12/07/2016

:00:00. > :00:00.office records, and so I think the ministers should take some pride in

:00:00. > :00:00.that fact. The other way of looking is that I am giving them additional

:00:07. > :00:09.speaking opportunities. Point of order, we will come to the

:00:10. > :00:17.honourable gentleman, we are saving him up. My honourable friend who is

:00:18. > :00:22.standing for the leadership of my party heard her constituency windows

:00:23. > :00:26.broken, and the police have confirmed that such an incident has

:00:27. > :00:32.taken place. Can we take the opportunity of deploring such

:00:33. > :00:36.hooliganism, whoever commits it and whichever party is involved? It is

:00:37. > :00:41.totally unacceptable, and one hopes the police will apprehend the

:00:42. > :00:44.culprits as quickly as possible. I thank the honourable gentleman for

:00:45. > :00:49.his point of order. Of course, it is not strictly in any residual sense a

:00:50. > :00:54.matter for the chair, but it is a matter for the chair in one respect,

:00:55. > :01:00.and that is that in common with all colleagues, the chair believes in

:01:01. > :01:09.democracy and peaceful exchange of opinion. We are a pluralist society,

:01:10. > :01:15.and if people think they will get their way by violence, threats and

:01:16. > :01:21.intimidation, they will soon find themselves wrong. And there is, I

:01:22. > :01:24.think, if I may say so, no one more suited to making that point than

:01:25. > :01:27.someone who has served as a democratic parliamentarian for as

:01:28. > :01:34.long as the honourable gentleman has done. Point of order. Unfortunately

:01:35. > :01:39.I was not able to bid for business questions last Thursday, for many

:01:40. > :01:45.different reasons. -- I was not able to be here. So I had to read later

:01:46. > :01:48.in Hansard, and I scoured Hansard to find announcements regarding next

:01:49. > :01:51.week's business, and in particular next Monday's business. But on

:01:52. > :01:56.Saturday I gather that the Prime Minister knows, not to their size,

:01:57. > :02:01.not even in this country, but in Poland, that next Monday we will be

:02:02. > :02:07.debating the renewal of the Trident system. -- the Prime Minister knows,

:02:08. > :02:12.not to this House. The question is, why have we not been told? Why has

:02:13. > :02:17.this has still not been formally told that that will be our business

:02:18. > :02:20.next week? The Minister for defence yesterday had a perfect opportunity

:02:21. > :02:25.if he wanted to do so to make that clear to the House. I note that

:02:26. > :02:29.today on the order paper, it says, and motion down in the name of the

:02:30. > :02:32.leader of the hows that says, at the sitting next Monday, the speakers

:02:33. > :02:37.should pit the questions necessary to depose on the questions necessary

:02:38. > :02:42.relating to the UK's nuclear deterrent not later than 10pm. So we

:02:43. > :02:47.have a sub announcement that that is what we will be debating. Still no

:02:48. > :02:50.sign of what the motion will be, whether it is amendable, and in

:02:51. > :02:53.precisely what terms we are having this debate. Surely it would be more

:02:54. > :02:56.courteous to this House to have a proper supplementary business

:02:57. > :03:00.statement that lays out what our business will be next Monday? I

:03:01. > :03:04.thank the honourable gentleman for his point of order, and he has the

:03:05. > :03:15.advantage of being right on both counts. Junior Government whip says

:03:16. > :03:20.that he is not right always, but the same could be said of junior

:03:21. > :03:24.Government whips, for that matter. On this matter, the honourable

:03:25. > :03:28.gentleman is right in both respects. First is that motion number five on

:03:29. > :03:33.today's order paper is posited upon the assumption that there will be a

:03:34. > :03:39.debate on Monday the 18th of July on the UK's nuclear deterrent. And that

:03:40. > :03:45.this debate has not been notified to the House other than via passing

:03:46. > :03:49.reference to register the by the Secretary of State for Defence in

:03:50. > :03:54.the course of the statement on the recent Nato summit. I'm make no

:03:55. > :04:01.complaint about what the Prime Minister might have been thinking or

:04:02. > :04:04.had intended, and was caused or tempted to comment elsewhere. I am

:04:05. > :04:09.not focusing on that point. What I am focusing on is that if there is

:04:10. > :04:15.to be a change of business, there should be a supplementary business

:04:16. > :04:19.statement. That is the way we do our work in this place, and if I may say

:04:20. > :04:27.so, the usual channels, whatever their opinions on the merit of the

:04:28. > :04:32.issue, really ought to be aware of that point, which is blindingly

:04:33. > :04:36.obvious and Brooks than no contradiction. It is very, very

:04:37. > :04:40.straightforward. We cannot get into a situation in this place in which

:04:41. > :04:45.we do business in a disorderly fashion. The procedures of this

:04:46. > :04:51.House are for the protection of this House, and all members ought to take

:04:52. > :04:55.that very seriously. They certainly ought to be aware of its

:04:56. > :04:59.significance, and some sort of remedial training is required for

:05:00. > :05:07.those who are not. Point of order, Emily Thornbury.

