to

:34:39. > :34:43.make sure that the green funds receives the money it needs an its

:34:44. > :34:50.green mandate. I'm sure the Honourable Gentleman will announce

:34:51. > :35:00.Scott back well, the Prime Minister's announcement that he will

:35:01. > :35:05.be supporting the industry. It turns over ?45 billion for the British

:35:06. > :35:10.economy and 4.8 billion of exports. By allowing the bank to raise money

:35:11. > :35:15.we will generate more money for the green economy which is going in this

:35:16. > :35:19.Government like never before. The North Sea oil and gas sector faces

:35:20. > :35:23.significant challenges that the current time, with a need for a

:35:24. > :35:28.collegiate approach to research and development to fuel innovation and

:35:29. > :35:33.to drive down costs. Will the Minister consider setting up a North

:35:34. > :35:43.Sea oil and gas innovation Centre, similar to the successful offshore

:35:44. > :35:47.wind catapult. On the East Coast and in Scotland this country is leading

:35:48. > :35:53.in this field of offshore energy. We have just funded the offshore energy

:35:54. > :36:01.Centre and I would be happy to look at the specific idea that he

:36:02. > :36:04.recommends. It is extremely disappointing, a missed opportunity,

:36:05. > :36:08.damaging and a disgrace. These were the words and phrases used to

:36:09. > :36:13.describe this Government's decision to withdraw ?1 billion of funding

:36:14. > :36:16.from carbon capture and storage. Hundreds of jobs from the amenities

:36:17. > :36:20.in the north-east of Scotland and the opportunity to be at the

:36:21. > :36:23.forefront of low carbon innovation is now lost. The Government will

:36:24. > :36:25.instead spend hundreds of millions of pounds of subsidising research

:36:26. > :36:27.into the Government will instead spend hundreds of millions of pounds

:36:28. > :36:30.of subsidising research into Nicola energy. In light of this decision,

:36:31. > :36:33.with the Minister like to take the opportunity to explain to the people

:36:34. > :36:38.of Peterhead and the north-east and he has supported them to be world

:36:39. > :36:43.leaders and innovation? It is a pleasure to follow that speech. I

:36:44. > :36:47.will happily repeat the figure that I just gave you. The Prime Minister

:36:48. > :36:51.has announced ?400 billion of extra funding for energy finance. We have

:36:52. > :36:56.made announcements and you show researching I did make the point

:36:57. > :37:01.that one of the lessons for Scotland is to reduce its dependency on

:37:02. > :37:06.public sector funding. 20% of the funding went to Scotland, that is

:37:07. > :37:10.?560 million, when only represents 10% of bill payers. We need to

:37:11. > :37:15.support the green economy in Scotland as we are in the rest of

:37:16. > :37:19.the country. The Minister will be aware that a major investment was

:37:20. > :37:25.announcing the spending review of ?250 million for a small modular

:37:26. > :37:27.reactors, something that has now welcomed in the north-western will

:37:28. > :37:31.make a big difference to our ability to meet our climate change targets.

:37:32. > :37:40.What is crucial as a result of this is that the UK owns the IPI that

:37:41. > :37:46.comes out of this. But he make sure this is the case? My honourable

:37:47. > :37:50.friend is an expert in this matter and I were looking to the point that

:37:51. > :37:55.he makes. Our support for the green economy is now ?45 billion sector in

:37:56. > :38:00.this country and we are generating the technologies that are leading

:38:01. > :38:07.into 21st-century green energy and look into the points that he makes.

:38:08. > :38:11.The enterprise bill which is going through the other place will create

:38:12. > :38:14.a small business Commissioner and one of their import rules will be to

:38:15. > :38:19.make sure that this continuing problem with late payment is brought

:38:20. > :38:22.to an end. We have other measures on hand to make sure that there is

:38:23. > :38:29.reporting, but we're making good progress on this. Cheltenham's

:38:30. > :38:34.superb small shops and businesses rely some people getting out from

:38:35. > :38:39.behind their computers and visiting local shops. In those circumstances,

:38:40. > :38:43.those are my honourable friend agree that the local authority should

:38:44. > :38:51.provide flexible and cheap parking to support small businesses and

:38:52. > :38:56.shopping? I am afraid I am a little bit of message. I take a radical

:38:57. > :39:00.approach to parking. I would take the view that there should be no

:39:01. > :39:09.parking charges in any towns. The car parks belonged to the people.

:39:10. > :39:13.There are times when the local authority does want to put in car

:39:14. > :39:19.parking charges. A good example is in one area where there used to make

:39:20. > :39:23.sure people do not abuse them. But as much as possible we should be

:39:24. > :39:26.supporting town centres and small businesses, so we should not be

:39:27. > :39:36.charging people to park in their own home town. Mr Speaker, in the spirit

:39:37. > :39:39.of Christmas, can I invite the whole ministerial team to come to

:39:40. > :39:45.Huddersfield where they can learn about spinning and weaving and I can

:39:46. > :39:54.arrange for them to have a wonderful city made like this one I am

:39:55. > :39:58.wearing. -- a wonderful suit. They have a textile centre for excellence

:39:59. > :40:04.and a top about the pressure of small businesses. The Government

:40:05. > :40:10.wants to take us out of Europe and to stop us from being able to export

:40:11. > :40:15.to the rest of the world. It was going so well and I was going to be

:40:16. > :40:19.a Christmas fairy. Everyone knows my views on the European Union and the

:40:20. > :40:23.views of the Prime Minister. We want to stay in a reformed European

:40:24. > :40:27.Union. In the spirit of Christmas, I would be delighted to go to

:40:28. > :40:32.Huddersfield. I could talk about my family's relationship of

:40:33. > :40:34.Huddersfield. I will go to Huddersfield at the Honourable

:40:35. > :40:43.Gentleman will come to my constituency. -- if the Honourable

:40:44. > :40:50.Gentleman. And alighted to tell you that I talk about cyber Brazilians a

:40:51. > :40:54.lot with the Minister. They were saying how pleased they were to see

:40:55. > :40:59.the Chancellor's announcement doubling the budget for cyber

:41:00. > :41:03.security to almost ?2 billion. I'm delighted that the Minister has

:41:04. > :41:06.doubled the budget, only 10% was on consumers, the police force, or

:41:07. > :41:13.small businesses. What is he is doing to encourage small businesses

:41:14. > :41:18.that are not able to commit huge amount of time to engaging with

:41:19. > :41:24.this? What is he is going to do for businesses to insure that they are

:41:25. > :41:31.safe online? I did not double the budget, it was the Chancellor. It is

:41:32. > :41:38.important to give him credit. I take the point very seriously. We do have

:41:39. > :41:41.a fantastic scheme, which allows small businesses and large

:41:42. > :41:44.businesses to get a certificate to show that they had been through a

:41:45. > :41:49.process to increase their cyber security.

:41:50. > :42:02.In the government is working hard to deliver our productivity plan. We

:42:03. > :42:07.will promote a dynamic economy. Productivity has been the Achilles

:42:08. > :42:13.heel of this government's economic policy. Comparisons against G-7

:42:14. > :42:17.countries are poor and even works when compared with small and

:42:18. > :42:25.medium-sized independent countries. This government has been obsessed

:42:26. > :42:31.with austerity cuts and ignored innovation and efficiency. The

:42:32. > :42:38.fairer way to decrease the deficit. It is absolutely not the case. This

:42:39. > :42:43.has been a long-running issue in our country under successive

:42:44. > :42:48.governments. That is why we had an ambitious productivity plan and we

:42:49. > :42:54.have seen a 1.3% increase in output per hour which is very encouraging.

:42:55. > :42:57.After five years in charge it is time the government took

:42:58. > :43:03.responsibility. Why has productivity been stalled for the last five

:43:04. > :43:08.years? After 13 years in charge by the party opposite, we had the

:43:09. > :43:19.biggest recession we had seen in 100 years. It takes time to recover from

:43:20. > :43:26.that. Productivity is on the rise. It's nice to be back. We have a very

:43:27. > :43:32.competitive broadband market and I went to York the other day to see

:43:33. > :43:38.TalkTalk premises. They are investing billions in fibre. This

:43:39. > :43:44.Friday I will be going to another company who deliver broadband to

:43:45. > :43:52.Epping Forest. We have a very competitive market. Ofcom have

:43:53. > :43:57.confirmed that Hall is the only city in the country without competition

:43:58. > :44:02.and is in the worst 20 areas for super fast broadband access which

:44:03. > :44:13.really effects small businesses in Hull. How much of the money the

:44:14. > :44:23.government has invested will be allocated to Hull? Hull has this

:44:24. > :44:32.effectively municipal provider, Kingston Communications, and I'm

:44:33. > :44:36.pleased to say that they are investing in broadband for the whole

:44:37. > :44:43.of Hull without need of government investment. The recent spending

:44:44. > :44:47.review delivered a strong settlement for many departmental sectors

:44:48. > :44:54.focusing on areas which drive up productivity. In the last our major

:44:55. > :45:01.Tim Peake has blasted into orbit. The government has launched its

:45:02. > :45:08.space project. This policy document shows there is no limit to the UK

:45:09. > :45:18.omission in this area. We want to boldly go to infinity and beyond and

:45:19. > :45:21.our new policy will make it so. As everyone knows, to improve

:45:22. > :45:28.productivity, you need a good, strong education system. Can the

:45:29. > :45:31.Minister give a categorical assurance that further education

:45:32. > :45:37.institutions such as Blackburn College in my constituency will not

:45:38. > :45:46.receive a real terms funding cut as a result of the freeze in adult

:45:47. > :45:54.education funding? I agree about the need to boost skills. There will be

:45:55. > :45:57.areas in review so I cannot make a promise about particular

:45:58. > :46:03.institutions. But there will be an increase in real terms in F funding

:46:04. > :46:13.of more than 35% over the length of the parliament. I'm sure that is

:46:14. > :46:18.something she would welcome. The Eden Project in my constituency has

:46:19. > :46:22.been running a successful apprenticeship programme in

:46:23. > :46:27.horticulture. It is going to become more and more important to meet our

:46:28. > :46:31.increasing demand for food. What support can the Minister provides to

:46:32. > :46:38.promote horticulture as an important career for young people? Under the

:46:39. > :46:43.agri- tech strategy we are supporting horticulture and I

:46:44. > :46:48.recently opened a horticultural waste production facility. We are

:46:49. > :47:02.leading an low-energy farming systems and novel use of pesticides

:47:03. > :47:12.to avoid -- use of pets to avoid pesticide and hydroponics. May I

:47:13. > :47:16.offer my congratulations to Tim Peake on his visit to the

:47:17. > :47:22.International Space Station. Can I also paid tribute to Helen Sharman,

:47:23. > :47:27.the first British person into space. Let's do our best to inspire the

:47:28. > :47:34.next generation of scientists, mathematicians and explorers in the

:47:35. > :47:40.same way that the Muniain -- moon landings inspired my generations.

:47:41. > :47:45.Millions of jobs are linked to the European union and most believe it

:47:46. > :47:51.is in the interests of the country to remain a member. But yesterday,

:47:52. > :47:57.the member for Shropshire described negotiations as froth and nonsense

:47:58. > :48:03.and his endless renegotiations have been described as a shambles. Does

:48:04. > :48:11.the Secretary of State agree with UK business of the Eurosceptics on his

:48:12. > :48:16.own side? If I may associate myself with the comments made about Tim

:48:17. > :48:22.Peake and is inspiration to us all. Turning to her comments about the

:48:23. > :48:27.EU, I agree with almost all businesses that they want to see

:48:28. > :48:32.reform and changes in our relationship with the. They want to

:48:33. > :48:38.be more competitive, easier to make deals in a deeper single market with

:48:39. > :48:48.less bureaucracy. That is what we're fighting for. We all want to see the

:48:49. > :48:53.UK remain in a reformed European union, but the Secretary of State's

:48:54. > :48:59.Eurosceptic interests are well known and it is not like him to be shy

:49:00. > :49:09.about them. Is he prepared to resign from the Cabinet to fight for a

:49:10. > :49:16.British exit from the European Union? When it comes to

:49:17. > :49:29.resignations, it is her party she should be worried about. I am

:49:30. > :49:39.prepared for fighting for the renegotiations I outlined. With the

:49:40. > :49:42.Secretary of State join me in encouraging as many businesses as

:49:43. > :49:49.possible across Worcestershire to apply for the first round deadline

:49:50. > :49:52.for extra funding this Friday? In the short time that the honourable

:49:53. > :49:56.member has been a member of Parliament he has done a lot to

:49:57. > :50:00.champion small businesses in Worcestershire. I have seen that

:50:01. > :50:04.myself first-hand. The Worcestershire growth fund is an

:50:05. > :50:09.excellent opportunity and I encourage companies in his

:50:10. > :50:15.constituency and mine to apply. The illegal moneylending team has

:50:16. > :50:20.commenced 330 prosecutions against illegal loan sharks and has had a

:50:21. > :50:26.?60 million written off for the most vulnerable in our communities. To

:50:27. > :50:34.cut its budget may not have come across his desk but he has had

:50:35. > :50:40.plenty of time to consider it and why does he continue to dodge

:50:41. > :50:43.questions about this cut? If the honourable member had attended Prime

:50:44. > :50:48.Minister's Questions he would have heard the honourable members say

:50:49. > :50:53.that he's looking at introducing a levy to continue this action against

:50:54. > :50:58.loan sharks will stop that is the Treasury to take forward and he will

:50:59. > :51:07.ask the Treasury for further details about it. A few days ago, I met the

:51:08. > :51:13.new cohort of inspirational students from the petrol College Care Academy

:51:14. > :51:19.which is providing apprenticeships at the local health care trust. Does

:51:20. > :51:21.he agree this is a really important programme for training the next

:51:22. > :51:28.generation of health care professionals locally? Absolutely.

:51:29. > :51:36.Thank you for raising it. The Academy is doing great work in

:51:37. > :51:39.developing 18 week placement courses to discover interesting careers in

:51:40. > :51:46.the health and care sector, supporting the local economy and our

:51:47. > :51:48.national skills base is the a number of organisations including

:51:49. > :51:55.electrical safety first have welcomed the product safety review

:51:56. > :52:00.conducted ID Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and

:52:01. > :52:06.headed by Lynn Faulds Wood. We must increase traceability to protect

:52:07. > :52:13.customers in the UK. When will the review be published? I've met Lynn

:52:14. > :52:17.Faulds Wood and I absolutely tanked and commend her for the work done.

:52:18. > :52:21.I'm having a further meeting with her to see when we can actually

:52:22. > :52:27.publish the review and make the sort of progress we all want. With the

:52:28. > :52:33.Secretary of State update the house on the objective for his recent

:52:34. > :52:37.visit to India and how best local businesses in my constituency can

:52:38. > :52:43.tap into that market? The recent visit was to build momentum

:52:44. > :52:51.generated by the recent visit of the Prime Minister of India. I went with

:52:52. > :52:59.the science minister to promote getting more Indian students to come

:53:00. > :53:02.to the UK to study. I took to members of the delegation from

:53:03. > :53:12.Dorset and it is just the sort of innovation we want to see. The

:53:13. > :53:18.forecast for overall growth has been downgraded, the gap between exports

:53:19. > :53:24.has grown to 4.1 billion in October, can the Secretary of State update

:53:25. > :53:27.the house on the measures taken to increase exports given that his

:53:28. > :53:33.current measures are clearly not working. We have seen exports grow

:53:34. > :53:36.over the last five years, including to some of the fastest-growing

:53:37. > :53:44.markets around the world like China and India. We obviously need to do

:53:45. > :53:47.more and that is why we have had a number of measures mentioned

:53:48. > :53:51.earlier. It is this increase in exports that is leading to falls in

:53:52. > :54:01.unemployment across the country and generating jobs, including a decline

:54:02. > :54:07.in claimants in her constituency. We are aware of the value of science

:54:08. > :54:12.funding well spent. Will the Business Secretary reassured the

:54:13. > :54:17.house that the fund for this will be ring fenced and will he appeared

:54:18. > :54:25.before the committee in January to go over this in detail? I accept the

:54:26. > :54:29.invitation. Also, I take this opportunity to commend the

:54:30. > :54:38.honourable lady for the way she has led the committee. The ring fence I

:54:39. > :54:43.can confirm is protected in real terms, not just cash terms and also

:54:44. > :54:48.our commitment to spend 6.9 billion on science infrastructure over the

:54:49. > :54:55.next eight years. I'm sure she will agree, this Christmas, batteries are

:54:56. > :55:03.included. I have previously raised the industrial carbon capture

:55:04. > :55:07.storage targets which will contribute to the climate change

:55:08. > :55:13.agenda and capital investment. Will he agree with me that we need to

:55:14. > :55:19.explore how we might bring to fruition this important project? I

:55:20. > :55:29.am more than happy to have a meeting with him. He knows not to shout at

:55:30. > :55:35.me. I hope he will also join with me to congratulate the Secretary of

:55:36. > :55:38.State for environment and climate change for her outstanding

:55:39. > :55:42.achievement on behalf of our nation in playing an important role in

:55:43. > :55:46.securing this important way forward to make sure that the planet we

:55:47. > :55:54.leave for our children is better than the one we inherited. Carlisle

:55:55. > :55:59.and Cumbria has experienced devastating floods recently. As part

:56:00. > :56:04.of recovery, it is important to restore confidence as quickly as

:56:05. > :56:08.possible in the business community. Would the Minister confirm that they

:56:09. > :56:12.will do everything to support Cumbrian businesses and make sure

:56:13. > :56:18.that people are aware that Carlisle and Cumbria are open for business?

:56:19. > :56:22.Indeed. Could I pay to view to all members of Parliament for the great

:56:23. > :56:31.work they have done. I am got there to visit next week. I want to go to

:56:32. > :56:40.Carlisle, Cockermouth, and Kendall. I am delighted that we have secured

:56:41. > :56:43.funding for all businesses affected by the flooding which I think will

:56:44. > :56:48.make a huge improvement and we have done that quickly and will make it

:56:49. > :56:50.available in time for Christmas to get all those businesses and jobs

:56:51. > :56:59.open for business. The Secretary of State has spoken

:57:00. > :57:06.about simplifying and clarifying the business environment, identifying

:57:07. > :57:10.?10 billion of reduction in red tape during this Parliament. So why did

:57:11. > :57:13.the Autumn Statement said that small businesses should file tax returns

:57:14. > :57:16.for times a year rather than annually? How does that help small

:57:17. > :57:24.businesses to reduce the cost and burdens -- I have a bad feeling

:57:25. > :57:33.about this. I have not heard that quote from Star Wars. It is very

:57:34. > :57:36.important that we keep deregulating the environment for small businesses

:57:37. > :57:42.and that was achieved in the last Parliament. The Honourable Gentleman

:57:43. > :57:47.does know this, it is INET target and I'm confident because of the

:57:48. > :57:53.enterprise bill that we will see huge net the regulation during the

:57:54. > :57:59.lifetime of this Parliament. -- it is a net target. We had some

:58:00. > :58:02.discussion this week about industrial strategy, which seems to

:58:03. > :58:08.mean all kinds of things to different people. I don't know what

:58:09. > :58:11.it means, but if I did I would be against it. Can the Minister please

:58:12. > :58:22.advise that while he is Secretary of State the Government will not go

:58:23. > :58:27.about... The Government believes in free enterprise and that has

:58:28. > :58:34.motivated the economy for decades. We do have a plan and a strategy, a

:58:35. > :58:37.long-term economic plan. I'm sure the space Minister Bo praised the

:58:38. > :58:44.last Labour Government to establish the UK space agency and given that

:58:45. > :58:48.Tim Peake's and credible mission is launching today. She should say a

:58:49. > :58:57.little bit about what she will do to spread the motivation from that to a

:58:58. > :59:03.new generation of astronauts. I did say seven years, because as you know

:59:04. > :59:08.I am not prone to partition chip -- to being partisan. I wish the

:59:09. > :59:18.members opposite would do the same. I do notice that our announcement

:59:19. > :59:24.about areas of huge progress to help industries like the steel industry,

:59:25. > :59:31.no one mentions it now and says how good it is. The real trick now, and

:59:32. > :59:34.the honourable lady also mentioned this, it is important that we

:59:35. > :59:42.inspire the younger generation, boys and girls, into the future of this

:59:43. > :59:51.kind of career, especially in engineering. With the Minister of

:59:52. > :59:55.the House about the life science classes as a way to stimulate

:59:56. > :00:04.start-ups, excellence and growth in the sector and of any plans for

:00:05. > :00:10.using devolution city deals for such clusters. My honourable friend makes

:00:11. > :00:17.an important point. Around the country, in the Scottish belts and

:00:18. > :00:19.elsewhere, we are building clusters of excellence and growth for the

:00:20. > :00:24.benefit of our citizens. I'm discussing this with the Chancellor

:00:25. > :00:28.and the Department for Communities and Local Government about how the

:00:29. > :00:34.devolution package could write in support greater development of those

:00:35. > :00:37.health clusters around the country. You talked about research and

:00:38. > :00:47.development in the aerospace industry. In my constituency, 6500

:00:48. > :00:50.are employed in this area. Could he indicate what discussions he's had

:00:51. > :00:54.with the Northern Ireland assembly to ensure that we are part of that

:00:55. > :00:58.research and development? I have not had those discussions but I'm happy

:00:59. > :01:04.to have them with the Honourable Gentleman. My door is always open. I

:01:05. > :01:10.recognise the huge importance that it plays in his constituency and in

:01:11. > :01:21.Northern Ireland. We must now move on. We come to the ten minute rule

:01:22. > :01:26.motion. Point of order. The day with not be complete without a point of

:01:27. > :01:38.order from the Honourable Gentleman. I wonder if you can help me. When an

:01:39. > :01:42.MP being obstructed from doing their work. They are restricting my travel

:01:43. > :01:47.movements. Is there anyone Independent I can deal with to get

:01:48. > :01:51.beyond this institution? I'm wasting a lot of time and effort dealing

:01:52. > :02:02.with it that and getting absolutely nowhere. -- IPSA. The Honourable

:02:03. > :02:08.Gentleman might be aware of for an informal grouping within Parliament,

:02:09. > :02:12.including the member for Gainsborough, to whom you can make

:02:13. > :02:15.representations about the situation that he faces. I hope he understands

:02:16. > :02:24.that is not something that I can deal with in the Chamber just now.