:05:08. > :05:12.The Ministry of Defence released a press release stating that there

:05:13. > :05:17.would be eight motion but it has not been informed to the House and it is

:05:18. > :05:20.not about renewal it is about continuing nuclear deterrent and the

:05:21. > :05:25.principle of it which seems to be a different issue. I do not know what

:05:26. > :05:33.press officers get up to in these matters but suffice say that

:05:34. > :05:36.ultimately the Secretary of State in a department is always everywhere

:05:37. > :05:42.and for everything in that department responsible. So we should

:05:43. > :05:48.not drill on it any further but let us try to learn from it for the

:05:49. > :05:53.future. Because I am in a benign and generous mood I will allow a further

:05:54. > :05:56.from the honourable member. I am grateful but the point is surely

:05:57. > :06:00.that as things stand unless the Leader of the House gives a clear

:06:01. > :06:02.statement to the House we will get to Thursday morning will be the

:06:03. > :06:07.first time we know for certain what the business is to be for next

:06:08. > :06:10.Monday by which time it will be impossible to table amendments to

:06:11. > :06:21.the business that will be taken on Monday, and the issue are going to

:06:22. > :06:23.be generous about the amendments that can be taken and tables and

:06:24. > :06:25.manuscript amendments and so on. Surely friendly are considering the

:06:26. > :06:30.defence of our nation it is ludicrous for the Government to

:06:31. > :06:33.indulge in such shenanigans? It would be better if there were a

:06:34. > :06:36.supplementary business statement and I would have thought that the terms

:06:37. > :06:43.of which I have answered him make that so clear that the point needs

:06:44. > :06:49.simply to waft from the scholarly cranium of the junior whip on duty

:06:50. > :06:55.to the powers that be in the relevant Government 's Department.

:06:56. > :06:59.Secondly, in the absence of any such supplementary business statement,

:07:00. > :07:02.which I would regard as discourtesy to the House, the honourable

:07:03. > :07:08.gentleman can be assured that it will be possible to table amendments

:07:09. > :07:11.on Thursday and if it is necessary, I have not thought about Pernice

:07:12. > :07:16.chronology, but if it is necessary for me to a low manuscript

:07:17. > :07:21.amendments because of the circumstances which are not of the

:07:22. > :07:26.honourable gentleman's devising then such manuscript amendments will be

:07:27. > :07:31.allowed, subject only to those amendments in terms of content being

:07:32. > :07:41.orderly. But I think the quips got the message.

:07:42. > :07:49.Not the sort of thing that you used to chant at the University of Essex

:07:50. > :07:54.student union. Whether this is a point of order is for you to judge

:07:55. > :07:59.but I want to thank you and the officers of this House for enabling

:08:00. > :08:03.us to display in the Jubilee room a range of products manufactured in

:08:04. > :08:08.the Black Country which is the greatest place in the world. If you

:08:09. > :08:14.have five minutes to visit the Jubilee room you will see parts

:08:15. > :08:22.manufactured for Ferrari, Lamborghini, and the Olympic torch,

:08:23. > :08:28.made in the Black Country, and if that is not enough of an attraction

:08:29. > :08:38.there is also some beer brewed in Dudley North, all members are

:08:39. > :08:43.welcome. I am extremely grateful... The honourable gentleman must speak

:08:44. > :08:48.for himself. I appreciate what he has just said. If it is possible for

:08:49. > :08:54.me to pop and I will try to do so. I am not sure what the hours of this

:08:55. > :08:58.event are. From now until four. I will do what I can and I encourage

:08:59. > :09:03.other members to do likewise. If there are no further points of order

:09:04. > :09:09.we come now to the ten minute rule motion which the honourable member

:09:10. > :09:19.for Carshalton and Warrington who has been patiently waiting. I seek

:09:20. > :09:22.leave to bring in a Bill to grad EU citizens the right to remain in the

:09:23. > :09:29.UK following the UK's withdrawal from membership of the European

:09:30. > :09:37.Union. On the 24th of June three million EU citizens in the UK and 1

:09:38. > :09:43.million UK citizens in the EU will cap to an uncertain future because

:09:44. > :09:47.the Brexiteer 's had slogans are plenty that are Government had no

:09:48. > :09:53.plans for the long-term future of EU citizens in the UK or indeed the UK

:09:54. > :09:57.posts Brexit. EU citizens were not able to vote in the referendum, they

:09:58. > :10:03.were left without a voice during the campaign. They now find themselves

:10:04. > :10:08.without the protection of the uses writes in the UK. This includes not

:10:09. > :10:14.just the right to live and work in the UK but also the right to

:10:15. > :10:16.participate in local, regional and European elections. The current

:10:17. > :10:20.Prime Minister gave an assurance that there will be no immediate

:10:21. > :10:25.change. This now carries little weight given that we will have a new

:10:26. > :10:30.Prime Minister tomorrow. His assurance is time-limited. It has a

:10:31. > :10:34.sell by date. He has offered no protection for the rights of EU

:10:35. > :10:38.citizens and Brits abroad in the future. By calling and then losing

:10:39. > :10:41.the referendum the Prime Minister pulled the right out from under the

:10:42. > :10:46.feet of the citizens. He needs to get that right out of the removals

:10:47. > :10:51.van parked outside number ten and booted back before he departs. EU

:10:52. > :10:55.citizens need certainty about their long-term future in the UK and they

:10:56. > :10:59.need this assurance before their futures are used as bargaining chips

:11:00. > :11:05.in negotiations with the European Union. The Prime has appointed a

:11:06. > :11:11.commission to replace Jonathan Hell. He should also act now while he

:11:12. > :11:19.still has time to secure the rights of EU citizens by granting all EU

:11:20. > :11:33.citizens resident in the UK on 23rd of June the right to stay. --

:11:34. > :11:37.replace Jonathan Hill. If he feels to do so there are three

:11:38. > :11:42.ways in which EU citizens rates could be safeguarded in the future.

:11:43. > :11:49.Firstly a legal challenge might rely on an appeal to Article 70 .1 B,

:11:50. > :11:56.Vienna Convention, on the Law of treaties. However as a professor has

:11:57. > :12:01.pointed out in an article entitled, what happens to acquired rights in

:12:02. > :12:05.the event of a Brexit, there is no consensus amongst lawyers about the

:12:06. > :12:09.application of the convention to the situation of EU citizens living in

:12:10. > :12:14.the UK, neither does this seem to be much scope to protect the position

:12:15. > :12:18.of EU citizens in the UK or Brits abroad through customary

:12:19. > :12:23.international law. EU citizens might have two weak years before any rate

:12:24. > :12:26.have under the convention could be tested in court. Secondly the

:12:27. > :12:30.Government could negotiate an Agreement with the EU member states

:12:31. > :12:34.to allow them to remain in a reciprocal basis and pertussis

:12:35. > :12:40.citizens in the EU. The problem with this approach is it turns EU

:12:41. > :12:46.citizens into bargaining chips, such a negotiation does not have a start

:12:47. > :12:53.date and this House has already condemned this by 245 votes - two as

:12:54. > :13:00.being wrong in principle. Bartering would be to treat EU citizens as

:13:01. > :13:03.children in a divorce settlement, it would be humiliating for the

:13:04. > :13:07.individuals concerned and their families. It would demonstrate a

:13:08. > :13:12.shameful lack of political judgment on the part of the British

:13:13. > :13:15.Government. It would also be a weak negotiating strategy because there

:13:16. > :13:26.is a chance that EU member states are likely to your Natalie guarantee

:13:27. > :13:33.the rights of British citizens. -- to unilaterally guarantee the

:13:34. > :13:36.rights. In his evidence the Home Affairs Select Committee this

:13:37. > :13:40.afternoon I ensure the Immigration Minister will be pressed further on

:13:41. > :13:43.this issue. There were signs at the weekend at the Nato summit and

:13:44. > :13:48.reported on Saturday that the position of the Government may be

:13:49. > :13:52.softening on this issue but the third approach, put forward by my

:13:53. > :13:56.Bill, would be for the Government to legislate now to secure the rights

:13:57. > :14:01.of EU citizens on a unilateral basis, this would provide the

:14:02. > :14:06.certainty for EU nationals living here. We must meet EU citizens feel

:14:07. > :14:11.welcome and safe in Britain. This reissues will help also the 1.3

:14:12. > :14:16.million British people living in the European Union. This reassures will

:14:17. > :14:21.help secure the future of the 9% of NHS doctors who work in the UK who

:14:22. > :14:26.are from the European Union. This reissues will help make sure that

:14:27. > :14:30.Britain remains open and welcoming. Yesterday I met with the campaign

:14:31. > :14:35.organisation new Europeans, a voice for EU citizens in the UK, and a

:14:36. > :14:39.number of other charities representing migrant communities.

:14:40. > :14:42.New Europeans has gathered more than 2000 signatures on a letter to the

:14:43. > :14:55.Prime Minister asking for this issue to be resolved now. I also draw the

:14:56. > :15:00.attention of the House to the same call. We have already had an

:15:01. > :15:07.opposition motion where we achieved a very clear outcome of 245-2 in

:15:08. > :15:12.favour of sorting out the position of EU citizens living in the UK

:15:13. > :15:16.immediately. Thanks to new Europeans I will also be meeting with the

:15:17. > :15:21.European Commission in the UK and ambassadors to member states in

:15:22. > :15:24.London to discuss the issue. It is clear that many EU citizens feel the

:15:25. > :15:28.longer welcome in Britain and that many are leaving. I met some of our

:15:29. > :15:32.lawyer this morning who said exactly that, that he and his partner feel

:15:33. > :15:36.that the only thing they can do is to leave the UK and they will be

:15:37. > :15:41.doing that shortly, even though they have lived here for 20 or more years

:15:42. > :15:46.and paid tax, a significant amount of tax through that time, they now

:15:47. > :15:49.feel they are not welcome. Reseat phones and xenophobic attacks have

:15:50. > :15:56.increased since the referendum. In London where there are over 800,000

:15:57. > :16:01.EU nationals living there are three race times every hour. These threats

:16:02. > :16:04.and discrimination will continue unless and until the Government

:16:05. > :16:13.makes clear that it will ring fence the rights of EU citizens living in

:16:14. > :16:19.the UK before the 21st of June. -- 24th of June. I commend the Bill to

:16:20. > :16:25.the House. The question is that the right honourable member has leave to

:16:26. > :16:39.bring in the Bill. I think the Ayes habit. Prepare and bring in the

:16:40. > :16:41.Bill. Tim Farren, Nick Clegg, Norman Lamb, Greg Mulholland, Caroline

:16:42. > :17:15.Lucas... And myself, is to speak. EU Citizens Resident in the United

:17:16. > :17:25.Kingdom (Right to Stay) Bill. Second reading, what day? 21st of October.