:02:25. > :02:27.No follow-up would normally be required, but the Honourable

:02:28. > :02:37.Gentleman is champing at the bit and I will give him a last chance. I was

:02:38. > :02:43.on that Committee and I was not aware of its continued existence in

:02:44. > :02:47.this Parliament. My understanding had been that there was an

:02:48. > :02:53.opportunity for members to make informal representations. The chair

:02:54. > :02:58.cannot deal with specific cases and the chair is in no position of

:02:59. > :03:04.authority to comment on particular circumstances, especially when given

:03:05. > :03:07.no advance knowledge of them. If the Honourable Gentleman was to pursue

:03:08. > :03:13.the issue further he can do so outside of the Chamber. If there are

:03:14. > :03:22.no further points of order, we come to the ten minute rule motion. I

:03:23. > :03:24.seek the permission of the House into juicy bill to provide local

:03:25. > :03:31.authorities with the duties and powers required to identify and

:03:32. > :03:35.automatically register all children eligible for free school meals, and

:03:36. > :03:39.also to seek powers that those parents who do not wish their

:03:40. > :03:48.children receive them have the power to opt out. That is the aim of the

:03:49. > :03:52.bill. I grew up, as you did, as we all did in this House, in a world

:03:53. > :03:57.where the term progress did not need to speak its name. It was the

:03:58. > :04:03.assumption of all of after that things could only get better. It was

:04:04. > :04:09.not only true in this Chamber country but in every Western

:04:10. > :04:14.society. -- true in this Chamber or this country. I viewed the world

:04:15. > :04:18.that I grew up as the train, there were differing compartments that

:04:19. > :04:24.reflected our social classes. There was a first-class, second class,

:04:25. > :04:27.third class, and fourth class department. The crucial thing about

:04:28. > :04:35.this train journey was that we were all heading towards a better

:04:36. > :04:41.tomorrow. In the past decade, the last carriage, the fourth class

:04:42. > :04:48.carriage, has become detached from the train journey bereft of both our

:04:49. > :04:55.own. It is not only here, but in every Western country, and we see it

:04:56. > :05:01.on the rise of the banks. Last night in each of our constituencies, a

:05:02. > :05:05.large number of children went to bed hungry and took that hunger to

:05:06. > :05:12.school with them. The Secretary of State for Education is concerned

:05:13. > :05:16.about this and is concerned about the number of children who appear

:05:17. > :05:27.eligible for free school meals begin now hot meal at the beginning of the

:05:28. > :05:31.day. -- free school meals but do not get a hot meal. She is looking at

:05:32. > :05:38.how to spread the practice, but we know how long it can take. Bernard

:05:39. > :05:43.Shaw, being Irish, did not have a lot of time for us English. He said

:05:44. > :05:48.that if the English were promoted is from infernal to Paradise they would

:05:49. > :05:53.still gather around and talk about the good old days, and there is

:05:54. > :05:59.something in our culture that this is the spread of good practice. Why

:06:00. > :06:05.these children went to school hungry is moderately complicated to

:06:06. > :06:09.unravel. There is clearly at the bottom of society and increase in

:06:10. > :06:14.the number of low paid jobs and the wages from those jobs are uncertain.

:06:15. > :06:19.There are problems which the cross-party group on hunger have

:06:20. > :06:25.identified to do with benefits and the problems of families who lead

:06:26. > :06:30.such lives that they let their children go to school hungry when

:06:31. > :06:37.they do have the resources to do otherwise. Some families do not, but

:06:38. > :06:42.some families do. This bill takes the campaign against hunger is stage

:06:43. > :06:49.further and it will compel local authorities to use their Housing

:06:50. > :06:53.Benefit data to counter hunger by identifying 160,000 children who are

:06:54. > :07:00.eligible for free school dinners but do not claim them. On average that

:07:01. > :07:07.means that in each of our constituencies, 250 children go

:07:08. > :07:11.hungry who do not need to do so. Equally important, because the last

:07:12. > :07:16.Government like the school premium to eligibility for free school

:07:17. > :07:23.meals. It would mean that in our schools ?211 million would follow

:07:24. > :07:28.that 160,000 children so that schools would be better able to cope

:07:29. > :07:31.with the issue of hunger and better able to integrate those children

:07:32. > :07:39.into school trips along with other children. Your office told me, Mr

:07:40. > :07:47.Speaker, that the second reading is not until the 22nd of January.

:07:48. > :07:52.Already I think we have a record number of hundred and 26 members

:07:53. > :07:57.from all sides of the House and with all kinds of opinions wishing for

:07:58. > :08:01.this bill to proceed. It is in the power of the Secretary of State to

:08:02. > :08:07.beat the bill and seek these powers herself. It would not by itself,

:08:08. > :08:12.that move, bring a happy or more prosperous Christmas to those

:08:13. > :08:19.children, but it would lay the basis that come the New Year there will be

:08:20. > :08:27.fewer hungry children in Britain and are today and I seek the leave of

:08:28. > :08:30.the House introduced the bill. The question is that the Right

:08:31. > :08:36.Honourable member have leave to bring in the bill. As many are of

:08:37. > :08:58.the opinion see aye. I think the aye habit. -- I think the ayes have it.

:08:59. > :09:02.Myself and a Members of Parliament would like to see this brought into

:09:03. > :09:44.the record. Free school meals bill. To be read

:09:45. > :09:57.again on the 22nd of January. 22nd of January 2000 and 16. -- 2016.

:09:58. > :10:03.Unless the Secretary of State backs before then. We come to the

:10:04. > :10:09.opposition motion relating to climate change and flooding. The

:10:10. > :10:15.amendment has not been selected. To move the motion, I called the Shadow

:10:16. > :10:22.Secretary of State for environment, food and rural affairs. I beg to

:10:23. > :10:27.move the motion as on the order paper. Mr Speaker, while the climate

:10:28. > :10:30.deal that was reached and powers of the weekend there is some cause for

:10:31. > :10:34.optimism that the world is now facing up to the global threat of

:10:35. > :10:39.climate change, the recent floods brought home to as the urgency of

:10:40. > :10:43.the situation here in the UK. Climate change is already happening

:10:44. > :10:51.here and people need not only warm words that action from the

:10:52. > :10:59.Government. A premature intervention. For the people of

:11:00. > :11:04.Cumbria, these were the third major floods in a decade. In 2009, they

:11:05. > :11:11.were told that the rainfall was unprecedented and that it was a once

:11:12. > :11:14.in a century event, but the rainfall records have been broken again

:11:15. > :11:21.causing devastation and heartbreak in the run-up to Christmas. Flooding

:11:22. > :11:25.is all where the -- funding is already rated as the greatest risk

:11:26. > :11:29.to the UK and the magnitude of severe flooding across the UK is

:11:30. > :11:34.little to increase. Period of intense rainfall are projected to

:11:35. > :11:38.increase by a factor of five and the most recent Met Office analysis

:11:39. > :11:40.suggests that global warming of 2 degrees, and bear in mind that

:11:41. > :11:46.powers the limit after 2 degrees, would increase the risk of extreme

:11:47. > :11:49.flooding by a factor of seven. Responding to the flood risk by

:11:50. > :11:54.building were flood defences is not enough. We need to look at how we

:11:55. > :11:58.can reduce the risk through improved land and river management and we

:11:59. > :12:01.need to minimise the future risk of floods and other extreme weather

:12:02. > :12:05.events by tackling climate change. We welcome the Paris accord. Nearly

:12:06. > :12:09.every country around the globe has committed to reducing carbon

:12:10. > :12:16.emissions, building a carbon neutral global economy, limiting temperature

:12:17. > :12:20.increases to 1.5 degrees and reviewing our ambitions every five

:12:21. > :12:25.years. There are responsibilities to developing countries. This is very

:12:26. > :12:29.welcome and it will make a positive difference to climate safety, but it

:12:30. > :12:30.would be complacent to suggest that the Paris Accord on its own is

:12:31. > :12:41.enough. The honourable lady is making a

:12:42. > :12:48.strong case. As we heard from Paris, the country's most vulnerable to

:12:49. > :12:56.climate impacts, 80% of fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. Would

:12:57. > :13:02.she be pleased with that? It is very important to make progress on that.

:13:03. > :13:09.Government policy seems to be moving away from encouraging renewables and

:13:10. > :13:19.are harming the renewable sector to a high degree making it very hard to

:13:20. > :13:26.make that transfer from fossil fuel. Would you agree that cuts to

:13:27. > :13:36.renewable energy threaten our economy, a successful local company

:13:37. > :13:40.in my constituency may be forced to closed through the cuts in tariff,

:13:41. > :13:49.making no sense for the environment or our economy? I entirely agree.

:13:50. > :13:56.The renewables sector needs certainty. There is innovative work

:13:57. > :14:02.being done. I visited a company in Stroud yesterday, not just building

:14:03. > :14:08.on the excellent work in the renewables sector but far beyond the

:14:09. > :14:13.mat. This is where the high-tech, high skilled jobs of the future are

:14:14. > :14:17.and the government ought to do more to encourage this. We must act

:14:18. > :14:23.knowledge that the individual pledges of Paris do not add to a

:14:24. > :14:29.commitment to keep temperature rises below 2 degrees. We must ask what

:14:30. > :14:38.further adaptation is needed. It is clear that the UK is not doing

:14:39. > :14:41.enough. Contributing to the global climate fund does not mean that we

:14:42. > :14:52.can pass the buck to developing nations. The UK has gone backwards.

:14:53. > :14:56.The government has axed the carbon cap your storage fund and blocked

:14:57. > :15:05.new wind farms, drastically cutting new energy and efficiency funds. It

:15:06. > :15:09.is selling off the greenie investment bank without protecting

:15:10. > :15:17.its Greenland eight. It is scrapping the zero Carbon standard for homes.

:15:18. > :15:25.Its preoccupation with fracking and fossil fuels means that we have lost

:15:26. > :15:30.thousands of greener jobs. She mentions that the UK is not doing

:15:31. > :15:38.enough in terms of our plans. Could she tell the house one other OECD

:15:39. > :15:47.country which has reduced carbon emissions by as much as the UK since

:15:48. > :15:51.1990. Just one other? As the honourable member says, the UK has a

:15:52. > :15:59.proud record on tackling climate change, not least with the

:16:00. > :16:06.leadership shown by the member for Doncaster North. But we are now

:16:07. > :16:13.coasting on that record and we need to do much more. The chairman of the

:16:14. > :16:17.Committee on Climate Change had no alternative but to conclude last

:16:18. > :16:23.month that the government's existing energy policy is clearly failing.

:16:24. > :16:28.The CBI said that British businesses need clarity and need to know that

:16:29. > :16:33.the government is serious about climate change. That the government

:16:34. > :16:39.won't make superficial cream claims only to U-turn on environmental

:16:40. > :16:43.policies. I understand we have to work together on renewables but we

:16:44. > :16:50.are setting such a good example with Hinkley point on the border of my

:16:51. > :16:54.constituency which is low carbon energy commitment, which is going to

:16:55. > :17:00.generate 25,000 jobs. That is going to be terrific for the economy and

:17:01. > :17:04.energy production. I accept that nuclear is part of the mix but it is

:17:05. > :17:16.not the only solution to greener energy. There may be different

:17:17. > :17:19.solutions going forward but I say to my right honourable friend and the

:17:20. > :17:34.bench opposite that one of key conclusions from 21, the UK will

:17:35. > :17:41.need to reset its reset. Whatever the solutions are, we need to do

:17:42. > :17:45.more and faster. Would she agree with me that whatever the solutions,

:17:46. > :17:52.one of the greatest things we can do is for the government to act set the

:17:53. > :17:56.fifth carbon budget and put in place things to narrow the gap with the

:17:57. > :18:03.fourth carbon budget. I agree entirely. There is almost a

:18:04. > :18:08.consensus that the UK needs to go faster and introduce stronger

:18:09. > :18:13.targets. I was saying that business needs certainty. The people in flood

:18:14. > :18:19.zones need certainty to. I visited Carlisle and Cockermouth with the

:18:20. > :18:28.Leader of the Opposition. We are grateful for the councils, business

:18:29. > :18:34.owners and communities who showed as around their homes. We should reduce

:18:35. > :18:40.their flood risk and make sure they never had to go through this again.

:18:41. > :18:47.She will understand the concerns of many communities affected by

:18:48. > :18:48.flooding that deaf wrap are unable to give any certainty to future

:18:49. > :19:11.spending in relation to future flooding funding. -- Defra. I

:19:12. > :19:23.want to sail a club that more about what I saw in constituencies. -- say

:19:24. > :19:28.a little more. In Carlisle and Cockermouth, people who have seen

:19:29. > :19:32.the TV coverage will be left dismayed by the horrific scenes we

:19:33. > :19:36.have seen with people with their belongings out on the pavements,

:19:37. > :19:42.their homes saturated, in temporary accommodation. There is an issue

:19:43. > :19:47.about temporary accommodation in the area. There is not much private

:19:48. > :19:53.rented accommodation to move into. We spoke to them about the massive

:19:54. > :20:01.excess on their flood insurance premiums. Now that more floods have

:20:02. > :20:08.happened, premiums are going to go up or they may not even be able to

:20:09. > :20:13.insure their homes at all. On the issue of flood premiums, does she

:20:14. > :20:18.share my concern that the government's new scheme does not

:20:19. > :20:21.cover the insurance costs of businesses and does she share my

:20:22. > :20:29.regret at the lack of solidarity in that scheme? This was mentioned to

:20:30. > :20:34.as by small businesses. We were told that the government's logic was that

:20:35. > :20:42.you could shop around in the market. But clearly if you were hit in 2005

:20:43. > :20:45.and 2009, and again now, you are going to struggle to find insurance.

:20:46. > :20:53.It is enough to put them out of his must. Especially if closed for

:20:54. > :21:00.refurbishment for several months because of the floods. The she agree

:21:01. > :21:10.that it would be incorrect to link these very tragic instances to

:21:11. > :21:16.flooding to global warming. As the IPC themselves say, it is impossible

:21:17. > :21:22.to link individual items of bad weather with climate change. I think

:21:23. > :21:29.the honourable gentleman needs to talk to the Environment Secretary

:21:30. > :21:33.who acknowledged that... Individual episodes do not make a pattern but

:21:34. > :21:38.we are clearly seeing a pattern emerging in terms of extreme weather

:21:39. > :21:47.events both at home and abroad. Spending increased by real terms by

:21:48. > :21:57.three quarters between 1997 and 2010. But funding has been slashed

:21:58. > :22:02.by hundred and 60 million in 2011. It was lined up for further cuts in

:22:03. > :22:09.2013 and 2014 before the cuts the Somerset Levels showed they had gone

:22:10. > :22:14.too far. There are always listens to be learned. I will make sure that

:22:15. > :22:20.there are. The Minister hasn't shown signs of learning those lessons.

:22:21. > :22:29.Flood mismanagement expenditure was above ?800 million. It has now been

:22:30. > :22:32.cut to ?700 million. How quickly those images of the Somerset Levels

:22:33. > :22:40.have faded from the Prime Minister's mind. She is making an excellent

:22:41. > :22:47.point. Does she share my regret that when the Prime Minister said money

:22:48. > :22:51.is no object, it seems that when the images have faded from public

:22:52. > :22:59.consciousness that money is an object. It seems that money was no

:23:00. > :23:05.object in terms of the short-term clearer, although there were big

:23:06. > :23:12.delays in some people getting that money. Council leaders have raised

:23:13. > :23:17.concerns that they don't have the resources or staff to do that

:23:18. > :23:21.Administration. I hope that is something the Minister will give

:23:22. > :23:25.clarity on. Last week, the Environment Secretary was assuring

:23:26. > :23:30.the people of Cumbria that the government would learn lessons.

:23:31. > :23:36.After every flood, the thing you do after sitting down is to look at the

:23:37. > :23:41.money you were spending and what you are building and ask if it is

:23:42. > :23:51.enough? I'm not convinced if it is enough. We have had a double red

:23:52. > :23:57.warning. The environment audit committee gave the government a

:23:58. > :24:03.double red card. Experts have provided evidence that we are

:24:04. > :24:07.already not doing enough. In terms of learning the lessons, is my

:24:08. > :24:14.honourable friend surprised that something like half of the

:24:15. > :24:24.Chancellor's plans to fast-track new-build houses are on flood

:24:25. > :24:27.plains. People could struggle to get insurance for these new houses

:24:28. > :24:35.because of their location on flood plains. We have seen that the

:24:36. > :24:43.defences that people thought were safe enough, to withstand what was

:24:44. > :24:47.described in 2009 as a once in a century event, they weren't good

:24:48. > :24:52.enough. Therefore, the government would need to reassure me that any

:24:53. > :24:55.defences they build in those areas would be sufficient to protect

:24:56. > :25:04.people and also deal with the issue of insurance. The honourable lady is

:25:05. > :25:09.making an eloquent case about what is going on in Cumbria. I'm

:25:10. > :25:15.wondering if she took time to visit Lancashire where we have had really

:25:16. > :25:22.bad floods as well. In the same year as floating to increase allowances,

:25:23. > :25:28.Labour run Lancashire County Council have admitted that regular

:25:29. > :25:33.inspection of storm drains has been increased from 12 months to 15

:25:34. > :25:38.months, inevitably leading to higher flood risk. I haven't had the

:25:39. > :25:43.opportunity to visit to Lancashire yet although I did speak with the

:25:44. > :25:47.honourable member for Lancaster and Fleetwood about the situation. I

:25:48. > :25:55.think it is a bit of a cheap point to bring in details of council

:25:56. > :26:01.allowances when we are talking about people's homes. Maybe he needs to

:26:02. > :26:09.speak to his front bench about the massive cuts that his government are

:26:10. > :26:13.imposing. On that point, does she agree with me that it would be worth

:26:14. > :26:21.looking at local authorities running insurance systems to avoid high risk

:26:22. > :26:27.and stop them building on flood plains. Perhaps the government could

:26:28. > :26:33.look at that. It is probably one for the Environment Secretary to answer

:26:34. > :26:38.when she responds in a moment. The government has announced that it

:26:39. > :26:46.will invest 2.3 billion on flood defences in the next few years. This

:26:47. > :26:49.relies on ?600 million of external contributions, less than half of

:26:50. > :26:56.which have been secured. With the private sector providing just 61

:26:57. > :26:59.million, def is looking to local authorities for additional funding.

:27:00. > :27:07.The government clearly doesn't get how hard councils have already been

:27:08. > :27:10.hit by floods. There has been no progress in the past years on

:27:11. > :27:14.schemes in Cumbria which have been delayed. On maintenance, we have

:27:15. > :27:20.been told that the budget will be projected but does the Minister

:27:21. > :27:25.believe this budget is sufficient given years of past neglect? The

:27:26. > :27:28.government spent 71 million on maintenance last year. The

:27:29. > :27:34.Environment Agency has recommended that 417 million should be needed.

:27:35. > :27:36.Friends of the Earth have warned that there is a 2.5 billion hole in

:27:37. > :27:51.the government's flood plans. Last week, Mr Speaker, the

:27:52. > :27:54.Environment Secretary agreed with me about the extreme weather and

:27:55. > :27:58.dealing with climate change and the Government has conceded it

:27:59. > :28:02.underestimated the risks. They are not using the most up-to-date

:28:03. > :28:10.information. I hope the Environment Secretary will be able to tell us by

:28:11. > :28:15.the environment -- why there has been no use of new research that

:28:16. > :28:21.shows river flows could be much greater. Flood defence plans are

:28:22. > :28:28.modelled on the median pathway rather than the high scenario. This

:28:29. > :28:34.would cost more money, to look at the high risk scenarios. However,

:28:35. > :28:39.the costs of ignoring this a much greater. It is 81 priority risk

:28:40. > :28:49.alongside terrorism and cyber attacks. By focusing on optimistic

:28:50. > :28:52.projections, the Government is neglecting its responsibilities on

:28:53. > :28:56.climate change. Ignoring climate change will not make it go away. For

:28:57. > :29:01.two years, the UK was hampered by having a climate change denier as

:29:02. > :29:07.the Environment Secretary and it is rumoured that he tried to replace

:29:08. > :29:11.the word climate change wet weather in every document I had to be

:29:12. > :29:19.explained to him that it was not the same thing. Under his stewardship

:29:20. > :29:28.funding on I'm a change dropped. Thankfully the current climate

:29:29. > :29:32.secretary is more interested in she will have our full support as she is

:29:33. > :29:37.guided by expert advice. We look forward to hearing more details on

:29:38. > :29:40.the national flood resilient review. I welcome the confirmation that the

:29:41. > :29:45.Cumbrian floods partnership will be looking at upstream options and I

:29:46. > :29:49.hope this will be included in the resilient review. The focus on the

:29:50. > :29:55.role of the natural environment is unfortunately long overdue and I

:29:56. > :30:08.know the environment Minister's constituency was badly affected. I

:30:09. > :30:12.hope he is taking this on board. She is talking about national

:30:13. > :30:16.resilience. Does you think it is a failure of the last Labour

:30:17. > :30:22.Government are not have done this in 2005? For example, in Carlisle we

:30:23. > :30:30.are in a flood plain area that was flooded in 2005 and thanks to the

:30:31. > :30:35.hard work of the emergency services was not flooded in 2015. Why did

:30:36. > :30:41.they not looking moving it? We did commission a review. The honourable

:30:42. > :30:46.gentleman mentioned the work of the emergency services. I did meet with

:30:47. > :30:52.mountain rescue when I was in Cumbria and they have done fantastic

:30:53. > :31:01.work. There are calls for the Fire Brigade 's's response to flooding to

:31:02. > :31:07.be on a statutory footing, not as an adult, and the mountain rescue teams

:31:08. > :31:09.do wonderful work based on voluntary contributions and I hope that is

:31:10. > :31:16.something that will be looked at as part of the review. With my

:31:17. > :31:19.honourable friend agree with me that this is a timely opportunity for us

:31:20. > :31:24.to look again at the funding of Fire Services up and down the country. On

:31:25. > :31:30.Merseyside we have had extreme cuts and the whole model needs to be

:31:31. > :31:34.revisited. This was raised with me. There are five fire stations in

:31:35. > :31:38.Cumbria that are due to close and the control centre is in Warrington.