:17:26. > :17:33.We now come to the motion on energy and environmental implications of

:17:34. > :17:37.the EU referendum result. To move the motion I call the shadow

:17:38. > :17:44.Secretary of State responsible for these important matters. Barry

:17:45. > :17:51.Gardner. Thank you. I beg to move the motion standing on the order

:17:52. > :17:55.paper in my name and in the name of honourable members of the Shadow

:17:56. > :17:59.Cabinet. Before the referendum vote the Government was facing problems

:18:00. > :18:04.in emission targets and environmental protection is the UK

:18:05. > :18:09.requires for the 21st-century. These problems were mainly self inflicted.

:18:10. > :18:17.We had an energy policy that left companies and investors confused as

:18:18. > :18:19.fees and tariffs could change retrospectively, as an effective

:18:20. > :18:24.moratorium was put on wind power despite it being the cheapest form

:18:25. > :18:36.of renewable power, as the subsidy for offshore was also capped.

:18:37. > :18:40.Investors were told that Government was simultaneously incentivising new

:18:41. > :18:47.and conventional gas and phasing out call by 2025 but ?1 billion still

:18:48. > :18:52.remaining four development of carbon capture and storage was cut for

:18:53. > :18:57.weeks before final bids were to be made with the consequent

:18:58. > :19:01.announcement of the abandonment of the hydro project and the

:19:02. > :19:08.announcement by Shell that they no longer saw a future in the near term

:19:09. > :19:13.for the Peterhead project. The Secretary of State's reset speech

:19:14. > :19:16.last November left as 54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent further

:19:17. > :19:26.away. Many of these companies involved,

:19:27. > :19:30.the investment lead-in times are quite long, and this is just leading

:19:31. > :19:34.to a very uncertain environment for them to work in, which is leading to

:19:35. > :19:41.them just pulling out of the UK altogether. I have to reluctantly

:19:42. > :19:46.agree with my honourable friend. This is not good news. This is

:19:47. > :19:53.really bad news for all of us. Because the investment climate in

:19:54. > :20:01.the UK is in a really dire state. In fact, the UK has now fallen from

:20:02. > :20:06.eighth to 11th to 13th in the errands and John index of the best

:20:07. > :20:10.countries for investment in low carbon technology. When previously

:20:11. > :20:17.we had never been outside of the top ten. These are really worrying

:20:18. > :20:19.methods. I recently asked the Secretary of State for Energy and

:20:20. > :20:22.Climate Change about what action she would take to promote zero carbon

:20:23. > :20:27.homes, giving the Government announced last July it was to scrap

:20:28. > :20:30.the target set by the previous Labour Government for all homes to

:20:31. > :20:34.be carbon neutral by the issue. She replied that she could reassure me

:20:35. > :20:41.an EU directive was due to come in in 2020, and Edward, she believes,

:20:42. > :20:45.help reduce bills. Given we are reading the EU, would you agree we

:20:46. > :20:51.should take immediate action to reintroduced ambitious targets for a

:20:52. > :20:56.zero carbon homes. What an excellent point my honourable friend makes.

:20:57. > :21:02.She knows, as I do, that the Secretary of State was somebody who

:21:03. > :21:07.did see the value in UK staying within the European Union. She saw

:21:08. > :21:12.the value of all the directives and the regulations that came from

:21:13. > :21:15.Europe that really afford read the sort of environmental protections

:21:16. > :21:22.and energy policies that would secure our future. I will give way

:21:23. > :21:29.in just a minute. In that respect, I feel the Secretary of State, whilst

:21:30. > :21:32.no doubt she will responsibly respond to the brief today, must

:21:33. > :21:35.actually feel a great deal of somebody both with what my

:21:36. > :21:39.honourable friend has said and indeed my own remarks on the

:21:40. > :21:42.dispatch box. He is making a powerful case about the lack of

:21:43. > :21:47.investment and economic instability. I wonder if he would agree with me

:21:48. > :21:50.that now is a good time for the Government to reverse its decision

:21:51. > :21:54.to privatise the green investment bank, and also, it could be making a

:21:55. > :21:59.very strong case that the Government will seek to remain inside the

:22:00. > :22:02.European investment bank when it negotiates its withdrawal, because

:22:03. > :22:08.if these two things happen, we are in difficult times. The honourable

:22:09. > :22:14.lady speaks with great knowledge. She's absolutely right about the

:22:15. > :22:18.Green Investment Bank. It was set up for a very particular purpose,

:22:19. > :22:22.because the Government recognised there was market failure, and it was

:22:23. > :22:26.quite right that the Government put the Green Investment Bank in place.

:22:27. > :22:33.Unfortunately the borrowing powers did not come quickly enough for it.

:22:34. > :22:37.But no to privatise the Green Investment Bank I think is a mistake

:22:38. > :22:43.and of great regret to all who work in that environment. The remarks she

:22:44. > :22:51.makes about the European Investment Bank will come into my own speech

:22:52. > :22:56.later. In regards to insecurity in investment, national Grid have said

:22:57. > :23:04.that fuel prices are about to rise with the Brexit result, and my

:23:05. > :23:08.campaign showed that consumers were being overcharged to the tune of

:23:09. > :23:11.?1.7 billion per year. Does my friend Matt agree with me that it is

:23:12. > :23:16.important the Government outlines what they will do to ensure that

:23:17. > :23:23.consumers are not ripped off further and are not paying more for their

:23:24. > :23:28.field. My honourable friend and constituency neighbour has run a

:23:29. > :23:32.superb campaign on fuel policy, and she makes reference to the 1.7

:23:33. > :23:38.million that was in a report which found that bill payers in the UK

:23:39. > :23:41.were being overcharged. By really quite an obscene amount. Of course

:23:42. > :23:45.it is right that the Government comes forward with clear proposals

:23:46. > :23:50.about how to tackle that abuse, and not simply say, as they have today,

:23:51. > :23:59.that people need to be able to switch more easily. -- as they have

:24:00. > :24:02.two date. This is one of the first debates we are having that matches

:24:03. > :24:06.the EU referendum result, and though I know the honourable member was on

:24:07. > :24:10.the other side of the argument, I think it would be useful if you

:24:11. > :24:15.could inform the House, when it comes to a vote, will he be voting

:24:16. > :24:19.to leave the EU, despite his heavy heart, or will he be voting against

:24:20. > :24:24.the wishes of the British people? What I try and do is always look at

:24:25. > :24:27.the motion in front of me on the order paper and make a judgment on

:24:28. > :24:33.it when I see what it says. I have done that for the past 19.5 years,

:24:34. > :24:38.and I suspected I will do it for the next year as well. Even the

:24:39. > :24:43.Government - dominated select committee has warned about what they

:24:44. > :24:47.call the hiatus in product development could threaten the UK's

:24:48. > :24:53.ability to meet its energy targets. So when the Government's on fears

:24:54. > :24:57.show the need for ?100 billion of investment by 2020 to make our

:24:58. > :25:01.delicate state infrastructure fit for purpose, the Secretary of State

:25:02. > :25:05.really does have to explain to the House where she believes that

:25:06. > :25:08.investment is going to come from, given that investor confidence in

:25:09. > :25:12.her department is at an all-time low. -- to make our electricity

:25:13. > :25:17.infrastructure fit for purpose. Before she does, perhaps she did

:25:18. > :25:21.confirm to the House whether she instructed her department not to

:25:22. > :25:24.prepare in anyway for a leave of thought, as the Prime Minister

:25:25. > :25:30.apparently directed, and if she did, can she explain why? Because that is

:25:31. > :25:36.what business leaders are asking out there. It seems incomprehensible to

:25:37. > :25:40.them that the Prime Minister took such a gigantic risk with their

:25:41. > :25:48.future, a risk that will increase and the cost of capital and the cost

:25:49. > :25:51.of energy to Bill payers, both corporate and ethical life. And yet

:25:52. > :25:58.he made absolutely no preparations for what might happen when at rest

:25:59. > :26:03.went the wrong way. A group of is additional investors representing

:26:04. > :26:11.over E13 trillion in assets that the aftermath of the boat to leave has

:26:12. > :26:18.brought considerable uncertainty and market turmoil, which only goes to

:26:19. > :26:24.prove that the art of light Ortiz is not yet dead. -- the aftermath of

:26:25. > :26:26.the vote to leave. In light of that uncertainty, would my honourable

:26:27. > :26:33.friend agree that what the Government should do is get a

:26:34. > :26:35.cast-iron guarantee that it will all learn the environmental standards

:26:36. > :26:45.and undertakings we have made in the EU to date posts Brexit? Luke, my

:26:46. > :26:49.honourable friend who takes a consistent and right interest in

:26:50. > :26:55.these matters, is absolutely correct. That is precisely the

:26:56. > :26:58.intention of this motion, to flush out those issues and ensure the

:26:59. > :27:06.Government does precisely as they say. In the aftermath of the Leave

:27:07. > :27:12.vote. The Government's all external adviser has said the future of the

:27:13. > :27:18.Hinkley C Power Station is now extremely unlikely. It is now

:27:19. > :27:22.reassessing the risk of working in the UK, which could jeopardise its

:27:23. > :27:26.plans for a ?5.5 billion wind farm off the east coast of England, and

:27:27. > :27:30.Siemens announced they were putting a freeze on their future, not in

:27:31. > :27:35.their current but future clean energy investments in hole as a

:27:36. > :27:42.result of what they called the increase uncertainty from the Leave

:27:43. > :27:47.vote. I must say that for all that Minister has talked about the sunlit

:27:48. > :27:52.uplands of the post - Brexit world, there's no use in the Secretary of

:27:53. > :27:57.State trying to pretend she thinks the vote anything but a disaster,

:27:58. > :28:03.because she herself is on record quoting analysis that won't the

:28:04. > :28:07.exclusion from the EU's energy market could cost the UK up to ?500

:28:08. > :28:13.million per year by the early 20 20s. The right honourable lady stock

:28:14. > :28:18.response that Labour members should not talk Britain down simply will