:31:39. > :31:44.One point that has been made is that the firefighters on the ground have

:31:45. > :31:47.the best local Norwich, but people in Warrington were trying to send

:31:48. > :31:53.them to people where there are fire alarm had gone off but they were the

:31:54. > :31:57.ones who knew the towns and villages were already under water and they

:31:58. > :32:02.could not pass the roads. There is a lot to be said for keeping local

:32:03. > :32:05.knowledge and local fire stations. I am sure constituency MPs will have

:32:06. > :32:09.something to say about that. Flooding has had a devastating

:32:10. > :32:15.impact on farmers are many in Cumbria have been hit by a double

:32:16. > :32:19.whammy, having also been informed it will not receive their basic

:32:20. > :32:22.payments until February. Given the losses that they have suffered from

:32:23. > :32:25.flooding and a positive contribution of farmers I would hope that better

:32:26. > :32:30.would be working closely with them to involve them in a long-term

:32:31. > :32:32.strategic approach to flood risk, looking at ways to maximise

:32:33. > :32:40.absorbency and how the Government can promote agricultural forestry.

:32:41. > :32:50.We forcing 5% of land reduces flood peaks by 29%. -- pitting forest-mac

:32:51. > :32:54.into 5% of the land. Sustainable drainage systems can make a positive

:32:55. > :32:56.difference, but progress has been slow and difficult for local

:32:57. > :33:01.authorities to make progress on flood risk management strategy since

:33:02. > :33:04.limited. Especially considering the additional budget cuts. As the

:33:05. > :33:07.climate is Committee reported, many have not yet finalised their

:33:08. > :33:12.strategy is a boulder civil legal requirement for the last five years.

:33:13. > :33:15.I hope the Environment Secretary is coordinating departmental work to

:33:16. > :33:22.manage the flood risk and he is factoring it into plans such as

:33:23. > :33:27.house-building plans. In light of the agreements reached in Paris, I

:33:28. > :33:31.would urge the Environment Secretary to bring forward the climate change

:33:32. > :33:35.risk assessment and to consider whether the national adaptation

:33:36. > :33:38.programme is fit for purpose. As the Committee on climate change has

:33:39. > :33:42.said, the next programme is a clear sense of priorities and measurable

:33:43. > :33:45.objectives. Even if commitments are met, the Paris agreement means that

:33:46. > :33:49.the Government must prepare for temperature rises of nearly three

:33:50. > :33:52.degrees. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the national resilience

:33:53. > :33:57.review which has been announced as only the first step in tackling this

:33:58. > :34:04.problem? It must lead to a realistic plan and action. As yet, Mr Speaker,

:34:05. > :34:10.we do not know what they need to adapt to because they do not know

:34:11. > :34:12.what the Energy and Climate Change Secretary is proposed by way of

:34:13. > :34:17.implementing the Paris agreement in the UK. In her statement on Paris

:34:18. > :34:21.yesterday, there was little sense that the Government has any

:34:22. > :34:25.strategy, let alone a fully funded one, to meet the UK's climate change

:34:26. > :34:33.commitments to help the global community keep temperature rises

:34:34. > :34:35.below to degrees. The UN's chief environment representative as had

:34:36. > :34:41.intervened to challenge the Government's practices in renewable

:34:42. > :34:45.energy. This said disappointed when we see countries like the United

:34:46. > :34:49.Kingdom, who had been in the lead in terms of getting renewable energy up

:34:50. > :34:52.and going, having their subsidies withdrawn and the fossil fuel

:34:53. > :34:56.industry being enhanced. We can only agree that it is a very serious

:34:57. > :35:02.signal that we do not want to create. Mr Speaker, the UK under the

:35:03. > :35:09.last Labour administration had a proud record on climate change. From

:35:10. > :35:12.Laura Prescott's role, Gordon Brown and his role in establishing the

:35:13. > :35:17.global climate fund, and my right honourable friend the member for

:35:18. > :35:21.Doncaster North of the climate change act, which has now been

:35:22. > :35:26.emulated by 100 other countries. We were the first. That legacy is

:35:27. > :35:31.slipping away and it is future generations who will pay the price.

:35:32. > :35:35.As she fields and so my honourable friend's question yesterday, I hope

:35:36. > :35:40.the Environment Secretary will now be able to confirm that they will be

:35:41. > :35:44.reviewing the recently abandoned green policies and that the UK will

:35:45. > :35:49.continue to support raising European targets and reducing carbon

:35:50. > :35:52.emissions by 2030. It is not just energy where they need leadership.

:35:53. > :35:56.Will she ensure that there is more coordination with the Department for

:35:57. > :36:00.Transport, the department for businesses prioritise in green jobs

:36:01. > :36:04.and that our financial services to Nokia promoting investing in fossil

:36:05. > :36:11.fuels. Will she stop the Chancellor for making short-term cuts, ignoring

:36:12. > :36:14.the environmental and human costs. Expert after expert is warning that

:36:15. > :36:18.the Government is failing on climate change and failing to protect people

:36:19. > :36:22.from flooding. They are letting down communities who are dreading the

:36:23. > :36:27.next heavy downfall and they are and future generations who will there

:36:28. > :36:30.the brunt of climate change. I hope, Mr Speaker, both the secretaries of

:36:31. > :36:35.state will agree that this Government has run out of excuses

:36:36. > :36:43.and now is the time to act. The question is as on the order paper.

:36:44. > :36:48.Mr Speaker, the exceptional rainfall we have seen in the last couple of

:36:49. > :36:52.weeks has led to some very distressing situations for families

:36:53. > :36:57.and businesses in the North of England, with serious flooding has

:36:58. > :37:01.occurred. It is rightly we use every opportunity offered in this House to

:37:02. > :37:07.express our sympathy for those most deeply affected. It is also right to

:37:08. > :37:10.be paid tribute to the work of emergency responders, to the

:37:11. > :37:14.Environment Agency, and volunteers from around the country who have

:37:15. > :37:20.worked tirelessly to help get people to safety and to clean up so quickly

:37:21. > :37:26.so that people can return to their homes as soon as possible. The

:37:27. > :37:29.Government mobilised for all national emergency response. We

:37:30. > :37:37.deployed the military from day one to protect the lives of people. The

:37:38. > :37:42.corporate contingency Committee has met every day to see how resources

:37:43. > :37:43.can be deployed to communities and the recovery effort continues. --

:37:44. > :37:57.equal bra. Equal. Can you help the people that

:37:58. > :38:01.have suffered so much for some additional funding and how quickly

:38:02. > :38:04.could that is secured? That is one of the aspects we are looking at

:38:05. > :38:09.that it would take seven months for that money to comment. What we have

:38:10. > :38:13.done is that then one week of these terrible flood occurring, we have

:38:14. > :38:18.made available ?51 million to give immediate relief to the households

:38:19. > :38:24.and businesses in Cumbria, right across the North, that have been

:38:25. > :38:29.affected. The Chancellor announced that last week we were supporting

:38:30. > :38:34.households and businesses in affected areas. The honourable lady

:38:35. > :38:38.asked about accommodation and we are very concerned to make sure that

:38:39. > :38:41.there is available accommodation for those who are out of their homes and

:38:42. > :38:45.we're working with local councils to make sure that they have every

:38:46. > :38:50.possible resource that they need to able to do that. We had divers

:38:51. > :38:54.assessing the bridges to get those open as soon as possible. We had

:38:55. > :38:57.diggers clearing out the roads. We are doing everything we can to make

:38:58. > :39:02.sure that we get Cumbria up and running as soon as possible and that

:39:03. > :39:09.it is open to business as soon as possible. I give way. She rightly

:39:10. > :39:17.says there has been great effort to clear the roads. The main connecting

:39:18. > :39:20.a road between the north and the South has been closed and that has

:39:21. > :39:25.effectively ruin the two this industry on both sides of that

:39:26. > :39:29.divide. The Royal Engineers did a great job clearing the mess and he

:39:30. > :39:37.left yesterday. Can she do something to invite them back to rebuild a

:39:38. > :39:44.quickly? She is right. The road is a critical artery and it is important

:39:45. > :39:50.for up to get about. -- tourism. It is now passable with a four by four

:39:51. > :39:53.vehicle and we tried to get it running as quickly as possible. The

:39:54. > :40:00.Department for Transport are working very closely with the emergency

:40:01. > :40:05.teams to make sure that it happens. The West Coast mainline is up and

:40:06. > :40:12.running and that was put up and running as soon as possible. Almost

:40:13. > :40:16.all of the hundred and 69 households who have had their power cuts have

:40:17. > :40:23.been reconnected apart from a small group of under 50 who require extra

:40:24. > :40:26.work. We have the Environment Agency assessing what more can be done and

:40:27. > :40:33.moving in heavy equipment to clear rivers. Our priority must remain

:40:34. > :40:39.with public safety. Although 84 flood warnings have been removed and

:40:40. > :40:43.the last day, further for now -- further flooding could occur because

:40:44. > :40:52.of saturated ground. I urge people to keep up-to-date with the

:40:53. > :40:58.Environment Agency's website. Although this is of no comfort to

:40:59. > :41:02.those who have suffered, the flood defences have successfully defended

:41:03. > :41:05.over 100,000 houses and businesses from losing their power supplies and

:41:06. > :41:11.what is important is that we look at how we can further improve

:41:12. > :41:13.resilience in our country. My right honourable friend with

:41:14. > :41:16.responsibility for energy and climate change is working to ensure

:41:17. > :41:21.that we have long-term energy security and that we are tackling

:41:22. > :41:27.dangerous emissions. I think that she has showing massive readership

:41:28. > :41:33.over the past week in what she has achieved in Paris. It is a hazard

:41:34. > :41:39.oracle achievement -- it is a historical achievement and think

:41:40. > :41:43.those should be applauding her great leadership at an international

:41:44. > :41:46.level. I can see honourable members on the benches opposite

:41:47. > :41:49.acknowledging that is the case and that is extremely welcome from the

:41:50. > :42:03.former climate change secretary. In an I'm grateful to the Secretary

:42:04. > :42:07.of State and I apologise for bringing back the subject of

:42:08. > :42:15.flooding. Does she think it is time for a radical change in the way we

:42:16. > :42:21.fund flood maintenance? We get promises and they fade. It tends to

:42:22. > :42:27.happen under all governments. Should the responsibility be handed over to

:42:28. > :42:36.a regulated standard, for example the water companies? We have made a

:42:37. > :42:40.change. Rather than seeing a stop -start in flood defence spending, we

:42:41. > :42:45.have laid out a fully funded six-year programme to give

:42:46. > :42:50.communities that certainty. I will be talking about that later in my

:42:51. > :42:55.comments. I was in the middle of praising my right honourable friend

:42:56. > :42:59.for doing a fantastic job and I need that to be acknowledged. At the same

:43:00. > :43:05.time as achieving an international deal on climate change, moving to

:43:06. > :43:14.A-level playing field, it is really important to get countries across

:43:15. > :43:23.the world to contribute, it is also important that we get improvements

:43:24. > :43:32.to customer at home. My noble friend is showing the way that is done. The

:43:33. > :43:38.reality is, under this government, there is a long-term plan for

:43:39. > :43:42.economic and energy security. Part of that plan is improving our

:43:43. > :43:49.resilience and investing in flood defences. There are seeing extreme

:43:50. > :43:54.weather events becoming more common. We have seen devastating floods in

:43:55. > :43:59.Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland, and elsewhere. We saw record

:44:00. > :44:06.rainfall and water levels in our rivers half a metre higher than ever

:44:07. > :44:16.before. I've visited on my second visit to Cumbria in a week, I

:44:17. > :44:20.visited Appleby yesterday and met local residents, army and volunteers

:44:21. > :44:26.who have been tremendous during this rescue effort. I saw the sheer power

:44:27. > :44:32.of the water and the way it had washed away bridges downstream. I

:44:33. > :44:38.also saw huge spirit and resilience throughout the region. I would

:44:39. > :44:44.invite her to come back to the question about maintenance grants.

:44:45. > :44:50.The amount of money spent on maintaining a cyst in flood

:44:51. > :44:53.shortfall of 2.5 billion on what the shortfall of 2.5 billion on what the

:44:54. > :45:01.Environment Agency says is needed and will she fill it? As part of the

:45:02. > :45:07.Autumn Statement we are increasing maintenance spending from real terms

:45:08. > :45:13.from 171 million per year. In a climate where we are having to

:45:14. > :45:17.reduce government budgets, we are increasing in real terms, flood

:45:18. > :45:23.capital spending and flood maintenance spending, which shows

:45:24. > :45:30.the priority we place on this. Sir Michael Pitt in his report after the

:45:31. > :45:35.2007 floods said that flooding was the greatest risk we face from

:45:36. > :45:39.climate change and that spending needed to rise by more than

:45:40. > :45:44.inflation each and every year. Can she explain why in real terms we

:45:45. > :45:55.will be spending exactly the same as we were spending in 2009-10? The

:45:56. > :46:08.reality is that between 2005-10, Labour spent 1.5 billion on flood

:46:09. > :46:14.capital, in 2005-2010 -2015 which is a real term increase not a cut. We

:46:15. > :46:24.are investing 2 billion which is a real terms increase and not a cut.

:46:25. > :46:34.We are spending 2 billion, between 2005-10, Labour spent 1.5 billion.

:46:35. > :46:39.It represents a real terms increase. The question is, does she think that

:46:40. > :46:46.is sufficient given the recent events and the clear and growing

:46:47. > :46:55.link to climate change and the devastating effects it is causing?

:46:56. > :47:00.What these additional funding that we are putting into flood defences

:47:01. > :47:06.will mean is a reduction in flood risk over the next six years. Not an

:47:07. > :47:11.elimination of risk. We need to make sure that we have the right

:47:12. > :47:17.emergency response in place but it will reduce flood risk. I wanted to

:47:18. > :47:23.answer the point raised in the opposition benches about the

:47:24. > :47:30.spending in recent years. The reality is, following the 2013-14

:47:31. > :47:37.floods, we put in an extra 270 million to repair and rebuild those

:47:38. > :47:42.defences destroyed. That is the money the benches opposite are

:47:43. > :47:48.talking about. Even if you take into account the extra funding we put in

:47:49. > :47:53.which was rebuilding those defences after the winter floods, we are

:47:54. > :47:58.still spending more in real terms in this Parliament on flood defences.

:47:59. > :48:05.We are laying it out in a six-year programme for the first time ever.

:48:06. > :48:10.The fact is, when Labour were in power, they never laid out plans for

:48:11. > :48:20.more than one year at a time. We are laying out a six-year plan. Could I

:48:21. > :48:25.ask the Secretary of State, when the ask the Secretary of State, when the

:48:26. > :48:30.Chancellor was pulling together his fast-track terms for housing, half

:48:31. > :48:34.of which are going to be built on flood plain areas, did she have

:48:35. > :48:42.sight on that policy and comment on it? If not, why not? The Environment

:48:43. > :48:48.Agency are part of the planning process, they do not allow

:48:49. > :48:49.house-building on flood plain areas. That is part of the planning

:48:50. > :49:04.process. She will remember, not just Cumbria,

:49:05. > :49:09.but the awful time we had in Somerset with the flooding but I

:49:10. > :49:17.have got to say that the government have committed ?35 billion to

:49:18. > :49:21.Somerset until 2021 and I wonder about the arrangement we are putting

:49:22. > :49:28.into place with the Somerset Rivers authority that may provide a model

:49:29. > :49:33.for other areas. She is absolutely right. The Somerset Rivers authority

:49:34. > :49:38.does form a model which I believe we can use in other parts of the

:49:39. > :49:43.country. It gives local people who understand the area and the local

:49:44. > :49:58.catchment, the power to be able to make decisions. I have given away

:49:59. > :50:03.once, I will make progress. Is to respond to the opposition point

:50:04. > :50:07.about local farmers, I met with them yesterday. We are helping them to

:50:08. > :50:13.get their land are sorted out, much of which is covered with rubble. We

:50:14. > :50:18.are putting in place a special scheme to help farmers which will be

:50:19. > :50:26.open from Friday and we are privatising basic farm payments for

:50:27. > :50:31.those -- prioritising basic farm payments for those worst affected.

:50:32. > :50:35.This is the first time ever a government has laid out future flood

:50:36. > :50:42.defence spending. The private partnership funding is in addition

:50:43. > :50:51.to the real terms increase. That is extra money. To mean that even more

:50:52. > :50:58.flood defence schemes can go ahead. We have secured ?250 million of that

:50:59. > :51:03.money and have a 350 million earmarked. We are only six months

:51:04. > :51:11.into the scheme. Remember what happened between 2005-10. Only ?13

:51:12. > :51:16.million was raised. We raised 134 million in the last Parliament, ten

:51:17. > :51:23.times what was raised under the previous government. What the money

:51:24. > :51:28.we are putting in represents is real defences across the country. In

:51:29. > :51:35.Boston, we are building a new ?90 million barrier. In Lancashire, we

:51:36. > :51:44.are investing ?63 million for a two kilometres sea wall. In Exeter, ?30

:51:45. > :51:51.million on new flood defences. On the Thames, ?220 million on a 17

:51:52. > :51:57.kilometre flood relief channel. In the Honourable Lady's constituency

:51:58. > :52:01.of Bristol East, we will be investing ?1 million in a scheme. In

:52:02. > :52:13.Stockton North, ?8 million in a scheme at Port Clarence. What this

:52:14. > :52:17.real terms increase in spending means is protection for real

:52:18. > :52:28.families and businesses across the country in addition to protection

:52:29. > :52:32.for 420,000 acres of farmland. She knows that local MPs around the

:52:33. > :52:40.Humber supported a proposal looking for around ?1 billion for the second

:52:41. > :52:46.greatest strategic risk after London, the Humber area. What plans

:52:47. > :52:52.are therefore a viable programme for that area coming forward? We are

:52:53. > :52:56.investing ?80 million in flood defences for that area but I'm happy

:52:57. > :53:03.to meet him and colleagues to talk about what more we can do to

:53:04. > :53:07.increase resilience in this area. I think it is very important to note

:53:08. > :53:13.that we are not complacent about our flood defences. We are looking at

:53:14. > :53:18.what has happened in recent weeks to make sure we learn lessons and act

:53:19. > :53:23.upon the new evidence that has come to light. We have committed

:53:24. > :53:36.ourselves to two reviews. First of all, the fund -- the Cumbria

:53:37. > :53:41.flooding partnership. We'll we will look at downstream defences and how

:53:42. > :53:46.we can slow the flow upstream and how we can more involve the

:53:47. > :53:52.community. I saw a fantastic project last week where they are using

:53:53. > :53:56.upstream mitigation to reduce the peaks in river flow. It is already

:53:57. > :54:02.happening and I want to see more of it. That is why we are launching

:54:03. > :54:06.this new work stream. We are putting in place the National resilience

:54:07. > :54:13.review to see how we model extreme weather and how we protect critical

:54:14. > :54:15.assets and how we make future investment decisions which I think

:54:16. > :54:23.my honourable friend was asking about further. To be clear, the ?2.3

:54:24. > :54:28.billion programme we have put in, we want communities to have certainty

:54:29. > :54:31.that projects are going ahead. This will look at future flooding

:54:32. > :54:39.investment to make sure that the formula is adapted to what we now

:54:40. > :54:43.know. We already have some of the most sophisticated flood modelling

:54:44. > :54:50.in the world. For the first time in Cumbria during this flooding we used

:54:51. > :54:55.resilience direct, meaning all the emergency services could communicate

:54:56. > :54:59.together in real time with the Environment Agency which was very

:55:00. > :55:04.effective in getting early action, and we are working to make sure that

:55:05. > :55:10.we keep up-to-date with the latest trends in climate and extreme

:55:11. > :55:16.weather that the Honourable Lady was talking about. Mr Speaker, I'd like

:55:17. > :55:25.to conclude my remarks now. We are completely committed to do whatever

:55:26. > :55:29.it takes to make sure Cumbria and other flood affected areas are more

:55:30. > :55:35.resilient in the future. Without a strong economy, under a strong

:55:36. > :55:40.Conservative government, we wouldn't have money for these crucial

:55:41. > :55:45.schemes. It is our party that is investing in new power stations and

:55:46. > :55:49.make each other we have the energy supply is well reducing carbon

:55:50. > :55:55.emissions. It is our party that is investing to make this country more

:55:56. > :56:01.resilient and adapt to climate change and extreme weather. The

:56:02. > :56:06.party opposite have no plan, they shirk these decisions in office and

:56:07. > :56:12.they wasted our money. Let's remember what the Chief Secretary

:56:13. > :56:17.said, he said, I'm afraid there is no money. That was their legacy. The

:56:18. > :56:22.fact is, it is this side of the house that is affecting our economy,

:56:23. > :56:32.safeguarding our security and our future. Thank you for allowing me

:56:33. > :56:39.the opportunity to take part in this debate. First of all, I'd like to

:56:40. > :56:43.urge all Honourable members on this side of the house, in particular, to

:56:44. > :56:49.pay close attention to what I have to say. Unfortunately, this

:56:50. > :56:54.opposition Day motion shows a fundamental lack of understanding of

:56:55. > :56:59.the reality on the ground in Holly and the Scottish Borders, which is

:57:00. > :57:05.my constituency, which suffered serious flooding earlier this month.

:57:06. > :57:11.I thank the member for giving way and will he also accept that there

:57:12. > :57:17.have been problems in serious flooding in Northern Ireland and he

:57:18. > :57:23.gives no reference to that at all. There are 60 roads still closed in

:57:24. > :57:25.my constituency today. I thank the honourable member for that

:57:26. > :57:30.intervention and it is an excellent point. My constituency is mentioned

:57:31. > :57:35.and emotion but has not been mentioned once in proceedings so

:57:36. > :57:39.far. It is the same experience. It is very disappointing that the

:57:40. > :57:43.motion makes a fundamental error in terms of the funding process for

:57:44. > :57:53.flood defences in Scotland. I hope my speech to explain this and why

:57:54. > :57:59.and make upfront. The River TV broke its banks on the 15th of December

:58:00. > :58:06.and 600 people had to be evacuated. 333 homes were impacted as well as

:58:07. > :58:13.45 local businesses. The town reacted magnificently to the crisis.