:28:19. > :28:22.not serve, given that these quotations are only from her own

:28:23. > :28:28.advisers from industry leaders, and indeed, from herself. Bloomberg new

:28:29. > :28:33.energy Finance is not scaremongering when it says of the upcoming Brexit

:28:34. > :28:36.negotiations that they are, and I quote, likely to cause project

:28:37. > :28:43.investors and banks to hesitate about committing new capital, and

:28:44. > :28:46.could cause a drop in renewable energy asset values. It is an

:28:47. > :28:54.authoritative, independent commentator telling the unvarnished

:28:55. > :28:58.truth. I always follows comments with a great deal of interest. Is it

:28:59. > :29:02.not about time that he and his party moved on? The British people have

:29:03. > :29:05.delivered their verdict, and would you not agree that it is not

:29:06. > :29:09.terribly help of our people like him to continue to talk the British

:29:10. > :29:19.economy down in the way he has just done? I understand that there is a

:29:20. > :29:22.need to move on, and the honourable gentleman is right to say that we

:29:23. > :29:27.must now look to the future. If you payers with me, I think he will find

:29:28. > :29:32.that that is what I am trying to do. -- if he bears with me. Yes, I am

:29:33. > :29:36.critical of where we are, but actually, the criticisms that I have

:29:37. > :29:40.so far add grated or not my own. They are the criticisms of the

:29:41. > :29:46.Government's own advisers, the industry itself, and the criticisms

:29:47. > :29:51.that were made by the right honourable lady. This is not me

:29:52. > :29:55.talking the UK economy down. This is actually trying to set out with

:29:56. > :30:00.clarity with the situation now lies, and then to try and see that we can

:30:01. > :30:05.move on from it. Perhaps the Secretary of State could do the

:30:06. > :30:08.same, as Bloomberg, in telling the unvarnished truth, and tell the

:30:09. > :30:12.House of what assessment her department has made of the increased

:30:13. > :30:17.price of imported energy as a result of the falling pound. I will happily

:30:18. > :30:22.give way to her if she was used to. Perhaps then she could tell us what

:30:23. > :30:27.assessment her department has made the price premiums on loans that

:30:28. > :30:32.will be demanded by investors energy infrastructure to cover the cost of

:30:33. > :30:37.political uncertainty. Is it 1%? Is it 2%? Again, I will happily give

:30:38. > :30:41.away if she wishes to inform the House what assessment her department

:30:42. > :30:47.has made on these matters. In that case, I will give way to the

:30:48. > :30:51.honourable gentleman. I thank him very much for his voluminous

:30:52. > :30:59.intervention, Adas, will he take the Minister to task in what she intends

:31:00. > :31:02.to do to achieve the climate change targets in respect to complete the

:31:03. > :31:11.car by then the transport and heating sectors to achieve 2050

:31:12. > :31:16.targets? The honourable gentleman is absolute right. If you look at what

:31:17. > :31:19.the committee on climate change has said, it is absolutely clear that

:31:20. > :31:24.the area where the UK is falling behind most badly is not in the

:31:25. > :31:29.power sector, but in transport and heating. He is right in the comments

:31:30. > :31:32.he makes. Of course, it does not rest solely with the right

:31:33. > :31:35.honourable lady. It rests with her colleagues in the Department for

:31:36. > :31:39.Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government as

:31:40. > :31:43.well. Perhaps the honourable lady might find it easier to explain how

:31:44. > :31:50.the UK might continue to benefit from the EU internal energy market,

:31:51. > :31:55.or does Brexit mean Brexit from this as well? We really do need clear

:31:56. > :32:00.answers to this. Perhaps she can tell us what will happen to the four

:32:01. > :32:03.clean energy projects currently under assessment by the European

:32:04. > :32:09.fund for strategic investment. She knows that the European investment

:32:10. > :32:13.bank has been the UK's biggest clean energy lender, putting 31 billion

:32:14. > :32:17.euros into clean energy over the last five years. Has she identified

:32:18. > :32:23.a replacement source of funds for projects such as this? Perhaps she

:32:24. > :32:27.can explain why the Government last week pulled funding from the only

:32:28. > :32:31.large new gas plant that had managed to secure financing under the

:32:32. > :32:34.capacity market scheme after Carlton power were unable to secure

:32:35. > :32:39.investment needed for the Trafford plant? The capacity market has

:32:40. > :32:44.resoundingly failed to secure the new gas bill that it was introduced

:32:45. > :32:48.to incentivise. Perhaps she can explain, after the failure of the

:32:49. > :32:55.green Deal and offering lodging that neither the warm homes scheme are

:32:56. > :33:02.sufficiently targeted to reach those most in need, how would she tackle

:33:03. > :33:07.the fuel poverty experienced by 2.38 million of our fellow citizens? Let

:33:08. > :33:12.me correct that, Mr Speaker. I should not say 2.38 million of our

:33:13. > :33:18.fellow citizens. It is that the 2.3 million households, and that in

:33:19. > :33:22.England alone. Perhaps she might also explain to the House why it was

:33:23. > :33:28.the national Grid warned on Friday the lights were on the kept on by

:33:29. > :33:33.emergency measures last year. The fact is that the Government's energy

:33:34. > :33:38.policy has pushed us further towards energy insecurity. The reason that

:33:39. > :33:42.we have secured this opposition Day debate today is precisely to ensure

:33:43. > :33:45.the Government cannot ignore pressing concerns like these

:33:46. > :33:50.following the referendum. The vote to leave was not a vote for

:33:51. > :33:53.blackouts and soaring energy bills. It is the Government's

:33:54. > :33:57.responsibility to ensure that this does not happen. The committee on

:33:58. > :34:00.climate change, who have the statutory duty to advise the

:34:01. > :34:01.Government on the most cost-effective route to

:34:02. > :34:07.decarbonisation have always been clear that early action is cheaper

:34:08. > :34:10.action. As the Chief Executive of the committee on climate change

:34:11. > :34:17.warned us last week, leaving the EU is the mechanism of how we reach our

:34:18. > :34:20.target is into question. -- pits the mechanism into question. The

:34:21. > :34:31.Government has now created a temper sent gap and predictions for 2020,

:34:32. > :34:37.and is nearly 50% shortly meeting its target for 2030. If the

:34:38. > :34:41.Secretary of State get around to her obligation to set it, it is tabled

:34:42. > :34:46.for Monday, which would make it only 18 days beyond the legal statutory

:34:47. > :34:50.limit. Last year the environmental audit committee gave the Government

:34:51. > :34:56.a red card for managing future climate change risk. The chair

:34:57. > :35:01.concluded, and I quote, we simply do not know the inability of the vast

:35:02. > :35:02.majority of stuff out there for current weather, never mind the

:35:03. > :35:15.future. This is a tier one priority risk

:35:16. > :35:20.alongside terrorism and cyber attacks and it is our most deprived

:35:21. > :35:23.communities that faced the greatest increases in flood risk. New

:35:24. > :35:28.evidence released today by the committee on climate change makes

:35:29. > :35:31.starker than ever the threat to British households and businesses

:35:32. > :35:37.from failing to manage climate change. They publish estimates that

:35:38. > :35:40.sure how without increased action on climate adaptation by Government the

:35:41. > :35:44.number of forms at high risk from flooding will rise to well over a 1

:35:45. > :35:53.million even if we meet our current climate targets. I will give way.

:35:54. > :35:59.Just to clarify, would the right honourable member explain what the

:36:00. > :36:05.relationship between the issue relating to the European Union and

:36:06. > :36:07.the questions around flooding is? Some people might think that the

:36:08. > :36:18.honourable gentleman is approaching the conclusion of his pool remarks.

:36:19. > :36:30.-- preliminary remarks. I am sure you are correct. Happy to explain

:36:31. > :36:33.that because unless we have both clarity about the post Brexit

:36:34. > :36:38.scenario, unless we know where we are going to be able to secure

:36:39. > :36:41.funding to replace all the funding that came under the Common

:36:42. > :36:45.Agricultural Policy for measures that were taken to mitigate

:36:46. > :36:50.flooding, unless we are able to look at land management in the way that

:36:51. > :36:52.the European Union Allied is to do then we do not have clarity on these

:36:53. > :37:03.matters. It is vital for adaptation. matters. It is vital for adaptation.

:37:04. > :37:11.We are living at a time of increased risk

:37:12. > :37:15.that requires robust planning to limit impacts on communities and

:37:16. > :37:20.businesses. After the devastation of recent floods around our country I

:37:21. > :37:26.say that this new assessment requires a new response from

:37:27. > :37:32.Government backed cuts to the budget and the Environment Agency makes us

:37:33. > :37:41.more vulnerable and the Government must take responsibility. The UK's

:37:42. > :37:45.ability to face up to environmental challenges was strengthened by EU

:37:46. > :37:49.membership so given that the principal response from the Treasury

:37:50. > :37:53.so far is a U-turn on the core election pledge to balance the books

:37:54. > :37:58.by 2020 it would be helpful... I think the Speaker wants me to press

:37:59. > :38:02.on so I will not. I have been generous in giving way. It would be

:38:03. > :38:08.helpful to get some clarity from the Environment Secretary when he

:38:09. > :38:12.concludes this debate, precisely where he proposes to find additional

:38:13. > :38:18.resources for adequate flood defences to meet this new

:38:19. > :38:24.assessment. Last week the Secretary of State for DEFRA told the House it

:38:25. > :38:27.is clear that it is business as usual while we remain members of the

:38:28. > :38:31.EU. Perhaps she will understand that what concerns many of us is that

:38:32. > :38:36.this unit we are no longer members of the EU many of the protections

:38:37. > :38:40.that the natural environment currently enjoys will fall away. The

:38:41. > :38:46.the directive has been opposed in Europe by this Government to try to

:38:47. > :38:54.what it down for years. Our own Supreme Court has found them to be

:38:55. > :39:02.in breach, the Government that is. 52,500 excess deaths in the UK every

:39:03. > :39:05.year because of polluted era. I pay tribute to the Emir of London who

:39:06. > :39:18.used the 60th anniversary of the clean air act to unveil a new queen

:39:19. > :39:24.here programme -- pager bute to the Mayor of London who used the 60th

:39:25. > :39:33.anniversary of the clean air act to unveil a new queen here programme.