:58:14. > :58:19.I was along with the volunteers and community safety Minister on the

:58:20. > :58:27.ground putting down sandbags under the direction of Hawick police and

:58:28. > :58:33.emergency services, who all did a fantastic job. The reality is that

:58:34. > :58:37.if it had not been for their help in intervention then things could've

:58:38. > :58:43.been a lot worse and I like to pay tribute to all of their efforts,

:58:44. > :58:47.including Scottish Borders Council. Our councils tend to be the whipping

:58:48. > :58:54.boys, solid like to pay tribute to them for coordinating the effort. --

:58:55. > :58:57.so I would like. The damage caused by the flood in Hawick has been

:58:58. > :59:02.significant. The Scottish Government made it clear from the start that

:59:03. > :59:09.the scheme would be implemented to fund repair work. It also emphasised

:59:10. > :59:15.that money is available to fund a fool flood prevention scheme. A

:59:16. > :59:19.preferred scheme has been frozen and they are now moving to the detailed

:59:20. > :59:25.design. Have now been chosen. It is critical to get this right. It can

:59:26. > :59:31.feel or make things worse if it is not right. The swift response has

:59:32. > :59:33.eased the worries of people in the towns and shown the Scottish

:59:34. > :59:41.Government to be empathetic and fast acting. I will give way. He thinks

:59:42. > :59:46.that the Scottish Government have been exemplary and wonderful and

:59:47. > :59:48.there is nothing else that he would ask them to do on behalf of his

:59:49. > :00:00.constituents on this important matter. That is a glowing tribute to

:00:01. > :00:05.the people of my constituency. If he would like to listen I will explain

:00:06. > :00:10.the process in more detail. If anyone stands up on any side of the

:00:11. > :00:14.House, and there is a sense that nothing can be learnt, it would be a

:00:15. > :00:18.mistake. It is always possible to improve the response to be better

:00:19. > :00:23.next time. The flooding that took place will be examined in detail and

:00:24. > :00:28.will inform the flood defences that are put in place. Across Scotland

:00:29. > :00:35.there was a first-class and highly impressive multi-agency response.

:00:36. > :00:38.Madam Deputy Speaker, the truth is Madam Deputy Speaker, the truth is

:00:39. > :00:42.that we will never be able to stop flooding. It has been with us

:00:43. > :00:46.throughout history. The old throughout history. The old

:00:47. > :00:53.Testament and the Koran tells us about now and the Ark and I must be

:00:54. > :01:01.people in Scotland and in Carlisle who thought that they were extras in

:01:02. > :01:06.the sequel. As we cannot prevent water, we must do our best and

:01:07. > :01:12.redirecting it. In Scotland, all of the flood defences that we had in

:01:13. > :01:20.place held. In Galashiels, they stayed in place and in Selkirk where

:01:21. > :01:24.they had only been half built they still did their job. That highlights

:01:25. > :01:30.how well designed schemes can make a difference. The Scottish Government

:01:31. > :01:35.regards reduced flood risk as a priority and provide annual funding

:01:36. > :01:40.of ?42 million for councils to invest in major flood prevention

:01:41. > :01:47.schemes. Does he accept that there is an issue of urban flooding, that

:01:48. > :01:50.is less reported. I know my constituency it is now been renamed

:01:51. > :01:55.as an island because all the access roads were blocked with flooding. It

:01:56. > :02:03.is important that local authorities invest this money appropriately. He

:02:04. > :02:09.is absolutely right. It is not just the challenge, the flooding can be

:02:10. > :02:20.exacerbated by the Constitution of dwellings. In some parts of

:02:21. > :02:25.Scotland... I will give way. Having been in charge of flood risk

:02:26. > :02:29.management to Wales and all have imported the devolved administration

:02:30. > :02:34.is in this respect. Can I ask him if he is looking at the situation of

:02:35. > :02:39.capturing water on buildings in box so that it believes the amount they

:02:40. > :02:42.goes down into sewers and secondly whether they are investing in the

:02:43. > :02:51.resilience of particular properties in terms of waterproofing, because

:02:52. > :02:55.no defence is 100% reliable. I think he displays an Admiral knowledge of

:02:56. > :03:04.the subject and if my House is ever in a flooding plane I know who to go

:03:05. > :03:08.to for advice. This debate is about time it change and flooding, but

:03:09. > :03:12.there are so many other issues in terms of land use that could be

:03:13. > :03:17.covered in more detail. You must always plan to prevent at a local

:03:18. > :03:23.level and mitigate where you can. He makes an excellent point. The

:03:24. > :03:28.Scottish Government enacted its flood risk management act in 2009.

:03:29. > :03:32.This introduces our sustainable and modern approach to flood risk

:03:33. > :03:39.development, which considers the problems of climate change. For

:03:40. > :03:42.example, it provides a streamlined process for protection schemes and a

:03:43. > :03:45.framework for quarter nation between organisations involved in flood risk

:03:46. > :03:48.management. New methods have also management. New methods have also

:03:49. > :03:51.been put in place to ensure that stakeholders have a proper input

:03:52. > :03:56.into this process as is happening in Hawick now. Another hugely important

:03:57. > :04:08.piece of legislation is that climate change Scotland Act, enacted in

:04:09. > :04:14.2009. It sets the hard as climate change targets in the world with an

:04:15. > :04:17.80% reduction target by 2080. Ministers are required to report

:04:18. > :04:21.regularly to the Scottish Parliament on progress on emissions. By earlier

:04:22. > :04:25.this year, the Committee on climate change concluded that Scotland had

:04:26. > :04:29.continued to make good progress towards meeting these ambitious

:04:30. > :04:34.greenhouse gas reduction targets and we are on track to make that 42%

:04:35. > :04:40.target ahead of schedule. We continue to outperform the UK as a

:04:41. > :04:44.whole. In Western Europe, only one of the EU 15 states, Sweden, has

:04:45. > :04:50.achieved greater reductions. The Scottish Government has not hit all

:04:51. > :04:57.of its targets, partly because of the per4-mac revisions but I think

:04:58. > :05:01.it should be applauded for its ambitious vision to want to lead the

:05:02. > :05:05.way. The determination is that Scotland should continue to be a

:05:06. > :05:12.world leader in this area and that surely is the right approach to

:05:13. > :05:16.take. We should acknowledge its ambition and successes so far and I

:05:17. > :05:20.hope in this Chamber we can recognise there is a lot to learn

:05:21. > :05:23.from this in terms of best practice. The Scottish Government has pledged

:05:24. > :05:28.?1 billion of funding for two years of climate change action and there

:05:29. > :05:39.are plenty of reasons for optimism. Last year, renewables overtook the

:05:40. > :05:43.clear as Scotland's largest forum of power and wind turbines produce 139%

:05:44. > :05:50.of the electrical needs of Scottish hassles. These are highly

:05:51. > :05:54.encouraging figures. However no nation can ever live in isolation.

:05:55. > :06:01.Only by working together can world leaders properly address this, the

:06:02. > :06:06.greatest environmental threat of our age. At the summit last week we

:06:07. > :06:09.managed to achieve universal agreement, one that has been signed

:06:10. > :06:15.up to by rich and poor countries alike. I would like to congratulate

:06:16. > :06:19.the Secretary of State for her hard work in securing success at this

:06:20. > :06:26.historic convention, one which Scotland, and Ireland's First

:06:27. > :06:30.will not solve global warming, it is will not solve global warming, it is

:06:31. > :06:36.not a panacea. Paris finally showed that the world, along with the

:06:37. > :06:43.commitment, is there. I'm grateful to him for giving way. Emissions

:06:44. > :06:47.from aviation and shipping were left out from the Paris agreement. That

:06:48. > :06:56.he agree that is a fatal omission? Does he think that airport expansion

:06:57. > :07:02.would make a problem for the UK to meet its climate change commitments?

:07:03. > :07:09.That is an excellent point and it was notable in a recent carbon

:07:10. > :07:18.reports that air contributions were excluded. We must start looking at

:07:19. > :07:21.the whole picture. Paris did show that they will for a strong

:07:22. > :07:26.commitment is there as long as the hundred and 96 Nations the signed up

:07:27. > :07:32.to the declaration are going to prove that their word is their bond.

:07:33. > :07:35.Then we can look forward to a future that is bright and greed. In

:07:36. > :07:41.Scotland, as in so many other countries, this agreement could

:07:42. > :07:44.reshape our landscape. At the moment increasing rainfall and changes in

:07:45. > :07:51.patterns mean our 50,000 kilometre is of rivers are likely to flood

:07:52. > :07:59.more often. This create affect most of our major airports as well as the

:08:00. > :08:03.petrochemical complex. Rising sea levels mean that some of our coastal

:08:04. > :08:09.habitats could be lost entirely. There is another factor. I may

:08:10. > :08:15.change affects a disease that affects sheep and renders their

:08:16. > :08:20.lungs unusable as food. I hope not to disturb my colleagues here, but

:08:21. > :08:28.sheep lungs are key ingredient in haggis. This is central to Scottish

:08:29. > :08:37.culture. What with Burns night they were about haggis? -- with haggis.

:08:38. > :08:44.But now we can avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change

:08:45. > :08:49.and its affect on our food. The SNP has argued strongly against UK

:08:50. > :08:58.Government moves to roll back support for renewable energy.

:08:59. > :09:01.Subsidies to onshore wind, solar, and wind power are being reversed

:09:02. > :09:06.and cyber funding is being scrapped. Some of my colleagues plan to talk

:09:07. > :09:10.about this in more detail, the Treasury's decision to cut

:09:11. > :09:12.investment in carbon capture and Scottish technology, which is

:09:13. > :09:15.short-sighted. Some environmentalists say that we are

:09:16. > :09:20.now going through the worst period in green policy for 30 years. They

:09:21. > :09:27.need for positive and dramatic action stares us in the face.

:09:28. > :09:32.Climate change can no longer be denied. After Paris, every nation is

:09:33. > :09:35.going to have to be bolder. This offers us an opportunity to change

:09:36. > :09:39.the direction of travel. It is a perfect time for ministers to

:09:40. > :09:45.reverse the recent negative attitudes towards renewable and like

:09:46. > :09:51.Scotland turn the UK into a leader. They must walk the walk. This is our

:09:52. > :09:55.moment of choice. We can turn back the tide. For us and for our

:09:56. > :10:06.children and grandchildren there is still time. I employ this Government

:10:07. > :10:11.to help do so. Thank you. It is a pleasure to take part in this

:10:12. > :10:17.debate. It follows the excellent news from Paris and the more

:10:18. > :10:23.depressing news of recent flooding. I have just lost two of my favourite

:10:24. > :10:26.ministers from the bench, but I have another still on the front bench so

:10:27. > :10:35.I'm delighted to have their temporary audience. I would like the

:10:36. > :10:40.right honourable lady to congratulate -- I would like, like

:10:41. > :10:44.the right honourable lady, to congratulate the Minister on the

:10:45. > :10:46.deal in Paris. There will be different colleagues throughout this

:10:47. > :10:51.debate who will talk about how effective that deal was and how it

:10:52. > :10:56.contrasts the Copenhagen, which the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite

:10:57. > :11:03.has such scars from. Despite a lot of the detail being left for future

:11:04. > :11:07.work, I think we do have a framework in Paris which can give us hope for

:11:08. > :11:12.the future by building on these national contributions. We have the

:11:13. > :11:17.building blocks that we can use to go forward and we have got in place

:11:18. > :11:21.in the agreement the promise of a stock take and a review and

:11:22. > :11:27.hopefully a growth in ambition over time. It seems to me that following

:11:28. > :11:33.Paris, the Secretary of State on the front bench half to things to do. --

:11:34. > :11:39.had two things today. They had to make sure that UK reduction of

:11:40. > :11:46.carbon proceeds within the framework of the climate change act 2008 and

:11:47. > :11:50.those produced by the climate change Committee. I think it is worth

:11:51. > :11:55.saying, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we do not always have it right. For

:11:56. > :12:00.instance, if we look at onshore wind, which is currently the lowest

:12:01. > :12:08.cost form of renewable energy that we have, there was a misdiagnosis of

:12:09. > :12:12.the problem. The diagnosis of the problem which people like me have to

:12:13. > :12:17.provide to our constituencies that they did not like having onshore

:12:18. > :12:23.wind turbines forced on them, the local councillors ignored, and have

:12:24. > :12:27.a distant directorate in and then being built, losing any control over

:12:28. > :12:30.the local environment. Local people want to have control over the local

:12:31. > :12:34.environment and what they want to do is in the areas where there is least

:12:35. > :12:39.opposition, over the recompense could be such, they should go ahead,

:12:40. > :12:44.but where they do not want them, they should not go ahead. That was a

:12:45. > :12:47.mistake that the party opposite made with they were in Government and we

:12:48. > :12:51.tried to get them to see that we would ultimately end up with more if

:12:52. > :12:55.we went with the grain of local opinion rather than try to fight

:12:56. > :12:59.against it. And inevitably, those two were having the local

:13:00. > :13:03.environment dominated by these shots are as we divided political voice

:13:04. > :13:08.and eventually they would bring it to a halt and we would end up with

:13:09. > :13:12.less rather than more. That is how it has proved. The misdiagnosis of

:13:13. > :13:16.that my party came to the conclusion the difficulty was not about the

:13:17. > :13:20.planning, it was about the subsidy, although it is the lowest subsidy of

:13:21. > :13:24.any renewable energy. We are in a bizarre situation where we have no

:13:25. > :13:28.subsidy on the cheapest for but we talk about lowering the cost to

:13:29. > :13:31.consumers. We should have removed the right to appeal to the

:13:32. > :13:36.inspectorate and allowed the developers to provide packages that

:13:37. > :13:40.won support in certain parts of the country, and personally I think we

:13:41. > :13:43.would've ended up with more. Now we have a situation with the cheapest

:13:44. > :13:47.form of renewable energy does not get any support, which is a bizarre

:13:48. > :13:50.situation for us to BN. We do not want to make further mistakes like

:13:51. > :13:54.that. In my local area we have offshore wind and by next year we

:13:55. > :13:58.should have six gigawatts of offshore wind in this country, more

:13:59. > :14:02.than the rest of the world combined. By 2020 we should have ten gigawatts

:14:03. > :14:06.and as the Secretary of State recently laid out, and the

:14:07. > :14:15.Chancellor, there is every hope that we can see a doubling of that

:14:16. > :14:19.between 2020 in 2030. The like 2020 and 2030. We are making significant

:14:20. > :14:22.process and it is only because of the pipeline that we have seen the

:14:23. > :14:30.supply line manufacturers able to invest a lower cost.

:14:31. > :14:39.In a a big task is to work out how we are going to deliver lower carbon

:14:40. > :14:45.emissions at the lowest possible cost. Ten years ago, in Montreal,

:14:46. > :14:49.the conclusion was that we had to get costs down otherwise it was

:14:50. > :14:58.going to be hand-wringing environmental concern, sadly, which

:14:59. > :15:03.is not shared that widely amongst the populace of this country or

:15:04. > :15:09.parliamentarians. We needed to get costs down so it becomes politically

:15:10. > :15:18.more acceptable to people to do that which is more effective as tackled

:15:19. > :15:22.by the science. Every decision in this area should be about creating a

:15:23. > :15:27.framework which encourages investment. The state is a

:15:28. > :15:34.relatively small player. Sometimes we talk as if the state is the key

:15:35. > :15:40.driver, it isn't. It is a small player. We create the framework and

:15:41. > :15:47.then we get the investment, in solar, in private companies in

:15:48. > :15:53.China, which has led to a massive reduce in costs. With the help of

:15:54. > :15:59.the greening investment bank, we have accelerated the curve downwards

:16:00. > :16:03.in offshore wind. That is what we have to do. There was a lot of

:16:04. > :16:10.positive rhetoric under the last government from Labour but there was

:16:11. > :16:16.remarkably little action. In 2010, there was not the progress which we

:16:17. > :16:20.should have seen. In the United States, by comparison, the rhetoric

:16:21. > :16:25.is negative but the policy environment has been more positive.

:16:26. > :16:29.That is why we have seen investment in the United States and more

:16:30. > :16:36.innovation and more jobs created and we have seen in this country, even

:16:37. > :16:48.though we have appeared and try to be world leaders. I tried to say

:16:49. > :16:52.this on a cross-party basis, the success in offshore wind which is

:16:53. > :16:58.quite remarkable and needs to be kept going, was built on the back of

:16:59. > :17:02.the pipeline that was set up in that period of a Labour government where

:17:03. > :17:12.they put in the investment import facilities that allows Siemens to

:17:13. > :17:19.manufacture here. I know the pipeline. Quite a lot of progress

:17:20. > :17:24.made in the last five or six years was built on that basis but in the

:17:25. > :17:30.13 years of the Labour government remarkably little progress was made.

:17:31. > :17:33.If you compare the investment environment in renewable

:17:34. > :17:36.technologies in the United States with the actual investments in this

:17:37. > :17:46.country, I don't think we come out all that Bromley. I wanted to make a

:17:47. > :17:58.few remarks about challenges the government faces about lessening

:17:59. > :18:05.carbon. Building confidence at a national level to go further than us

:18:06. > :18:12.when we have the review in five years' time to raise the ambition

:18:13. > :18:16.and not heading towards under three degrees but genuinely heading for a

:18:17. > :18:21.sub 2 degrees world. There is a gym in this amount to be done in

:18:22. > :18:29.engaging parliamentarians. Colleagues from across the chamber

:18:30. > :18:34.attended the summit in Paris. We need to engage more with

:18:35. > :18:39.parliamentarians, particularly, it is equally true in parliaments like

:18:40. > :18:43.this where there are, despite the attendance today, remarkably few

:18:44. > :18:48.colleagues with much interest in the subject matter, we have got to

:18:49. > :18:54.engage more people in the subject matter and get those frameworks that

:18:55. > :18:58.will deliver investment. In developing countries there is a huge

:18:59. > :19:05.role for the UK in diplomacy and with engaging with parliamentarians

:19:06. > :19:14.to pass laws, set budgets and hold governments to account. I aim to

:19:15. > :19:19.finish in ten minutes. I will briefly say something about

:19:20. > :19:25.flooding, following my intervention on the other secretary of state

:19:26. > :19:29.earlier. The threat to the Humber is real and growing with rising sea

:19:30. > :19:36.levels. Last December we saw a bigger surge than we saw in 1953, if

:19:37. > :19:40.the wind direction and other factors have been slightly different we

:19:41. > :19:46.almost certainly would have seen loss of life. It is a growing issue

:19:47. > :19:50.and we need a long-term solution. Leaving it to government which has

:19:51. > :19:56.to decide on investment between schools, hospitals and other things,

:19:57. > :20:01.and investment long-term from other things, there's a tendency to cut

:20:02. > :20:07.that back, would it not be better to set the regulatory standard on which

:20:08. > :20:11.you rely, hand it over to companies like water companies, whose job is

:20:12. > :20:16.to borrow money from international markets, invest at the lowest

:20:17. > :20:21.possible cost to deliver an agreed standard. If we had a statutory

:20:22. > :20:26.agreed standard with a duty placed on those companies to deliver, with

:20:27. > :20:34.the whole taxpayers picking it up, it would save the Chancellor from

:20:35. > :20:40.hitting the exchequer directly, we would also have lower cost for the

:20:41. > :20:45.long-term and stop having heated debates every time we have a flood

:20:46. > :20:52.disaster which, given climate change, is likely to happen more

:20:53. > :20:57.often in the future. Let me say it is a pleasure to follow the

:20:58. > :21:02.Honourable member for Beverley and Holderness who plays an important

:21:03. > :21:06.role in the global organisation of parliamentarians and this is coming

:21:07. > :21:10.at a timely moment after the Paris agreement and the tragedy of the

:21:11. > :21:16.floods. I know many Honourable members on my side want to talk

:21:17. > :21:22.about this, so I will try and keep reasonably brief. I want to focus on

:21:23. > :21:27.what it means for domestic policy. I want to praise the Secretary of

:21:28. > :21:30.State for Energy and Climate Change because she played an important role

:21:31. > :21:34.in these talks and I believe she was the host of the high ambition

:21:35. > :21:39.coalition. Her office was the headquarters of the coalition

:21:40. > :21:42.between developed and from rubble countries and she deserves credit

:21:43. > :21:52.for the role she played in these talks. Having said that, when I

:21:53. > :21:57.listen to her statement yesterday, I don't want to be unfair to her, I

:21:58. > :22:02.felt her situation was everything has changed and nothing has changed.

:22:03. > :22:10.Internationally, everything has changed, high ambitions, all that

:22:11. > :22:29.stuff. But in the UK nothing has changed. 1.5 degrees. No agreement

:22:30. > :22:35.before. No agreement has enshrined a commitment to limit the increase in

:22:36. > :22:40.global warming to 1.5 Celsius. This is high ambition than in any

:22:41. > :22:44.previous agreement. The Secretary of State knows that because she was one

:22:45. > :22:50.of the people who helped broker the agreement. It is interesting as to

:22:51. > :22:54.why it was. It was the case put forward by countries like the

:22:55. > :23:00.Marshall Islands who will disappear with warming of more than 1.5

:23:01. > :23:07.degrees. The fear is this high ambition coalition was a ruse. A

:23:08. > :23:11.ruse to break up the grouping of the G 17 plus China in order to put

:23:12. > :23:17.pressure on the Chinese to get an agreement. I don't believe it was.

:23:18. > :23:26.But we cannot say our domestic policy doesn't change will stop if

:23:27. > :23:35.our attitude to 1.5 agreement is the same as 282 degrees -- at 2 degrees

:23:36. > :23:43.agreement, is the same, countries like the Marshall Islands are going

:23:44. > :23:47.to wonder if we are serious. There was a suggestion that it was even

:23:48. > :23:54.more important to me to recommendations on carbon budgets. I

:23:55. > :24:04.would be interested to hear from her what she thinks are the implications

:24:05. > :24:08.for this more exacting target. This is a really strong case which I

:24:09. > :24:15.appreciate but on the issue between 1.5, it surely means that we need to

:24:16. > :24:20.think about aviation expansion. Nobody even mention climate

:24:21. > :24:31.yesterday and yet aviation is one of the biggest sources of climate

:24:32. > :24:37.change gases. I played a part in that unhappy saga when we were in

:24:38. > :24:43.government. I pushed for a target for aviation emissions. That has got

:24:44. > :24:49.to be looked at as part of the 1.5 degrees target. There can't be

:24:50. > :24:55.unconstrained expansion of aviation. This agreement doesn't contain just

:24:56. > :25:00.a 1.5 degrees end but a long-term goal of zero emissions. The

:25:01. > :25:05.Secretary of State said she was happy pursuing existing targets in

:25:06. > :25:09.the climate change act. I think those targets are very important. I

:25:10. > :25:14.helped legislate for them and I am happy that she wants to make sure

:25:15. > :25:19.that we meet them. When I was climate change Secretary, we haven't

:25:20. > :25:25.had a global agreement for net zero emissions. It can't possibly be the

:25:26. > :25:30.case that we got this global commitment to zero emissions but it

:25:31. > :25:35.has no implications for UK domestic policy. Of course we have got to

:25:36. > :25:40.think what it means for the UK. My case is, I'm not answering for an

:25:41. > :25:44.answer today, when the energy Bill comes back in the New Year, she

:25:45. > :25:49.amends the bill to last the climate change committee to look at the

:25:50. > :25:53.issue and make a recommendation to government about when we should

:25:54. > :25:58.achieve zero emissions. I think this would do a number of things, it

:25:59. > :26:02.would send a cross-party message that Britain is determined to be a

:26:03. > :26:09.climate leader. She has talked eloquently about that. It would

:26:10. > :26:12.reduce, not increase, the cost of transition and provide a clear

:26:13. > :26:17.trajectory to business and future government. To the members opposite

:26:18. > :26:23.who have concerns about this, it would be supported by business. I'm

:26:24. > :26:28.not the most radical person on this. The most radical people are Richard

:26:29. > :26:38.Branson, the head of Unilever, they don't just want what I am saying,

:26:39. > :26:42.they want zero emissions by 2050. I'm taking a much more pragmatic

:26:43. > :26:47.approach. With the honourable gentleman who I will give way to,

:26:48. > :26:54.let's not plucked a figure out of the air. Let's not do that without

:26:55. > :26:59.having experts look at it. Let's see what the implications are for having

:27:00. > :27:07.a global goal of zero emissions for the UK.

:27:08. > :27:14.I'm grateful to the right honourable gentleman and I agree with what he

:27:15. > :27:20.has said. Doesn't the involvement of Unilever suggest that if we get to

:27:21. > :27:24.the conditions and the money flowing, then we can create these

:27:25. > :27:28.jobs here. If we are lagging behind with uncertainty, then we will not

:27:29. > :27:33.have pioneering businesses investing here and providing jobs here and

:27:34. > :27:39.let's do the best we can for this country and do the best we can. I

:27:40. > :27:44.think the honourable gentleman makes an important point. He and I have

:27:45. > :27:50.discussed this many times in our conversations. What are we working

:27:51. > :27:53.towards? That is why leading businesses are putting forward is. I

:27:54. > :27:58.do say to the Secretary of State, I don't want to say it is easy because

:27:59. > :28:04.it is a long way off, she would go down in history as the person who

:28:05. > :28:09.helped legislate for zero emissions which is the ultimate backstop. When

:28:10. > :28:12.I was Secretary of State, 80% was the ultimate backstop. Now we know

:28:13. > :28:20.it must be zero emissions at some point. I will give way. I am

:28:21. > :28:27.interested in his specific policies to tackle CO2 emissions. In the US,

:28:28. > :28:33.fracking is credited by the IPCC as the principal reason why greenhouse

:28:34. > :28:38.gases have been reduced. Is he supportive of shale gas exploration

:28:39. > :28:43.in the UK? I am sceptical that it is a solution. We have to get to zero

:28:44. > :28:50.carbon. It is true replacing coal with gas has helped to reduce our

:28:51. > :28:53.emissions. I welcome the Secretary of State saying she will phase out

:28:54. > :28:58.coal but that is not a long-term solution. What this agreement is

:28:59. > :29:05.about is the end of fossil fuels. That is what it is about. CCS can

:29:06. > :29:10.make a difference in terms of what it can do, but essentially, we are

:29:11. > :29:16.transitioning to a world after fossil fuels. I will give way. Does

:29:17. > :29:21.the right honourable gentleman not accept that if we are going to use

:29:22. > :29:25.wind power and solar we will have to have CCS otherwise we will not be

:29:26. > :29:31.able to match grid demand? I am afraid one of the other sorry sagas

:29:32. > :29:37.is the CCS competition. This is a recipe for how not to make policy.

:29:38. > :29:42.It was started, believe it or not, I think ten years ago by the Labour

:29:43. > :29:45.government. I think it was started under Alistair Darling. I then

:29:46. > :29:49.pushed it forward. This government have cancelled the competition,

:29:50. > :29:56.restarted and cancelled it. I will come to that at the end. I will give

:29:57. > :30:00.way. This has been an incredibly sorry saga but I don't think the

:30:01. > :30:06.previous Labour government can have anything positive to say about CCS,

:30:07. > :30:11.given how bad they treated it. I am not saying this is glorious for

:30:12. > :30:18.anyone's point of view. What I put simply is a mechanism to provide

:30:19. > :30:21.four projects. Then they cancelled that mechanism and then they said

:30:22. > :30:25.there would be public funding and then they cancelled that competition

:30:26. > :30:31.and then restarted the competition, etc. I think we can all agree it has

:30:32. > :30:36.not been a glorious episode. The third reason, Madam Deputy

:30:37. > :30:39.Speaker, why I think the world has changed, is the five-year ratchet

:30:40. > :30:43.agreement. This is a mechanism to ratchet up ambition so that the

:30:44. > :30:50.pledges the countries make meet the aspiration. At the moment, we have a

:30:51. > :30:53.situation where we are saying 1.5 degrees but the pledge is out three

:30:54. > :31:00.degrees. The EU said before the summit it wanted to have at least

:31:01. > :31:04.40% reductions in emissions by 2030. At least, as I understand it, if

:31:05. > :31:09.there was a stronger agreement, we would ratchet up the EU ambition.

:31:10. > :31:12.The case I would make to the Secretary of State and the

:31:13. > :31:17.Government is what is the mechanism to make that happen? The world has

:31:18. > :31:23.changed, how are we going to ratchet up? Resident Holland said in his

:31:24. > :31:28.closing remarks at the summit that he wanted to raise French ambition.

:31:29. > :31:32.I want to hear how she thinks we can raise that ambition. There is a

:31:33. > :31:38.fourth and final thing that has changed since Paris. That is about

:31:39. > :31:43.the Secretary of State and her role in government. I want to say

:31:44. > :31:47.something personal to her about this. I think the thing that has

:31:48. > :31:51.changed after Paris is her negotiating power. Anyone who has

:31:52. > :31:56.been a Secretary of State knows that not all the decisions go your way.

:31:57. > :32:03.That is certainly true when I was Secretary of State as well. I'm sure

:32:04. > :32:06.she has heard a number of times that she wanted a decision to go a

:32:07. > :32:13.particular way but it went another way. Successful secretaries of State

:32:14. > :32:19.recognise their power. I want to say to her, she is empowered by the

:32:20. > :32:25.Paris agreement, because she is empowered by the agreement to tell

:32:26. > :32:29.the Prime Minister that he can't just use words abroad and not follow

:32:30. > :32:33.them through with deeds at home. She is empowered to tell the Chancellor

:32:34. > :32:38.that British business is frankly furious at the neglect of a growing

:32:39. > :32:43.and crucial sector of the economy. Above all, she is empowered to be

:32:44. > :32:47.the champion of tackling climate change in the Cabinet. If she is

:32:48. > :32:54.that champion, I think she will get support from all the sides of the

:32:55. > :32:59.House that believe in these causes and will support her in her

:33:00. > :33:06.endeavours. Whatever she does, we need to match, the high ambition

:33:07. > :33:11.coalition with soaring Paris, with a high ambition coalition at home.

:33:12. > :33:18.That high ambition coalition has got to combine trade unions, business,

:33:19. > :33:22.civil society. I don't see Paris in any since the end. It is merely the

:33:23. > :33:25.beginning but it gives us a new beginning on climate change. I think

:33:26. > :33:29.in the interests of future generations we have to seize that

:33:30. > :33:36.moment. Order. This is a short debate. Lots

:33:37. > :33:45.of people want to speak so I have to put a time limit of five minutes.

:33:46. > :33:50.James Heaton. Thank you for -- thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I'm going

:33:51. > :33:56.to speak initially on flooding and if time allows, I will move on to

:33:57. > :33:59.climate change. In Somerset, we are affected by both elements. We have

:34:00. > :34:03.recent and painful experience of flooding and we have a well

:34:04. > :34:07.developed energy industry with everything from Hinkley Point to

:34:08. > :34:14.widespread deployment of solar, wind and anaerobic digester. It would be

:34:15. > :34:20.better if we could harness the power of the Severn Estuary. After

:34:21. > :34:24.speaking on our experience in Somerset at Flood Expo this year,

:34:25. > :34:30.I've been visited by people from the Lincolnshire drainage board and the

:34:31. > :34:34.NFU who were keen to discuss a one size fits all approach to flood

:34:35. > :34:38.management. Cumbria will have its own circumstances, just a Somerset

:34:39. > :34:42.is different from Lincolnshire, so I stress while I fully develop the

:34:43. > :34:46.measures being developed in Somerset, some and not all will not

:34:47. > :34:50.be applicable elsewhere. That said, the speed of the full spectrum

:34:51. > :34:57.response in Cumbria indicate lessons have clearly been learned since our

:34:58. > :35:01.floods in 2013-14. I congratulate the front bench for the speed of

:35:02. > :35:04.that response and I commend the emergency services, Armed Forces and

:35:05. > :35:09.volunteer groups who answered that call. I was disappointed to hear the

:35:10. > :35:13.honourable member for Bristol East reflect in her opening speech that

:35:14. > :35:18.the Government have not delivered on their commitment for the floods.

:35:19. > :35:22.There are not many Southwest MPs on the benches opposite but she is one,

:35:23. > :35:26.so she must know that there have been huge improvements made in our

:35:27. > :35:30.region since those floods. Work on the great Western mainline at

:35:31. > :35:34.Dawlish was completed within months of the floods, and the Peninsula

:35:35. > :35:39.pass Grell force has since made clear its plans for improving

:35:40. > :35:44.resilience both on the Somerset Levels and with a new line to open

:35:45. > :35:48.north of Dartmoor. On the roads, work to improve culverts underneath

:35:49. > :35:53.the M5 have been concluded and Somerset County Council has also

:35:54. > :35:57.completed widespread improvements to the road network. There has been

:35:58. > :36:01.significant in the structure in pumping, dredging and the sluice

:36:02. > :36:07.network and Sedgemoor district county council push on with plans

:36:08. > :36:10.for an advanced tidal barrier. There was public money for flood relief

:36:11. > :36:15.for the villages which were impacted, and most importantly,

:36:16. > :36:19.there is a scheme which will provide real peace of mind for those who

:36:20. > :36:24.will be able to assure their homes. Above all of that, there is the

:36:25. > :36:29.support for the Somerset Rivers authority which will be a very

:36:30. > :36:33.welcome strategic authority looking after the interests of the county

:36:34. > :36:37.when it comes to flood defence. All of this, Madam Deputy Speaker, is

:36:38. > :36:42.happening just four junctions down the M5 from Bristol East, and I'm

:36:43. > :36:46.sure that if the Shadow Secretary of State would like to see me and my

:36:47. > :36:49.fellow MPs, and the leadership of Somerset district Council, we will

:36:50. > :36:53.show just how much the Government has achieved in Somerset and how

:36:54. > :36:59.much more the Government is yet to deliver -- Somersetshire county

:37:00. > :37:04.council. I very much welcome the ?2.3 billion which will be invested

:37:05. > :37:09.in flood defences over the next six years. On energy and climate change

:37:10. > :37:14.in the very short time which remains, I would like to welcome the

:37:15. > :37:19.Paris deal. The energy and climate change select committee, of which I

:37:20. > :37:21.am a member, looks forward to discussing it with the Secretary of

:37:22. > :37:25.State tomorrow. It is not perfect but it is a remarkable feat and I

:37:26. > :37:29.congratulate the Government for the leading role they played in

:37:30. > :37:34.brokering the deal. Meeting those targets from Paris will be

:37:35. > :37:39.challenging, especially as we must concurrently ensure both security of

:37:40. > :37:44.supply and keeping bills affordable. The programme for new nuclear power

:37:45. > :37:48.will be very welcome in that, but I also congratulate the Government for

:37:49. > :37:53.its an easy as for offshore wind, and the success in growing the solar

:37:54. > :37:58.industry in recent years. However, I also appreciate that later in the

:37:59. > :38:02.week, there may be changes in subsidy that could challenge that

:38:03. > :38:05.industry. The industry protests very loudly, the Government says the

:38:06. > :38:10.subsidy has become a crutch and it is now ready to go alone. I hope

:38:11. > :38:13.very much that it is the Government that is right, because there are a

:38:14. > :38:18.great deal of jobs in the solar industry in the south-west that I

:38:19. > :38:20.would like to see continue. Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, I welcome very

:38:21. > :38:37.much the announcement from Paris. The Government has a real challenge

:38:38. > :38:39.to make sure we achieve the right domestic policies to achieve those

:38:40. > :38:42.aims, while maintaining our security of supply and keeping bills down.

:38:43. > :38:44.There are plenty of developments and my personal interest is in achieving

:38:45. > :38:47.greater management of demand which I hope the Government will take

:38:48. > :38:54.forward. Caroline Flint. Thank you, it is a

:38:55. > :39:00.pleasure to follow the honourable member for Wales, but it is sad how

:39:01. > :39:04.many members have had to talk about the impact of floods on the

:39:05. > :39:08.communities they represent and it would be remiss if the discussion

:39:09. > :39:13.today did not bear a thought for the people of Cumbria and across the UK

:39:14. > :39:18.facing flooding and many facing Christmas away from their own homes.

:39:19. > :39:23.In the latest committee on climate change report, the committee rated

:39:24. > :39:27.planning for residual flood risk for properties at red, both in terms of

:39:28. > :39:31.plans in place and actual progress. As the Secretary of State for the

:39:32. > :39:34.environment, food and rural affairs has admitted, the models we are

:39:35. > :39:40.currently using are in need of updating. Many people are sick and

:39:41. > :39:44.tired of being told that the floods that wrecked their homes are one in

:39:45. > :39:49.a hundred-year events, when the severe floods we have seen in the

:39:50. > :39:53.last ten years suggests that such erratic weather will be far more

:39:54. > :39:57.frequent than every century. If the Government or all of us learn

:39:58. > :40:00.anything from this, and I hope we can work across the benches on these

:40:01. > :40:05.issues, if in the past centuries these have been a poor guide, the

:40:06. > :40:08.patterns of whether for future risk, we have got to make sure that the

:40:09. > :40:13.new models we need to have going forward take this into account, or

:40:14. > :40:20.they will lead to the public gaining false confidence from security.

:40:21. > :40:24.Secondly, the Government must make sure it works across departments. It

:40:25. > :40:27.is very worrying that the Secretary of State failed to answer what I

:40:28. > :40:32.thought was a very common-sense question which is this: have you had

:40:33. > :40:37.a discussion with the Chancellor about zones which they are fast

:40:38. > :40:41.tracking for development? I believe we need more homes. Don't get me

:40:42. > :40:46.wrong on that. But we really need to have a sense of joined up policy on

:40:47. > :40:49.government if we are to make progress on housing but also

:40:50. > :40:54.limiting the risk to our communities. I found it very

:40:55. > :40:59.worrying that the Secretary of State failed to answer that question.

:41:00. > :41:01.Perhaps the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in her

:41:02. > :41:05.summing up could come back to that. I believe in that particular area,

:41:06. > :41:10.as long climate change, that if we can find a better way to work

:41:11. > :41:13.together, not saying there should not be scrutiny, that on these

:41:14. > :41:17.benches I know we want to work with making the future better and more

:41:18. > :41:22.secure and brighter for ourselves, but also in doing so can show

:41:23. > :41:28.leadership in the world. That brings me to Paris. There are many positive

:41:29. > :41:33.things which have come out of Paris. We still have an unprecedented

:41:34. > :41:37.binding deal which aims to limit the temperature rise to be me 2 degrees

:41:38. > :41:41.and make efforts to stay below 1.5 degrees and that is very welcome.

:41:42. > :41:46.And the progress has been impressive. I have to commend the

:41:47. > :41:49.right honourable lady for her work on this bill and our French

:41:50. > :41:54.colleagues who, despite everything which has happened in France in

:41:55. > :41:57.recent times, they managed to hold this vitally important conference

:41:58. > :42:04.for the world and produced such a good result.

:42:05. > :42:09.The UK's 2020 renewableable targets or carbon budget. As my honourable

:42:10. > :42:13.friend said the Government's recent recess contained little help to get

:42:14. > :42:19.threws. I want to see the UK develop a credible plan to deliver the 80%

:42:20. > :42:24.reduction in emissions by 2050 that are ground-breaking climate change

:42:25. > :42:27.act of 2008 requires, because it is important in of itself but is a

:42:28. > :42:33.stepping stone, a foundation to move to net zero, as well. I would say

:42:34. > :42:38.this in the time I have got left, which is limited, that net zero is a

:42:39. > :42:44.huge ask. As Paris demonstrated, the world is a long way from that 2050

:42:45. > :42:48.aspiration. And even more for the net zero. We have got to begin work

:42:49. > :42:51.on what a net zero and carbon society should require. We have to

:42:52. > :42:56.look at the research, we have to engage the scientists and the

:42:57. > :43:00.engineers to make this a reality. If I learned one thing from my time as

:43:01. > :43:06.Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my job was not

:43:07. > :43:09.just to talk to the converted, but to convince those who this is not

:43:10. > :43:12.top of their agenda, it's a reality for them and something they feel

:43:13. > :43:21.they can be part of and benefit from. Let's get down to the Prague

:43:22. > :43:29.calmities and across this House make this happen -- practicalities. Thank

:43:30. > :43:32.you. I don't have a direct constituency interest in this, I am

:43:33. > :43:35.going to talk to Paris, it's a pleasure to follow the two speakers

:43:36. > :43:41.that have spoken from the opposition so far on this. But I am afraid of

:43:42. > :43:44.my analysis of Paris, much as I commend the Secretary of State for

:43:45. > :43:49.the work she has done, is not quite as San Quinn as that we have heard

:43:50. > :43:54.so far. First of all, I would say that the 2. 7% they say it adds up

:43:55. > :43:59.to is not true. It's a somewhat dishonest analysis because it's only

:44:00. > :44:05.based on the fact that it will be continued further in a way that

:44:06. > :44:09.hasn't been committed to happen. But the fundamental point about Paris,

:44:10. > :44:11.and the honourable lady that spoke called it a universally binding

:44:12. > :44:17.agreement, it's not binding on anybody. That doesn't mean it's not

:44:18. > :44:20.a good start and we have to start somewhere but the fundamental thing

:44:21. > :44:25.about Paris is if the world had adopted the climate change act in

:44:26. > :44:28.the way that the Shadow Secretary of State told the House it had a few

:44:29. > :44:35.minutes ago, if the world had done that, we would be on track for a

:44:36. > :44:41.1.5% reduction. The UNFCC says to get to 1.5% the world must reduce

:44:42. > :44:45.carbon emissions by between 75 and 90%, the climate change act is 80%.

:44:46. > :44:48.A fair challenge would be that developing countries find it much

:44:49. > :44:52.harder to do that than developed countries, and I accept that. China

:44:53. > :44:55.and India and these countries do need more slack so there is an

:44:56. > :45:00.implication maybe we need to go further and that's where some of the

:45:01. > :45:05.numbers the member for Dons caster North came from. I want to spend the

:45:06. > :45:10.minutes available to me to analyse the performance of the developed

:45:11. > :45:18.countries in Paris, in particular, the EU. One of the most startling

:45:19. > :45:24.factors in terms of the INDC that went forth into the mix in Paris is

:45:25. > :45:32.that the EU submission, which is 40% reduction over a period of 40%, 1% a

:45:33. > :45:36.year, if you like in that period, is 33% slower than that implied or

:45:37. > :45:42.demanded by the climate change act and the budgets that come from that.

:45:43. > :45:52.33%. But that's not the whole of it. If you take the UK bit of that EU it

:45:53. > :45:58.implies a rate of reduction between 40 and 45% slower than the UK. Now,

:45:59. > :46:04.this is odd. What is it that they find so difficult about reducing

:46:05. > :46:08.emissions that we apparently don't? Firstly I looked at possibility

:46:09. > :46:11.parts of the EU are actually relatively developing, if you like,

:46:12. > :46:16.to use that word, they've catch up to do in terms of GDP. If you look

:46:17. > :46:19.at countries like Poland and Romania, it might be reasonable that

:46:20. > :46:24.they get more slack. In fact, the truth of it is if you look at

:46:25. > :46:29.countries like Romania, they've made the most rapid reductions, that's

:46:30. > :46:34.not the issue. Romania has made reductions because the baseline

:46:35. > :46:38.period of 1990s coincided with their industry being very heavy and needed

:46:39. > :46:44.to be sorted out. The issue isn't there. The issue is in a developed

:46:45. > :46:49.countries. The issue is in countries like Austria which since 1990 has

:46:50. > :46:54.increased emissions by 20%. The issue is in countries like Ireland,

:46:55. > :47:04.like Holland, like Spain, like Portugal. None of which have reduced

:47:05. > :47:08.emissions at all since 1990. Now the House has been talking and has been

:47:09. > :47:14.criticising the Secretary of State for lack of ambition. And yet we are

:47:15. > :47:19.part of an EU submission to a global conference which puts up with that

:47:20. > :47:22.kind of thing and the question I would ask the Secretary of State to

:47:23. > :47:28.address is why it is that this can happen and what are the sanctions on

:47:29. > :47:32.these countries within the EU, within that will stop that

:47:33. > :47:37.happening? There is reasons. Some of these countries have banned nuclear.

:47:38. > :47:42.Some of these countries have banned CCS, not invested in it, they ban

:47:43. > :47:47.it, it's illegal in some countries. Germany CCS is illegal. They're

:47:48. > :47:51.building unabated brand new coal-powered stations and have

:47:52. > :47:57.emission that is are a hird higher than ours in terms of per... ... A

:47:58. > :48:02.-- third. I wonder whether he could expand further on the points he is

:48:03. > :48:03.making because I am finding it most interesting?

:48:04. > :48:08.LAUGHTER He is always a team player. That

:48:09. > :48:17.extra minute will be put to great use. I would just make the point, as

:48:18. > :48:23.I was making, that the EU, taken collectively, without us in it, has

:48:24. > :48:28.failed abysmally to put anything forward into Paris close to what the

:48:29. > :48:33.member for Doncaster North was probably rightly saying we would

:48:34. > :48:36.need to deliver to achieve 1.5%. We have to understand what the

:48:37. > :48:42.sanctions are around that. The reasons for it are many and varied.

:48:43. > :48:47.I think the EU got completely bogged down as members in this House do

:48:48. > :48:50.sometimes about a fixation around renewables and renewables targets,

:48:51. > :48:56.rather than a carbon reduction target and what that means is that

:48:57. > :49:03.you put into place considerable renewables and continue to burn coal

:49:04. > :49:06.at scale. The truth is actually replacing coal with gas globally if

:49:07. > :49:10.you were able to do that would be equivalent to increasing the number

:49:11. > :49:13.of renewables we have in the world by a factor of five. There's many

:49:14. > :49:19.things like that. The fundamental point and it's one the Secretary of

:49:20. > :49:23.State will have to address in her high ambition coalition, which

:49:24. > :49:29.presumably hasn't got Austria in it, she will have to address this issue

:49:30. > :49:32.in terms of making sure that there is some fairness because otherwise

:49:33. > :49:37.places like Redcar, like Motherwell, will have to get used to what's

:49:38. > :49:43.happened to them and that really isn't right. Thank you. Colleagues

:49:44. > :49:46.on all sides of the House are rightly praising the Secretary of

:49:47. > :49:51.State for her role in Paris. I haven't time to go into that in

:49:52. > :49:57.great length, except to say that she did indeed play a blinder in Paris,

:49:58. > :50:00.as this country did as a whole. However, it's very, very difficult

:50:01. > :50:06.on the one hand to stack up signing an agreement in Paris and then on

:50:07. > :50:09.the other hand slashing subsidies for renewables, ending the green

:50:10. > :50:15.deal and privatising the green investment bank. The Secretary of

:50:16. > :50:20.State if she will forgive me is the Jose Mourinho of environment

:50:21. > :50:27.politics, woeful domesticically. Climate change is clearly not an

:50:28. > :50:30.eterric matter. The reality throughout my constituency and other

:50:31. > :50:34.places is a real one and the impact on families out of their homes at

:50:35. > :50:39.Christmas, hundreds upon hundreds of children who do not - are not able

:50:40. > :50:42.to look forward to Christmas at home is utterly and completely heart

:50:43. > :50:45.breaking and I want us to think first and foremost about the human

:50:46. > :50:50.cost and amongst the things I am seeking from this Government is

:50:51. > :50:53.additional support for Cumbria, for health and social services to

:50:54. > :50:58.support mental health provision, counselling for people in desperate

:50:59. > :51:04.need. I want to praise the response, not just from the emergency

:51:05. > :51:07.services, but Kendall cares, churches within the area, the

:51:08. > :51:10.response has reassured you about human nature in many respects as

:51:11. > :51:13.people who have lost almost everything went next door to help

:51:14. > :51:19.people who lost absolutely everything. Look, the scale needs to

:51:20. > :51:25.be put in a numerical sense I guess, it was reckoned the cost to Cumbria

:51:26. > :51:29.is ?500 million of these floods. Therefore, the Government support of

:51:30. > :51:32.?50 million is welcome. It's clearly nowhere near enough. I want in the

:51:33. > :51:36.few moments I have available to me to set out why we need additional

:51:37. > :51:41.support and indeed to ask for it. There will be some who will dismiss

:51:42. > :51:46.people who are uninsured and underinshired and call them

:51:47. > :51:50.feckless, they're not, they're feckless, they're not, they're

:51:51. > :51:55.penniness. They couldn't afford insurance or it was cheap and

:51:56. > :52:00.inadequate. Many people couldn't get coverage in the first place. For ?5

:52:01. > :52:05.hundred in the Cumbria foundation is welcome and I praise them but ?500

:52:06. > :52:09.will not get you far if you consider what you would lose if your ground

:52:10. > :52:16.floor flooded, all the white goods. We need support for that ?50 to be

:52:17. > :52:21.increased by a significant amount. -- ?500. What is promised is for

:52:22. > :52:23.flood prevention in the future, not to help people who have lost

:52:24. > :52:28.significant amounts of money right now. That money should be delivered

:52:29. > :52:33.to people in Cumbria right away and directly. I want to reit ray might

:52:34. > :52:38.comment about the A 591. Those who heard the Secretary of State for

:52:39. > :52:41.Defra talk about being passable by a 4x4, I was there yesterday, you can

:52:42. > :52:46.just about pass it on a pike, it's not true. I happily give way. -- on

:52:47. > :52:50.a bike. Would he agree that actually in the

:52:51. > :52:55.long run the investment and renewable of our infrastructure in

:52:56. > :52:59.Cumbria, like the 591 and the bridge beyond that, our road infrastructure

:53:00. > :53:03.must be one of the priorities in Cumbria. He is doing an excellent

:53:04. > :53:06.job for his constituents in Carlisle. He is right the investment

:53:07. > :53:13.now will help the County in the long run. I would like to ask the

:53:14. > :53:17.Government to invest in making sure the A 591 is open in weeks, not

:53:18. > :53:21.months. I want to point out that there is a plan on the table from

:53:22. > :53:25.Cumbria tourism that the Government needs to provide funding for right

:53:26. > :53:29.now, a short-term immediate, like today, strategy to boost the economy

:53:30. > :53:34.up to Christmas in the marketing campaign and a meddup term campaign

:53:35. > :53:39.that they need to fund to make sure we back on our feet there. Are other

:53:40. > :53:42.parts of the Lake District hit, one village cut in two by the closure of

:53:43. > :53:50.its bridge, we need support for that to happen, again in weeks and not in

:53:51. > :53:53.months. Like wooifz a bridge that connects two communities is closed

:53:54. > :53:57.again and needs to be invested in straightaway to make sure it's

:53:58. > :54:03.reopened. It's very important that people get the message and the

:54:04. > :54:08.Government gets out the message that Cumbria is open for business. I was

:54:09. > :54:12.in Grasmere yesterday, I can't think of a more quiet place, people are

:54:13. > :54:15.not going there because they think it's closed, it's not. May the

:54:16. > :54:19.Government get out the message that is what people need to do. A quick

:54:20. > :54:23.note about farmers. I am very concerned that the Government is

:54:24. > :54:26.planning to close the valley pumps in June, I was there yesterday, we

:54:27. > :54:30.cannot allow that to happen. Will they commit to funding them in the

:54:31. > :54:33.future beyond the end of June? Will they also commit to help farmers who

:54:34. > :54:38.have lost stock in tragic circumstances up and down the

:54:39. > :54:43.County? And recognise that much of the funding that goes into, for

:54:44. > :54:47.example, keeping the valley dry is about protecting infrastructure as

:54:48. > :54:52.the honourable member for Carlisle mentioned, the A 590 is often

:54:53. > :54:56.flooded as a consequence of that farmland not being drained and those

:54:57. > :55:01.pumps are important for infrastructure also. I want to make

:55:02. > :55:06.a final point about the long-termism needed here. We often hear the frame

:55:07. > :55:09.long-term economic plan and so on. The problem is that we had an autumn

:55:10. > :55:15.statement recently where the Chancellor pulled out of his hat

:55:16. > :55:20.lots of white rabbits, but none were for energy or climate change or

:55:21. > :55:26.Defra, the departments we need to be in the front line to protect people.

:55:27. > :55:30.We have local authorities, SLDCs, Cumbria County and others working

:55:31. > :55:33.very hard and doing a good job with about 20% less people and less

:55:34. > :55:38.resources than they had six years ago. It's vital this Government

:55:39. > :55:44.commits to the ?500 million that Price Waterhouse has identifieded so

:55:45. > :55:46.that we can rebuild our communities, support damaged people and

:55:47. > :55:54.communities and get back people back in their homes and do so quickly.

:55:55. > :56:03.Thank you, you got me out there. I am standing up today really to speak

:56:04. > :56:07.about, first of all we have some praise for this historic agreement

:56:08. > :56:12.that was made in Paris and I do commend my honourable friend, the

:56:13. > :56:17.Secretary of State and also the home team sat on the benches for all of

:56:18. > :56:22.the work in the past. We also have commiserations because of all those

:56:23. > :56:27.poor people suffering from flooding and we are dealing with all of these

:56:28. > :56:34.things into day's motion. I need to speak, coming from some sort --

:56:35. > :56:46.Somerset, like my honourable friend, about the flooding from December

:56:47. > :56:51.2012 to January 2014, so I can see a device with people people of

:56:52. > :56:56.Cumbria. In Somerset, the devastation was enormous. It cost

:56:57. > :57:01.businesses ?47 million, they reckon, as a knock-on effect. It affected

:57:02. > :57:06.half of all businesses in Somerset, even the ones that weren't flooded

:57:07. > :57:12.because of road closures. It was a one in 100 event. It was not exactly

:57:13. > :57:17.expected and it was not just a result of not dredging rivers. That

:57:18. > :57:20.was one of the things that made it happen because actually, the rivers

:57:21. > :57:27.had not been dredged during the 1990s. I do have to do a level that

:57:28. > :57:34.over to the Labour Party because that is when the dredging stop. That

:57:35. > :57:36.was not the only cause, there were many other things including

:57:37. > :57:42.increased run off from the urban areas. Whether this extreme flooding

:57:43. > :57:47.was to do with climate change or not, that is still debatable, what

:57:48. > :57:52.is still clear is that we have to be prepared for these events. In

:57:53. > :57:57.Somerset, as we mentioned before, I am very pleased that the programme

:57:58. > :58:04.has been put in place with the Somerset Rivers Authority to set a

:58:05. > :58:09.preset that everyone in Somerset will be affected and it will deal

:58:10. > :58:16.with tackling flooding in the future. 15 and a half million pounds

:58:17. > :58:24.will be spent on flood defences in Somerset, defending thousands of

:58:25. > :58:38.properties, and 35 ?9 until 2021. They are taking flooding extremely

:58:39. > :58:45.seriously. -- 350 ?9 million. I wonder if the secretary will join

:58:46. > :58:49.me. Ayes I do thank my honourable friend because in only with in

:58:50. > :58:53.Paris. I will mention it now, it is one of the really crucial thing

:58:54. > :58:57.about this debate and no one has mentioned so far, is the investment

:58:58. > :59:01.in science and technology to guarantee all of these commitments

:59:02. > :59:05.and get to these ego rating. We can do it. I am absolutely sure with our

:59:06. > :59:10.brains and our scientists that we can do it. The investment in

:59:11. > :59:17.flooding that we are putting in is very well spent. For every pound

:59:18. > :59:27.they put into flooding, it gives 14 Helen -- 40 ?9 million benefits.

:59:28. > :59:30.With my agricultural act on, I did just want to highlight a view of the

:59:31. > :59:35.things and here I have some agreement with the honourable member

:59:36. > :59:49.from Bristol-based because they are many other things we can do to help.

:59:50. > :59:52.The wider catch approach with water or that goes into our rivers. In my

:59:53. > :00:03.friend from the select committee will agree. They aim to plant one

:00:04. > :00:13.planned for -- 13 for every five people. That will help slow the flow

:00:14. > :00:17.of water. Storage areas, higher in the valleys, is stop the water

:00:18. > :00:21.coming down very quickly. All of these things ought to be included

:00:22. > :00:27.and I will put my usual call in for more grass. Grass is the way

:00:28. > :00:34.forward. Grass in the water, grass in the economy, suppressed carbon, I

:00:35. > :00:38.look at the Minister to work more closely at the grass in our

:00:39. > :00:42.policies. You may laugh about black, but it is serious. It is the way

:00:43. > :00:47.forward and it will help manage the countryside. I am going to commend

:00:48. > :00:52.the Government on everything they are doing because we are making a

:00:53. > :00:56.mint steps forward and making this ambitious global deal possible. We

:00:57. > :01:00.are moving in the right direction and as much to do. If we are going

:01:01. > :01:05.to meet a zero carbon emissions, that is a really testing... I would

:01:06. > :01:16.be delighted to give way to my honourable friend from our course

:01:17. > :01:20.details. We only have to say that across Devon and the West Country,

:01:21. > :01:25.the amount of solar panels in the fields. They were there for the last

:01:26. > :01:31.governments. They have only just been put there recently. My

:01:32. > :01:36.honourable friend makes a great point. We have made great progress.

:01:37. > :01:40.16% of energy comes from renewables and also because of steps this

:01:41. > :01:43.Government has made. People are still buying into renewables and it

:01:44. > :01:47.has got cheaper. The cost of panels have come down and that is likely

:01:48. > :01:51.have to remove subsidies and put the subsidies where we can have more

:01:52. > :01:55.energy from other sources added a bit of egos. I am right the

:01:56. > :02:01.secretary of state for energy on that. -- a bit of a boost. We do

:02:02. > :02:09.need to lead by example. We need to continue to do so. I am a great

:02:10. > :02:11.environmentalist but we have to do it within the constraints of the

:02:12. > :02:19.economy. That is something this Government is dealing with at all

:02:20. > :02:22.costs. We have a debt, we are still paying off all of the legacy that

:02:23. > :02:27.was left over. We have to be realistic about what we are doing in

:02:28. > :02:31.me to provide energy within this whole situation to the lowest course

:02:32. > :02:37.at the taxpayer. Whatever they do, that has to be a balance. I am just

:02:38. > :02:41.going to say a big applause to the Government for getting rid of

:02:42. > :02:45.coal-fired power stations. It was one single thing you could do, it

:02:46. > :02:51.was that. Applause for Hinkley point right in my constituency. That was

:02:52. > :02:56.the best thing you could possibly think of. I will wind up by saying

:02:57. > :03:09.that we can all do our own bit at home. We can all also bought local

:03:10. > :03:16.produce, region by our own food, we can save energy at home, we buy into

:03:17. > :03:22.this whole thing and we have to do it internationally across the world

:03:23. > :03:29.and we have to do in our own homes. Thank you. Before I start, I would

:03:30. > :03:35.like to apologise for being absent from this place during last week. I

:03:36. > :03:38.am sure honourable members are aware of the devastating floods that we

:03:39. > :03:46.have had in Cumbria. It has been discussed during this debate. I felt

:03:47. > :03:49.that I should stay in my constituency to visit and support as

:03:50. > :04:00.many people and businesses as possible. I welcome the secretary of

:04:01. > :04:04.state's statement during business questions that she intends to visit

:04:05. > :04:10.Cockermouth on Tuesday. I hope members will indulge me if I take

:04:11. > :04:15.from the heart about one of the events of the last ten days. On

:04:16. > :04:21.Sunday morning, nine days ago, I stood with shopkeepers and residents

:04:22. > :04:27.shocked and horrified at seeing Cockermouth Main Street underwater

:04:28. > :04:32.again. After only six years. Every member here will have a high Street.

:04:33. > :04:37.Can you imagine standing at the end of that high Street with shopkeepers

:04:38. > :04:46.and that whole high-street top to bottom is underwater? It is

:04:47. > :04:52.shocking. After the water subsided, over the coming days, we were able

:04:53. > :05:00.to assess the damage. Flooding is not just about water, although it is

:05:01. > :05:05.talked about being about water, the water is incredibly powerful and, in

:05:06. > :05:17.Cumbria, it rolls down Phelps. It carries everything in it pass. - in

:05:18. > :05:29.its path. Lastly, I stood in the village of flame me -- fling the

:05:30. > :05:32.with a family who had lost everything. I stood in hallways that

:05:33. > :05:39.stank of diesel oil. I think families in Worthington throw

:05:40. > :05:47.Christmas trees into skips. I visited flooded schools and went

:05:48. > :05:51.into the county see more damage. Parents are telling me their

:05:52. > :05:55.children are too frightened to go to sleep in case it happened again.

:05:56. > :06:02.They are frightened of the rain. It is heartbreaking. Our community is

:06:03. > :06:07.resilient. It has pulled together in an extraordinary way and I want to

:06:08. > :06:13.pay tribute to the local councils, the emergency services, Coast Guard,

:06:14. > :06:21.mountain rescue, supermarket to gay free food, community centres, so

:06:22. > :06:25.very many volunteers from churches of Christianity to Muslims. I want

:06:26. > :06:32.to thank everyone for their generosity from right across the

:06:33. > :06:41.country who have given money to the Cumbrian Community Foundation. We

:06:42. > :06:44.have some flats were elderly residents were trapped upstairs. 30

:06:45. > :06:52.forums and could not get out. They had no power, water or food. This

:06:53. > :07:01.man crawled through to give them the support they needed with porches and

:07:02. > :07:04.food. One family told me that they had bought their home because they

:07:05. > :07:09.thought the previous ones were a one off event. They fought the floods

:07:10. > :07:18.were not press it ended. We have to stop using this language. --

:07:19. > :07:22.unprecedented. They did what they were designed to do and they did

:07:23. > :07:25.make a big difference in some areas. That is little comfort to the many

:07:26. > :07:32.people have been made homeless just before Christmas. What do you need

:07:33. > :07:42.to do? I welcome the Government's announcement with the Cumbria Floods

:07:43. > :07:49.Partnership Group, because they have great experience to bring and I want

:07:50. > :07:54.to thank the honourable member for Penrith and the Borders for coming

:07:55. > :08:04.to Cumbria. Will you give way? I will. Actually, she makes a very

:08:05. > :08:10.powerful speech I thought I would like to continue and intervene.

:08:11. > :08:14.Thank you. The Government has said it will find more defensive as the

:08:15. > :08:20.honourable friend next to me has mentioned. The Cumbrians alone at

:08:21. > :08:26.home have a set of five hundred million pounds and there has been a

:08:27. > :08:33.discussion of building firewalls. If you are not careful, we will build

:08:34. > :08:37.high defences in one place, projecting that, and forget about

:08:38. > :08:44.others. We have to think about Bridges as well. The great in

:08:45. > :08:51.Cockermouth ended up being a dam. We need to get planning. It has already

:08:52. > :08:58.been said that is too much concentration on flood plains. I

:08:59. > :09:04.call for a complete ban on housing in the west Country flood plains. I

:09:05. > :09:09.want to finish talking about insurance. Time and time again,

:09:10. > :09:17.residents told me, after the floods of 2009, they were either unable to

:09:18. > :09:24.get household as unions -- insulins or it had huge excesses. Now they

:09:25. > :09:30.cannot sell their homes. I thank my honourable friend for making such

:09:31. > :09:34.powerful speeches. I am sure this also applies to many small local

:09:35. > :09:38.businesses who cannot afford premiums. Thank you. That is an

:09:39. > :09:46.important friend Jimmy and I thank my friend back from eating it. --

:09:47. > :09:55.that is an important point to make and I thank my honourable friend for

:09:56. > :10:01.making it. There are some streets and premises that might as well be

:10:02. > :10:11.demolished. One person asked if they might as will not down your house

:10:12. > :10:16.and start over because the devastation was that bad. Many

:10:17. > :10:20.hard-working and decent people have lost, not just the content of their

:10:21. > :10:27.homes, but the cars and their livelihoods. We were told that the

:10:28. > :10:31.answers were there after the last flight but it has been no good to my

:10:32. > :10:38.constituents today. It will not come into next year, it is arbitrary and

:10:39. > :10:41.it does not cover properties built after 2009, even those built on

:10:42. > :10:48.flood plains. It does not cover businesses. Insurance companies are

:10:49. > :10:53.refusing to pay for resilience measures. My constituency need help

:10:54. > :10:59.now. They need it quickly. Climate change is here. It can be seen in

:11:00. > :11:02.Cumbria and we need a Government who are serious with a long-term

:11:03. > :11:05.strategy to prevent this from happening again and we need the

:11:06. > :11:11.money and resources to make it happen.

:11:12. > :11:20.I would like to remind the House that the rules of interventions are

:11:21. > :11:23.there to allow debate to happen. It is right to intervene and it is a

:11:24. > :11:30.great compliment to certain members to be complemented by senior members

:11:31. > :11:34.of their party. That has happened to a degree on both sides of the House

:11:35. > :11:39.this afternoon. I would remind the House that when the clock adds an

:11:40. > :11:46.extra minute for intervention, it does not add minimum minutes to be

:11:47. > :11:52.day and it does not add more minutes to the debate. What it will mean is

:11:53. > :12:00.someone who is less fortunate in their placing on the list will speak

:12:01. > :12:03.for less time. I appreciate that are many people that members would like

:12:04. > :12:06.to speak for less time and many B would like to speak for more time

:12:07. > :12:15.but one has to be careful how that is managed.

:12:16. > :12:22.I am not sure which category I fall into. I suspect I know. Can I begin

:12:23. > :12:29.by expressing my sympathy to be victims of floods. And to all those

:12:30. > :12:34.who have helped with the clean up. Can I take issue with the idea that

:12:35. > :12:38.all of this has been caused as a result of climate change. I think it

:12:39. > :12:44.is unfortunate that the two issues have been mixed up. The reality is

:12:45. > :12:49.we have had very few debates about global warming and climate change.

:12:50. > :12:54.Climate change has been with us since the earth was created. I would

:12:55. > :13:01.urge the Minister to ask questions to those who are showing hysteria

:13:02. > :13:06.about the issue of climate change. We know over 2000 years there have

:13:07. > :13:11.been periods of warming and cooling. It was warmer during the Roman

:13:12. > :13:17.period. It was cooler during the dark ages. It then got cooler again

:13:18. > :13:25.to about 1680 during the so-called ice age. How much of the very small

:13:26. > :13:31.amount of warming that has taken place over the last two centuries,

:13:32. > :13:37.zero point eight degrees. How much of that is down to man-made carbon

:13:38. > :13:42.emissions and how much is down to completely natural factors. I have

:13:43. > :13:48.asked the question on many occasions and nobody has been able to give me

:13:49. > :13:55.an answer. I will happily give way. 95% of climate science and tests to

:13:56. > :14:01.be max I entered is seem to suggest man-made climate change is the

:14:02. > :14:05.problem. Many of us would like my honourable friend to be right in his

:14:06. > :14:10.scepticism because that will mean everything would be OK. 95% of

:14:11. > :14:18.climate scientists disagree with him. Can I take issue with my

:14:19. > :14:28.honourable friend? This 95% figure is floated around rather a lot. It

:14:29. > :14:34.comes from a survey which was set up from 257 potential respondents. Only

:14:35. > :14:40.77 responded and 75 responded and said it was all down to man. If any

:14:41. > :14:48.other honourable members know where that came from, they are welcome to

:14:49. > :14:55.let me my normal no. They have put out some misleading statements as

:14:56. > :15:00.well. They said it is extremely likely that more than half of the

:15:01. > :15:08.increase in global temperatures from 1951 was caused by man. Out of that

:15:09. > :15:15.not .8 figure, not .5 comes from the second half of the 20th century. If

:15:16. > :15:21.they are correct then just over 0.25 out of 0.28 is due to man. That

:15:22. > :15:27.means the rest of it is due to other more natural factors. The honourable

:15:28. > :15:30.lady may wish to ask about is the lack of form correlation between the

:15:31. > :15:37.increases in temperature and the increases in carbon emissions. Over

:15:38. > :15:40.the last 200 years there has been a sharp increase in CO2 that there has

:15:41. > :15:48.not been a sharp increase in temperatures. They were going down

:15:49. > :15:55.between, I mean going up between 1940 and 1977. Leading many to think

:15:56. > :16:02.we were on the brink of another ice age. From the mid-70s to 1997

:16:03. > :16:07.temperatures were rising as well as carbon emissions. From 1997 until

:16:08. > :16:14.now there has been a sharp increase in CO2 but no increase in

:16:15. > :16:21.temperatures. Another question is why that is so. I have had meetings

:16:22. > :16:29.with the Royal Society and I asked this question to the lead offers

:16:30. > :16:34.that was held in public. I asked him why is it that there has been no

:16:35. > :16:39.increase in temperatures? He said it was statistically insignificant.

:16:40. > :16:45.That is a fair comment. He was not trying to see it was the oceans or

:16:46. > :16:50.the volcanoes. He said it was statistically insignificant. He may

:16:51. > :16:54.have a point about that. If the last 17 years with no increase in

:16:55. > :17:00.temperature is statistically insignificant. Why are the 27 years

:17:01. > :17:04.before that with an increase in temperature is so significant that

:17:05. > :17:08.we have to go ahead with policies that are going to have a massive

:17:09. > :17:13.impact in homeowners and businesses in the UK? I do not think anyone is

:17:14. > :17:20.going to be kind enough to intervene on me. I have been waiting. I give

:17:21. > :17:27.way to the honourable gentleman because I always prefer the

:17:28. > :17:35.opposition. It is more fun. I recall appreciate scepticism. I am sure his

:17:36. > :17:40.scepticism is sincere but the problem is if he spreads this

:17:41. > :17:45.nonsense, you give an excuse to people not to take action. It gives

:17:46. > :17:51.comfort to those who want to do nothing about what is the biggest

:17:52. > :17:55.challenge facing humanity. I appreciate his kind words. I am just

:17:56. > :18:00.trying to raise questions. If you want me to go to my constituents and

:18:01. > :18:03.tried to sell policies that are going to push at their energy bills

:18:04. > :18:11.and make it more likely that some of them are out of work, only to have

:18:12. > :18:17.actions answers to the questions. Why is a low correlation over the

:18:18. > :18:23.last few hundred years. What is just down to natural factors? I will give

:18:24. > :18:29.way any moment. Why is it that of the CO2 that has gone into the

:18:30. > :18:34.atmosphere, why is less than 5% man-made anyway? Most of it is

:18:35. > :18:43.generated naturally from the Earth and the sea. We can all talk in

:18:44. > :18:48.different debates and different views but that is no consolation to

:18:49. > :18:54.people in Cumbria. The people of Cumbria wants to know when the

:18:55. > :18:58.insurance companies will pay up. The people in Cumbria are right to know

:18:59. > :19:02.that that they should not have the issue of flooding blamed on

:19:03. > :19:06.something which is unproven. When the impact of the changes we are

:19:07. > :19:11.going to make is going to affect the whole of the UK. Honourable members

:19:12. > :19:16.opposite at the first to complain of policies that have pushed up energy

:19:17. > :19:21.prices and made it harder for steel manufacturers to make a profit. Some

:19:22. > :19:26.have closed down recently partly due to be high energy costs. I would say

:19:27. > :19:32.to the honourable lady, the people opposite are not going to support

:19:33. > :19:36.her policies if the lead to an increase in energy prices. She will

:19:37. > :19:46.be attacks from the members opposite when fuel poverty happens. The aid

:19:47. > :19:50.agencies talk about living standards in the third World, in actual fact

:19:51. > :19:58.they are making it harder for African villages to get access to

:19:59. > :20:03.cheap call. They talk about wanting more wind power that they are

:20:04. > :20:09.opposed to fracking for gas, which is necessary if we want to have

:20:10. > :20:11.nuclear energy. They are inconsistencies and an answer

:20:12. > :20:18.questions. I ask the honourable lady to answer them. Given the recent

:20:19. > :20:24.controversies the way I have addressed the members of the House,

:20:25. > :20:29.that speech was enthusiastic and make no reference to any of its

:20:30. > :20:36.content. I want to express my solidarity with the... On behalf of

:20:37. > :20:41.my constituents and the people of Cumbria and other areas for the

:20:42. > :20:48.dreadful situation that they have been in over the last week. I want

:20:49. > :20:57.to pay my respects and thanks to the men may agencies -- many agencies

:20:58. > :21:04.who have pulled out all the stops to help people in this difficult time.

:21:05. > :21:07.To community organisations, to individual members of the community

:21:08. > :21:19.who have pulled together. I also want to give my heartfelt thanks to

:21:20. > :21:21.my fellow parliamentarians, amongst my honourable friend to give a

:21:22. > :21:23.magnificent speech. She is doing a magnificent speech. She is doing a

:21:24. > :21:34.wonderful job for her constituents at this terrible time. Despite

:21:35. > :21:36.really challenging conditions they read you managed to keep

:21:37. > :21:47.broadcasting and emergency services during this situation. We debates on

:21:48. > :21:55.responsibility and fault in the past is valid, it helps us to understand

:21:56. > :22:01.what has gone wrong in terms of public policy and what has worked.

:22:02. > :22:08.It only goes so far. It is really important that our focus in this

:22:09. > :22:12.House is on the future on what has been deficient and what can be done

:22:13. > :22:18.in the future to make it better. In that sense, I do hope the Ministers

:22:19. > :22:23.on the bench opposite will have the courage to look at this and assess

:22:24. > :22:33.this issue dispassionately and where they can identify genuine genuinely

:22:34. > :22:36.they will take the difficult steps of arguing with their colleagues to

:22:37. > :22:44.put it right in the future. The all it to the people of England and the

:22:45. > :22:48.south-west to our suffering so badly and the whole country to make sure

:22:49. > :22:58.this is recognised. It is not going to be won in 100 years. It is not

:22:59. > :23:03.good if we are coming to that description, given the prevalence of

:23:04. > :23:11.this in recent years. I want to use the remaining part of most beach --

:23:12. > :23:18.speech to talk about issues in my area. About what happens next. First

:23:19. > :23:24.of all in transport links. The people in my constituency were very

:23:25. > :23:30.fortunate this time unlike in 2009 when we were badly hit by floods.

:23:31. > :23:35.There are still some areas that are suffering from the six-year long

:23:36. > :23:40.process to try and get back on their feet and the difficulty of getting

:23:41. > :23:46.insurance. We were hit by the transport links where both the roads

:23:47. > :23:50.going out both ends of the constituency were flooded and an

:23:51. > :23:55.passable. This is an all too frequent occurrence in the area. Not

:23:56. > :24:01.simply for adverse weather conditions for accidents. I would

:24:02. > :24:06.urge the Environment Secretary to speak to the Transport Secretary

:24:07. > :24:16.Andrew agreed to a reassessment of the a 590. To push anti-flooding

:24:17. > :24:23.measures up the agenda. This is very needed and it could be genuinely a

:24:24. > :24:32.matter of life and death given the vital health services we have two

:24:33. > :24:35.addax is too. I would use the speech to call on the District Council to

:24:36. > :24:45.reopen the issue of building on flood planes. They have set their

:24:46. > :24:52.face against a reassessment. This must surely lead them to have the

:24:53. > :24:58.courage to think again. Finally, I want to add weight to the message

:24:59. > :25:09.first given by my honourable friend. I have been contacted by the brink

:25:10. > :25:14.company passing on... This is a vital time. It remains open for

:25:15. > :25:30.business and that message should go out loud and clear.

:25:31. > :26:01.Does the five-year average global temperatures and Emile ten warmest

:26:02. > :26:06.years on record. I just wondered... Just wonder if it all wrong about

:26:07. > :26:13.that as the leader of Met Office. -- if he is wrong. I do have another

:26:14. > :26:19.minute so I appreciate that. There is also an increase in extreme

:26:20. > :26:24.weather events in 19th century. We have all seen the terrible scenes

:26:25. > :26:29.for for homes, businesses and farmers. The devastation as water

:26:30. > :26:33.recedes. In my constituency, the town of Pickering suffered a

:26:34. > :26:38.devastating floods four times in ten years. The secretary of state did

:26:39. > :26:51.join me in opening an innovative scheme at Pickering which other

:26:52. > :26:59.members, mentioned. Planting 60,000 trees. Restoring wetlands, all of

:27:00. > :27:02.which will help matters upstream and I would urge the Secretary of State

:27:03. > :27:10.to look at this as a model moving forward. Our TV screens over recent

:27:11. > :27:14.weeks have been dominated by the fall of migrants across continents

:27:15. > :27:19.and perhaps this is a warning of much greater population booms ahead

:27:20. > :27:24.if we do not tackle climate change. It is the threat to our lives, our

:27:25. > :27:28.livelihoods and also to national security and global security. And

:27:29. > :27:36.economic security. I welcome the Secretary of State's effort in Paris

:27:37. > :27:42.to get together 119 nations to a single agreement. There are

:27:43. > :27:47.difficult races ahead and I do not envy ministers are to make such

:27:48. > :27:53.tough decisions. Many years in advance and admits the tough voices

:27:54. > :28:00.and choices. Credit credit is due, in the UK has a proud record on

:28:01. > :28:07.climate change and we are number two in the performance index, only

:28:08. > :28:15.behind Denmark. Lady Hynde -- way in front of most other Western

:28:16. > :28:22.countries. We travelled renewable energy production to 19% but we have

:28:23. > :28:30.much more to do. The energy performance of our housing has to be

:28:31. > :28:40.improved. We have two replays the complex defunct green deal. -- have

:28:41. > :28:43.two replays. I thank my honourable friend for giving way. When we talk

:28:44. > :28:50.about insulating homes, I think we can do a lot more with solid wall

:28:51. > :29:05.properties. It is much easier than in Google areas. -- rule areas.

:29:06. > :29:08.Because of the demographic in our housing stock, we have some of the

:29:09. > :29:15.worst in Europe. We must also be pragmatic. Only 7% of our energy

:29:16. > :29:26.today comes from renewables. Fossil fuels will be part of the mix for

:29:27. > :29:30.the foreseeable future. We are only for meals away from anarchy. We are

:29:31. > :29:36.probably only true dark days Andrew dark night away from anarchy. We

:29:37. > :29:41.have to keep the lights on. Fossil fuels are the way to do that for the

:29:42. > :29:48.foreseeable future. Thank you. The has to be an understanding here that

:29:49. > :29:55.shale gas, natural gas is fossil fuel. If we continue to burn to

:29:56. > :30:00.replace coal-fired power stations, we will never hit the limits which

:30:01. > :30:07.we have just agreed in Paris only a week ago. I will come to that point

:30:08. > :30:14.shortly. If we look at the USA, they are the second biggest emitters of

:30:15. > :30:18.CO2. They have made great progress on climate change and the important

:30:19. > :30:23.reason for this is the reduction of greenhouse gas in the United States

:30:24. > :30:34.and the CO2 production of shale gas. Environmental campaigners such as

:30:35. > :30:46.Stephen Tindale and Baroness Wellington have expressed a support

:30:47. > :30:51.for fracking. There is a shale gas application in my constituency and,

:30:52. > :30:54.having heard both sides of the debate after many months, I decided

:30:55. > :30:59.to visit Pennsylvania receiver fracking had happened and see

:31:00. > :31:03.whether it is possible to do it safely and if it is possible to do

:31:04. > :31:07.it in a way that does not industrialise the countryside. I

:31:08. > :31:12.believe that is possible. We need to paint the picture for local people

:31:13. > :31:24.to shoulder that it is possible -- show them that it is possible. I

:31:25. > :31:26.think we are losing the PR fight and people fail to understand that

:31:27. > :31:34.fossil fuels have to still be part of the mix. I believe we need a lead

:31:35. > :31:41.agency. We need independent regulations and we also need a local

:31:42. > :31:46.plan so residents can see how it will change and how it will not

:31:47. > :31:49.change. In my constituency, there are only ten conventional gas well

:31:50. > :32:01.sites. Most residents do not even know where they are. Not only do we

:32:02. > :32:10.need ten more sites, but 950 Wells, which scares people. There is a

:32:11. > :32:16.great amount of impact in poultry farms. Much more than just a well

:32:17. > :32:20.sites. Most people see that this will not change countryside and it

:32:21. > :32:24.can be done safely, but we must proceed cautiously and make sure

:32:25. > :32:36.that we win the argument and reduce the evidence and make sure that the

:32:37. > :32:40.public have all access to that site. We need to show people how much is

:32:41. > :32:45.possible to do this to move a much cleaner source of fossil fuels. We

:32:46. > :32:55.need to provide an important bridge to a carbon free future. My

:32:56. > :33:03.prediction about time not standing still has come to pass. We have to

:33:04. > :33:12.reduce the time when 24 minutes. -- reduce it to four minutes. We have

:33:13. > :33:18.seen much devastation at this time of year, much more so than usual. We

:33:19. > :33:22.have held a number of eloquent speeches around the devastation that

:33:23. > :33:27.has rocked many places but we also need to render that we are in the

:33:28. > :33:31.fortunate position as a rich, and nation that he can afford to

:33:32. > :33:40.rebuild, we house and protect those affected. Other parts of the world

:33:41. > :33:45.will not be so fortunate. For me, the standout part of the Paris

:33:46. > :33:51.agreement is that $100 billion for mitigation in terms of climate

:33:52. > :33:56.change to allow other nations the access to the finance they need to

:33:57. > :34:01.develop in a way that allows them to be protected. It will give us an

:34:02. > :34:04.opportunity to lock in carbon emissions without locking in poverty

:34:05. > :34:10.and that has to be fundamental to the way in which we deal with this.

:34:11. > :34:13.What has rightly been described as the greatest threat facing humanity

:34:14. > :34:20.today. We have heard from my colleague in the Scottish Borders

:34:21. > :34:26.about the Scottish Climate Justice Fund. That is something as a party

:34:27. > :34:31.that they are rightly proud. This is not a devolved matter but we have

:34:32. > :34:36.put our money where our mouth is. That money has to be seen as

:34:37. > :34:40.additional contribution. It cannot be put into the pot ordered out of

:34:41. > :34:49.the pot because of what we have done. -- or taken out. We have had

:34:50. > :34:54.many debates in this place as many conversations about the changes that

:34:55. > :34:59.need to be made to renewables and the Green economy more widely. It

:35:00. > :35:02.disappoints me to say that our target in Scotland of 100% of our

:35:03. > :35:09.electricity generation are under threat because of the changes to

:35:10. > :35:13.contracts for difference. We have seen much slower progress around our

:35:14. > :35:24.feet which is maybe bigger challenge. -- our heating. ?700

:35:25. > :35:28.million has been taken out and, in the context of what we are dealing

:35:29. > :35:34.with falling Paris, sitting like another short sighted move. Speaking

:35:35. > :35:39.of which, carbon capture storage. You may have held about this, I will

:35:40. > :35:47.continue to go on about it, I will continue to ban this blog. This is

:35:48. > :35:52.one of the worst decisions. We need to put this in. We are speaking

:35:53. > :35:58.about spending billions and billions of pounds preventing the symptoms

:35:59. > :36:07.but not tackling the queue. -- the queue. It is potentially a game

:36:08. > :36:12.changer. It is the most straightforward way. It is the least

:36:13. > :36:15.impactful on our economic model if we are to use carbon capture

:36:16. > :36:23.storage. If Ally was asked to extract the fossil fuels that we

:36:24. > :36:26.extract. Its allies to do so without having to invest. We will still have

:36:27. > :36:32.to invest in other technologies but it gives us the opportunity... I

:36:33. > :36:48.certainly will. Does he share with the accents of...

:36:49. > :36:55.INAUDIBLE New rule for our future. ?1 billion.

:36:56. > :36:58.Comedy of the blackest sort would be my response to that. It is

:36:59. > :37:06.short-sighted and does not take into account how we can target industry

:37:07. > :37:13.and reduction. The reaction your full is very short of the rhetoric.

:37:14. > :37:18.The action falls very short of what is required to deliver and protect

:37:19. > :37:22.those people both at home and abroad from climate change. We need to up

:37:23. > :37:32.our game. It is time to reset the reset. We want to match the

:37:33. > :37:35.Doncaster North MP's high ambition and the SNP are more than willing to

:37:36. > :37:46.play our part in achieving that. Thank you. Can I start associating

:37:47. > :37:55.my friends with everyone who has expressed compassion for the victims

:37:56. > :38:00.of the floods. I would also like to commend the earlier speech and say

:38:01. > :38:04.that I could envision myself at the bottom of my high street with those

:38:05. > :38:09.shopkeepers. I want to speak about the environmental threats that this

:38:10. > :38:12.country faces but I do not appreciate the threat to hang this

:38:13. > :38:24.is that the member from the SNP raised earlier. -- haggis. Members

:38:25. > :38:27.of the judiciary and academic community, the business and society

:38:28. > :38:41.all gathered to discuss the challenges in Paris in the post-2015

:38:42. > :38:46.agenda. The president of France, the head of the environment programme,

:38:47. > :38:55.and contributions from legislators around the world. It was a

:38:56. > :39:06.cross-party effort from across the UK. I wondered if, when summing up

:39:07. > :39:13.the secretary of state's statement, we can add to that debate. I feel

:39:14. > :39:16.like it was one of a cross-party support and consensus for the

:39:17. > :39:20.ambitious deal in Paris. I think there is such a strong delegation

:39:21. > :39:25.from the UK and that is vital. I would like to pay tribute to my

:39:26. > :39:37.honourable friend who dealt with it so ably. Despite all these attempts

:39:38. > :39:40.to cut greenhouse gas, that will limit the global average

:39:41. > :39:46.temperature, it is historic. I do believe that the cost of an action

:39:47. > :40:05.is -- inaction on climate change will do more to shift the balance of

:40:06. > :40:08.is a lie. -- in this life. We want to ensure that necessary action is

:40:09. > :40:13.being taken to tackle climate change. I think the country has

:40:14. > :40:21.legally obliged to try to reduce emissions every five years until

:40:22. > :40:24.2025 and I want to welcome the billion-dollar fund to help

:40:25. > :40:31.developing nations decarbonise the energy mix. We also wanted and

:40:32. > :40:36.edition from burning fossil fuels. It is clear that, going forward in

:40:37. > :40:41.the UK, decolonisation will have to be a key part of our fiscal policy

:40:42. > :40:47.and lip service will not be enough going for the Secretary of State

:40:48. > :40:50.agreeing with me here on that point. I am very grateful. You are making

:40:51. > :40:54.some powerful point about the climate change

:40:55. > :41:05.Does he agree with me that is incredibly important that the plan

:41:06. > :41:10.is published, which would be on top of local flood resilience plans. We

:41:11. > :41:15.both know the terrible effect flooding has had in our local areas.

:41:16. > :41:19.I thank my honourable friend from that point. I agree with him on the

:41:20. > :41:27.importance of that and will do everything to do to work with him on

:41:28. > :41:33.that going forward. During the conference is she said she would do

:41:34. > :41:37.anything to assure that deal. Can I commend her for playing such a

:41:38. > :41:44.successful role in the negotiation. It is a long-term goal of zero

:41:45. > :41:48.emissions by the end of the century. The deal represents a huge step

:41:49. > :41:57.forward in securing the future of our planet. It is a privilege to

:41:58. > :42:02.speak in this debate and to follow the honourable member. He is a

:42:03. > :42:08.fellow member of the environment audit select committee. It is the

:42:09. > :42:11.leadership that has been shown in terms of the negotiations, not just

:42:12. > :42:24.by the Right Honourable member opposite, but by the whole team. I

:42:25. > :42:28.met my honourable friend to... Outcome is good. I'm sure they will

:42:29. > :42:34.agree with me that the outcome is nothing unless we rise to the

:42:35. > :42:40.challenge. We are looking at 3.5, 3.7 degrees based on a current

:42:41. > :42:46.trajectory on global warming. If all of the actions are delivered, may

:42:47. > :42:52.take us down to 2.5. It may take us down to that aspiration of 1.5 if we

:42:53. > :42:57.wrapped it up every year. The scale of this transition is huge. We

:42:58. > :43:00.cannot base it on the plans we currently have. The leadership that

:43:01. > :43:05.has been shown should be commended. We need that leadership to purple

:43:06. > :43:16.charge what we do here in the UK. But also in international

:43:17. > :43:22.negotiations as well. In areas of flooding in Wales and Northern

:43:23. > :43:28.Ireland or from the words of my honourable friend. I was there just

:43:29. > :43:34.a few years ago when we thought it was the worst flooding we had ever

:43:35. > :43:40.seen. That came on the back of the 2005 floods. Back in 2009 there were

:43:41. > :43:48.over 2200 properties affected. 25 bridges closed, waste treatment

:43:49. > :43:56.works, 40 of them were closed down. Here we are again. In answer to my

:43:57. > :44:03.honourable friend, he is wrong. He is completely wrong. This is not an

:44:04. > :44:11.issue of climate change. Whether it is the issues in Cumbria, Northern

:44:12. > :44:15.Ireland, Bangladesh, this is a pattern of climate change that is an

:44:16. > :44:22.arguable and we need to rise to deal with it. In the short time available

:44:23. > :44:26.I would simply say to the UK Government as the go forward on

:44:27. > :44:31.this, we do need to have a step change now in light of the Paris

:44:32. > :44:35.commitments. If we are going to make them work and go further. It does

:44:36. > :44:40.require going further on the international stage. I would urge

:44:41. > :44:44.the Minister and go back and look at what we are doing at the EU level

:44:45. > :44:50.and whether we are being ambitious enough. In terms of this country,

:44:51. > :44:57.the Right Honourable lady herself has admitted at the moment we have a

:44:58. > :45:04.policy vacuum. Whether it is on the closure of various schemes. We have

:45:05. > :45:13.a policy vacuum. Whether it is in energy efficiency in homes, the type

:45:14. > :45:16.of green energy we do, in demand reduction, in residential commercial

:45:17. > :45:26.properties, all of those aspects we are being told there is a policy

:45:27. > :45:36.vacuum. I will indeed give way. I thank him for giving way. Would you

:45:37. > :45:40.not agree that it would be a good way going forward for reducing tidal

:45:41. > :45:46.energy. We could use this all the way round the United Kingdom? I was

:45:47. > :45:51.not going to be able to get that point on. I hope what the government

:45:52. > :45:56.will do, even though we have had frustration over a lack of

:45:57. > :46:01.announcements, let's see the commitment that will take not only

:46:02. > :46:07.the Swansea Bay lagoon forward but also the Cardiff Bay lagoon. One of

:46:08. > :46:12.my recommendations would be, let us use this as an opportunity to create

:46:13. > :46:20.jobs and be a world leader so that we can export that technology. It is

:46:21. > :46:25.the taking. When we were warned about the dangers of climate change,

:46:26. > :46:31.make the early investment because it will save you money down the line.

:46:32. > :46:35.That is what we have to do. I have enormous respect for him. I wonder

:46:36. > :46:42.whether you might like to comment on, with the plan you are

:46:43. > :46:53.suggesting,... I am not suggesting anything. It is she, not you. I

:46:54. > :46:56.apologise. I am as being whether we need more detailed inspections and

:46:57. > :47:00.government departments or that we are all doing our bit. What about

:47:01. > :47:07.all the other departments. Should we not be working more together? The

:47:08. > :47:12.honourable lady is right. It needs to be cross departmental. It needs

:47:13. > :47:16.to be rigorous and it needs a step change. What we have been doing is

:47:17. > :47:22.trying to turn this supertanker around slowly. What Paris says is

:47:23. > :47:26.that it is not fast enough. The chair of the climate change

:47:27. > :47:30.committee says we need to do more. The head of the National Audit

:47:31. > :47:33.Office said we need joined up thinking and joined up thinking

:47:34. > :47:40.right across. She is absolutely right. One of the biggest commitment

:47:41. > :47:45.is the government could do and they would have my support in doing this

:47:46. > :47:49.is fairly accept that when the committee looks at the outcomes of

:47:50. > :47:54.Paris and says we need to go further and faster than the already said

:47:55. > :48:01.last June. We need to go faster again and deliver more. I would say

:48:02. > :48:06.to her, except it. Go beyond it if you can. Look at how we can do that.

:48:07. > :48:14.What technologies should we be investing in. We are is a private

:48:15. > :48:19.going to put its money? So except that and also fill the gap that we

:48:20. > :48:24.currently have from the fourth carbon budget. This is to do with

:48:25. > :48:28.leadership. It is great coming back from Paris with excellent

:48:29. > :48:32.commitments, better than many were expecting. The UK played its role in

:48:33. > :48:40.leadership they are. We need to take it now to a whole other level. Paris

:48:41. > :48:45.means it is not business as usual. Let us go further and I look forward

:48:46. > :48:55.to the Secretary of State seeing how we are going to do that. It has been

:48:56. > :49:00.really interesting to follow the member around his debate around

:49:01. > :49:08.climate change and his views on that. We have talked about the Paris

:49:09. > :49:13.deal and the relationship that we have on that historic agreement. I

:49:14. > :49:17.want to also highlight another historic agreement. That was made

:49:18. > :49:22.between the Northern Ireland government and the Ireland

:49:23. > :49:27.government back in 1950. It included Westminster as well. We had an

:49:28. > :49:31.agreement between the three governments to have a hydropower

:49:32. > :49:38.station in the Republic of Ireland using the water from Loch earn. I

:49:39. > :49:46.was disappointed that this Motion did not mention Northern Ireland. In

:49:47. > :49:54.my constituency we have had huge amount of damages to businesses,

:49:55. > :50:00.homes, we have a number of people will have indeed people not in their

:50:01. > :50:03.home for Christmas. That is a really demoralising situation. Local

:50:04. > :50:11.businesses, family owned businesses which have lost over ?100,000 worth

:50:12. > :50:14.of stock and a lot of the Christmas business as well. That is

:50:15. > :50:18.devastating for them and may put some of them out of business. The

:50:19. > :50:22.farmland have been highlighted here as well. The aspect of that

:50:23. > :50:29.agreement between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have

:50:30. > :50:34.comes into play. The levels of Loch earn have not been looked in to

:50:35. > :50:40.since 1950s. We need that historic agreement to move on. We need a

:50:41. > :50:44.review of that. We need to assure some of the actions that took place

:50:45. > :50:56.at that time, dredging the lock and making sure the levels could be the

:50:57. > :51:03.safe again. I am asking the Secretary of State to speak to the

:51:04. > :51:09.Irish Northern Irish Minister to see if there would be some flexibility,

:51:10. > :51:14.just as there was in 1950 to do that. I did note the Secretary of

:51:15. > :51:20.State indicated about a special finance scheme for farmers. I am

:51:21. > :51:24.wondering whether they would be any knock on effect for those in

:51:25. > :51:29.Northern Ireland? For farmers in Northern Ireland as well to help

:51:30. > :51:34.clean that up. It is really important that we get assistants,

:51:35. > :51:42.just as the will in England and Cumbria and in Scotland as well.

:51:43. > :51:45.Unlike my colleagues in Scotland, the Northern Ireland departments

:51:46. > :51:50.have not dealt with it as well. The people on the ground and the staff

:51:51. > :51:55.have been very effective in helping businesses and domestic homes and

:51:56. > :52:01.indeed farmers but when it comes to the wider access of planning, the

:52:02. > :52:05.key aspects we need to get from this debate is how the planning will go

:52:06. > :52:13.forward into the future. We do not want a repeat of what happened this

:52:14. > :52:19.year. We had it in 2009 and again six years later. We do not want

:52:20. > :52:21.another repeat again. I am appealing to the Secretary of State and

:52:22. > :52:25.government to do all they can to assure this will not happen once

:52:26. > :52:33.again. And that they will liaise with the officials in Northern

:52:34. > :52:37.Ireland departments as well. We had a time limit of four or five

:52:38. > :52:43.minutes, several members spoke for seven or eight minutes. They know

:52:44. > :52:44.who they are those who are still to speak can be agreed and take it up

:52:45. > :53:07.with them and with me. -- agreed. I speak for a constituency that was

:53:08. > :53:12.also affected by the recent flooding, although we are not in

:53:13. > :53:18.Cumbria and I do urge members of the House to remember the effects of the

:53:19. > :53:23.floods beyond those county boundaries. I would like to pay

:53:24. > :53:27.tribute to our local radio station which continued broadcasting. For

:53:28. > :53:32.many people it was their only source of June occasion to the outside

:53:33. > :53:36.world as we lost power. The station managed to get back online even

:53:37. > :53:43.though there were power cuts and kept local people informed. There

:53:44. > :53:48.have been lots said about the effects of the flooding in the city

:53:49. > :53:52.centre but I want to talk about the beautiful part of Lancashire which

:53:53. > :53:59.has a very big farming committee. I would like to thank the cheer of the

:54:00. > :54:05.parish council who helped introduce me to many people I did not know. I

:54:06. > :54:11.welcome the news from the government about the support for farmers and I

:54:12. > :54:12.will look forward to seeing that. The floods we have seen in recent

:54:13. > :54:19.weeks is what we should be expecting from the world's. The annual

:54:20. > :54:24.rainfall has been increasing in the UK and five out of six wettest years

:54:25. > :54:31.on record have been in the new millennium. Businesses have been

:54:32. > :54:36.badly affected in my constituency. I pay tribute to the businesses that

:54:37. > :54:39.step up and played a role when the flood water breached the city

:54:40. > :54:44.centre. Including the landlord of the pup who opened up his part to

:54:45. > :54:50.allow people to come inside. When they were unable to return from

:54:51. > :54:54.their Saturday night out as the bridges had been hit by a shipping

:54:55. > :55:02.container, it reminds us of the force of nature meaning people

:55:03. > :55:09.enjoying the night life are stranded in the city centre. 52% of

:55:10. > :55:13.constituents do not have flooding insurance. I fear that may go on to

:55:14. > :55:21.increase as premiums are going to be increasing. The Environment Agency

:55:22. > :55:26.long-term investment scenario recommends an investment of 470

:55:27. > :55:30.million a year more than is currently being spent. The

:55:31. > :55:36.government needs to be spending 2.5 billion over this period from 2015

:55:37. > :55:42.to 2051. This sounds like a lot of money but the cost of doing nothing

:55:43. > :55:45.is far greater than the cost of protecting our committees. I have

:55:46. > :55:57.seen them first-hand and the devastation I have lived around. I

:55:58. > :55:58.call on our government do not -- to realise climate change is a serious

:55:59. > :56:11.issue. UK current analysis shows that there

:56:12. > :56:15.will be more heavy rainfall events. We have to ask ourselves, are we

:56:16. > :56:22.prepared for the ramifications of the changes in our weather? Is a

:56:23. > :56:31.report published in the summer of 2016 will hopefully help us find

:56:32. > :56:36.sustainable solutions because we have had rain before, floods before

:56:37. > :56:42.and reviews before. We need to see, not more parliamentary people

:56:43. > :56:52.navel-gazing, but making the governments better. They need to

:56:53. > :56:58.acknowledge the flood defence funds and how much money from taxpayers is

:56:59. > :57:06.being spent on preventing this. Sticking your finger in the dam does

:57:07. > :57:11.not solve the problems. Turning it around is a massive task and

:57:12. > :57:17.sticking plaster porting is will not address that. This Government has

:57:18. > :57:22.decided to cut investment in carbon capture storage technology. They are

:57:23. > :57:28.just finding solar and blocking the source for wind technology. We will

:57:29. > :57:37.now see another annual basis. There will be losses of the tackling

:57:38. > :57:41.findings for this issue. We must also recognise that we have changed

:57:42. > :57:49.our environment and expose the risk of flooding. That will give serious

:57:50. > :57:53.consideration to reforestation, taking water from the soil water for

:57:54. > :58:04.planning and actively our first line of defence. If you manage trees

:58:05. > :58:12.correctly, it can help. If all the public buildings bought the boilers,

:58:13. > :58:17.we could start to see a coherent lookalike industry employing local

:58:18. > :58:20.people as part of an environmentally friendly solution. Reforestation is

:58:21. > :58:25.one of many policies they could implement to improve our catchment

:58:26. > :58:31.management in the long-term. The upland bogs and straightened rivers

:58:32. > :58:34.are other measures we wish to consider as they seek to look for

:58:35. > :58:39.more permanent solutions. One change will not fix the problem. A series

:58:40. > :58:45.of correct adjustment will help any number of different ways. Whether it

:58:46. > :58:49.is reforestation or tackling climate change, we have to be bold with our

:58:50. > :58:57.policy-making and ensure that no more lies, businesses or homes are

:58:58. > :59:03.ruined by flooding. I speak as a normal cheer flood manager for Wales

:59:04. > :59:11.helping adapt well to climate change. -- chair flood manager. I

:59:12. > :59:15.will be talking about adaptation but, in Paris, can I simply say that

:59:16. > :59:27.the Secretary of State has do carefully at the back that a lot of

:59:28. > :59:31.the suggestions are not enforceable, and you should be looking at what

:59:32. > :59:37.the Government is moving ahead on. And there was adaptation, Regent

:59:38. > :59:40.advice from Kuala number which is drowned in water every year until

:59:41. > :59:49.they actually had storage lakes upstream. -- weekly advice from

:59:50. > :59:53.Kuala Lumpur. We have to look at reader version of rivers upstream to

:59:54. > :00:00.stop some of this. -- reader version. It is not enough to just

:00:01. > :00:05.have grass verges for absorption, all public buildings and all

:00:06. > :00:14.new-build should have but that take all the water of the ball buildings.

:00:15. > :00:20.This would help it actually we can over a period of days rather than

:00:21. > :00:24.sleeping the sewage systems, those fake flooding and sewerage and when

:00:25. > :00:29.they come up through the drains, everybody's everything is ruined by

:00:30. > :00:32.sewage. We can stop that happening by adding storage and capture on

:00:33. > :00:42.booze, that would save enormous amounts of money. -- on roofs. The

:00:43. > :00:45.other suggestions give us a false sense of security, that should be

:00:46. > :00:53.investment in our budget also need to invent an -- invest in common

:00:54. > :00:59.sense. Steps going into houses with water downstairs so that, after the

:01:00. > :01:06.floods, people can get back to their normal lives. We need to minimise

:01:07. > :01:08.the trauma of this. There should be local governments Keynes on

:01:09. > :01:19.insurance and that would also incentivise them. -- local

:01:20. > :01:26.governments Keynes. We need to ensure that there are enough

:01:27. > :01:33.emergency services and that all into that. We need to finally ensure that

:01:34. > :01:38.the ratio of cost versus value is correct. We have heard that many

:01:39. > :01:43.times but we need to ensure that people in a low value of houses are

:01:44. > :01:49.also protected. In Wales, we are changing it so that you don't just

:01:50. > :01:52.get protected in rich areas, you get it if you are in a poor area and you

:01:53. > :01:57.can get insurance if you are an April area. That is the adaptations

:01:58. > :02:02.and I wish you the best of luck. Many thanks. I am delighted to be

:02:03. > :02:11.able to speak in this debate today as our party spokesman on Klein. --

:02:12. > :02:16.on climate. Storm Desmond, which affected a lot of us, has had

:02:17. > :02:20.devastating consequences. At a time that most of us are looking forward

:02:21. > :02:27.to Christmas and looking forward to our festivities, those affected by

:02:28. > :02:33.the flooding is likely to face away from home. They have a massive

:02:34. > :02:37.clean-up process ahead of them. Our thoughts are with those affected and

:02:38. > :02:43.our gratitude is with all of the emergency services and councils have

:02:44. > :02:47.helped. This is not an isolated event and, over the recent years,

:02:48. > :02:52.there have been a number of extreme floods in the UK in both winter and

:02:53. > :02:58.summer. Many people have experienced in on multiple occasions. These

:02:59. > :03:02.floods have substantial human and emotional, and financial toll on the

:03:03. > :03:06.GMC is affected. Both in the immediate aftermath and over the

:03:07. > :03:14.long term. -- in the communities affected. Public immunities and

:03:15. > :03:19.transport links have been closed. Most tragically of all, it has

:03:20. > :03:23.resulted in a number of fatalities. In Scotland, our governments are

:03:24. > :03:26.very aware of the climate change both domestically and globally and

:03:27. > :03:31.have introduced pioneering policies which aim to alleviate the effects

:03:32. > :03:35.of climate change, both in Scotland and in developing countries across

:03:36. > :03:39.the world. In this week, the Scottish Government have been

:03:40. > :03:43.investing in number of initiatives to reduce carbon emissions as

:03:44. > :03:49.Scotland is well on its way to meeting our target of 47% of

:03:50. > :03:54.reductions by 2020. We have made massive progress in building

:03:55. > :04:04.renewable energy sources do help a sustainable energy supply. Thank you

:04:05. > :04:09.for taking the intervention. We recognise the investment of the

:04:10. > :04:20.Scottish Government to the Climate Justice Fund. Do you agree with my

:04:21. > :04:28.honourable friend about this investment helping existing flows?

:04:29. > :04:33.Thank you. I was just moving on to those very points. We have been

:04:34. > :04:38.encouraging investment in the climate Justice fund. Over the last

:04:39. > :04:47.five years, this fund has already invested ?6 million for 11 projects

:04:48. > :04:50.in African countries. In Malawi, many people now have access to safe

:04:51. > :04:58.drinking water and more than 100 communities have been trained in

:04:59. > :05:06.natural resource management. The Government has said it will double

:05:07. > :05:09.this fund by pledging another ?12 million to help these countries. It

:05:10. > :05:16.is recognised that richer countries have already do more and for longer

:05:17. > :05:22.-- polluted more and for longer, so we should help the countries it has

:05:23. > :05:25.affected. I applaud the hard work in reaching the agreement in Paris by

:05:26. > :05:31.UK ministers, Scottish Government ministers and governments across the

:05:32. > :05:37.world. I was also able to play a small role by attending the

:05:38. > :05:42.legislator summit. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the London

:05:43. > :05:46.Natural History Museum during recess and, thinking about climate change

:05:47. > :05:50.across the world as it hit the dinosaurs of the past and led to

:05:51. > :06:00.their extinction. Climate change is not new. It is now once again

:06:01. > :06:09.reaching crisis point. I will finish by saying, let us fix this for the

:06:10. > :06:14.future and not be the dinosaurs of the past. I am fangled to make a

:06:15. > :06:28.brief contribution to this fascinating debate. -- or not.

:06:29. > :06:34.Honoured. Unprecedented rainfall. More rain fell in one day on

:06:35. > :06:38.Saturday the 5th of November and Cumbria received levels higher than

:06:39. > :06:44.those ever recorded. Storm Desmond led to school closure, business

:06:45. > :06:52.Collier, power supplies cutting off for many people and flood damage

:06:53. > :06:57.across most of the region. Lancaster University had to declare the end of

:06:58. > :06:59.term one week early. I did have my own small personal experience of

:07:00. > :07:08.this on Sunday the 6th of December when they added the drive -- when we

:07:09. > :07:11.had to drive because the university had no power since Saturday evening.

:07:12. > :07:15.This raises the question of flood defences around power stations.

:07:16. > :07:24.Surely they should be able to be protected in order to deters such

:07:25. > :07:28.disruption. I am pleased the Secretary of State has announced the

:07:29. > :07:34.review which will carry out assessments of infrastructure,

:07:35. > :07:38.including, I am pleased to say, electricity substations. 1.I would

:07:39. > :07:50.like to mention is the creation of a statutory duty for the firefighters

:07:51. > :07:53.attending the floods. This will help Fire And Rescue Services and other

:07:54. > :08:03.emergency services, as well as the Government. We can plan effectively

:08:04. > :08:07.and reduce risk to life and property. This is already in place

:08:08. > :08:15.in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These bonds to recent floods as

:08:16. > :08:22.shown the recent ones of our emergency teams, Army and junior

:08:23. > :08:28.veggies overall. They have been -- communities. They have been

:08:29. > :08:34.fantastic. But we have to do is keep this up and up our game. Emergency

:08:35. > :08:39.service also need to be addressed. Five fire stations in Cumbria are

:08:40. > :08:41.set to close in money-saving measures and it sounds like a

:08:42. > :08:51.statement of the obvious, but he cannot go on to cut the Fire Service

:08:52. > :08:57.when things like this are happening. I am grateful that the words of the

:08:58. > :09:04.Prime Minister was quoted, we should sit down, look at what we are

:09:05. > :09:09.spending and ask, is it enough? Clearly it is not. This Government's

:09:10. > :09:16.approach is failing to unity is blighted by flooding. Thank you. I

:09:17. > :09:19.want to start by thanking all the honourable members on all sides of

:09:20. > :09:22.the house for giving a voice to those communities who have been

:09:23. > :09:26.affected by flooding today. We wanted to call this debate so that

:09:27. > :09:31.those communities could have a voice. I think all the members who

:09:32. > :09:36.have spoken about in the 20s crowd. They have done something else as

:09:37. > :09:41.well. They have given a voice to all of us who are deeply concerned about

:09:42. > :09:45.the cost of inaction on climate change and what it will mean to the

:09:46. > :09:48.United Kingdom. I think there is a remarkable degree of consensus,

:09:49. > :09:56.perhaps with the exception of the honourable member for more than

:09:57. > :09:59.about the clear link between the trends in flooding and what we are

:10:00. > :10:05.seeing. The Met office analysis suggests that global warming at, or

:10:06. > :10:13.about 2 degrees, from 1990 levels will increase the floods and risk of

:10:14. > :10:19.floods by a factor of seven. This was once seen as rare, once in a

:10:20. > :10:23.matter of 100 years, and happening more frequently and it is right that

:10:24. > :10:27.the Government has acknowledged that. It is their own adviser on

:10:28. > :10:36.climate change who has said that if global greenhouse gas emissions do

:10:37. > :10:41.not subside soon, global warming could take place this century. This

:10:42. > :10:50.will lead to severe flood risk. This level of rise will affect an extra

:10:51. > :10:54.million homes. The annual cost of flooding damage could increase from

:10:55. > :11:01.?1 billion to ?5.6 billion and I need 20 80s. The member for

:11:02. > :11:05.Lancaster and Fleetwood in our short but moving contribution made signed

:11:06. > :11:16.a stand the real human consequences of what that could mean. It is about

:11:17. > :11:21.the future. The committee on climate change said the programme lists a

:11:22. > :11:28.range of useful activity but it does not amount to lead to hearing

:11:29. > :11:36.programme. I see two members, they must rectify this. We need a real

:11:37. > :11:43.plan, a long-term land as the member pointed out. We need to recognise as

:11:44. > :11:48.the member made clear from his contribution, in action has a cost.

:11:49. > :11:52.These are lives, homes and livelihoods that are on the line.

:11:53. > :11:58.The member for Aberdeen South said we are spending billions on the

:11:59. > :12:05.symptoms and not because. We cannot go on like this. My honourable

:12:06. > :12:10.friend for Bristol East as to renew flood assessment. I would like to

:12:11. > :12:14.take this opportunity to commend the Secretary of State for the

:12:15. > :12:18.environment to agree to this. It will not fully account for the

:12:19. > :12:23.latest understanding of climate change impact on UK flooding, given

:12:24. > :12:31.we have to wait for 2017 for the risk assessment. I would ask her,

:12:32. > :12:34.will she bring this forward? Will that be a new national climate

:12:35. > :12:42.adaptation plan to follow these reviews? The leadership that was

:12:43. > :12:47.shown in Paris must be followed by the leadership at home. I will take

:12:48. > :12:52.this opportunity to ask her again, will she take this chance, the

:12:53. > :13:00.chance presented by the Paris Summit and stop the sell-off of the green

:13:01. > :13:05.investment blank and blocking wind farms where there is local support

:13:06. > :13:15.for it. Will she make progress on the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. Will