:39:34. > :39:40.The birds and habitats directive may be transposed into law but we need

:39:41. > :39:43.to know if our beaches will still be protected by believing what

:39:44. > :39:47.directive or whether swimming through sewage will become a feature

:39:48. > :39:53.of swimming at the seaside. We need to know which bits of the electronic

:39:54. > :39:58.waste directive will not be chance littered into European law and what

:39:59. > :40:06.the impact may have for recycling industries and our commitment to the

:40:07. > :40:12.circular economy fish and birds and insects, pollution is oblivious to

:40:13. > :40:20.the strictures of national airspace. If we manage -- if we wish to manage

:40:21. > :40:23.all of these it is best to do so in concert with European neighbours,

:40:24. > :40:27.the votes to leave the EU has made that Hyder, the Government must

:40:28. > :40:35.outline how it will overcome that parole London. Last week the House

:40:36. > :40:40.was told that on subsidies to farmers up to 2020 it was not a

:40:41. > :40:44.decision that could be made at that stage, not a decision that could be

:40:45. > :40:49.made at that stage. Surely it is a decision that should have been made

:40:50. > :40:55.before farmers were asked to vote to leave the EU. Much of the subsidy is

:40:56. > :40:58.fire environmental stewardship schemes and other practices that

:40:59. > :41:04.benefit biodiversity and wildlife. To turn round to tell farmers now

:41:05. > :41:10.that 3.5 billion total of subsidy that used to flow each year from the

:41:11. > :41:14.EU into their pockets is no longer secure is not just an attack on the

:41:15. > :41:18.likelihood of farmers, it is an attack on all the work that farmers

:41:19. > :41:24.do to enhance our environment and protect our landscapes. These are

:41:25. > :41:29.not abstract challenges. Managing the risks borne of the uncertainty

:41:30. > :41:32.of the referendum outcome is a responsibility for Government.

:41:33. > :41:36.Ministers must identify any legislative gaps in environmental

:41:37. > :41:44.protection that may arise from the removal of EU law and develop plans

:41:45. > :41:47.so that the UK does not become a riskier, and healthier, more

:41:48. > :41:57.polluted place to live in or do business in. I give way. He would be

:41:58. > :42:05.hard-pressed to find any conservation group in the country

:42:06. > :42:09.any environment group are told that believes CAP provides net benefit.

:42:10. > :42:14.There are bits that argued. Surely Brexit gives an opportunity to

:42:15. > :42:19.tailor those funds so that they genuinely subsidise farmers in

:42:20. > :42:25.delivering a genuine public good. This is a massive opportunity,

:42:26. > :42:29.surely? I am happy to say to the honourable gentleman that I have

:42:30. > :42:36.been a critic of the CAP as he has for many years that he will know

:42:37. > :42:38.that the arrangements under the CAP and the environmental stewardship

:42:39. > :42:43.arrangements were positive and that there was a net benefit that came

:42:44. > :42:47.from that. What I want the Government to do is set out what the

:42:48. > :42:51.new arrangements be proposed Arsenal we can be sure that those

:42:52. > :42:57.environmental protections do remain in place and money is not fitted me

:42:58. > :43:02.on something else. The Government must provide cancerous to Parliament

:43:03. > :43:08.and the public who want to be assured that there will not be a

:43:09. > :43:11.Brexit bonfire of the regulations. Environmental protections under the

:43:12. > :43:15.EU are not bureaucracy to be done away with, they are part of what it

:43:16. > :43:21.is to live in a civilised country that respects the natural world and

:43:22. > :43:26.believes the only prosperous future is a sustainable one. I want to ask

:43:27. > :43:29.three key questions. Will the Government move swiftly to ratify

:43:30. > :43:34.the Palace climate Agreement? How will the Government press access to

:43:35. > :43:39.the internal energy market? How will the Government make sure that energy

:43:40. > :43:44.bills do not go up as a result of increased uncertainty following the

:43:45. > :43:48.vote? Ultimately the Government must commit to safeguarding environmental

:43:49. > :43:53.and is to at least the same levels we have enjoyed within the EU by

:43:54. > :43:59.passing into UK law all those regulations which would otherwise

:44:00. > :44:04.fall away upon leaving it. The question is as on the order

:44:05. > :44:12.paper. I call the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Thank

:44:13. > :44:15.you. Can I start by thanking the opposition and the member for Brent

:44:16. > :44:23.Northwood giving the opportunity on the site of the House to address

:44:24. > :44:27.important questions and particularly with stakeholders? Can I respond to

:44:28. > :44:33.the point made by the honourable member for South West Wiltshire? It

:44:34. > :44:37.may have escaped some people's noticed that I campaigned on the

:44:38. > :44:42.other side of this issue on the EU referendum but I agree we must move

:44:43. > :44:48.on, Brexit means Brexit, we will make a success of it. It is true

:44:49. > :44:52.that the decision that the country made on June 23 is of historical

:44:53. > :44:56.importance and it is true that the key challenge which faces as now is

:44:57. > :45:00.to work towards a settlement that is in the best interests of Britain.

:45:01. > :45:05.But it is not true as the honourable member has been suggesting that our

:45:06. > :45:10.commitments to the environment and tackle minor change, to provide

:45:11. > :45:13.homes and businesses with secure and clean energy, has faltered in any

:45:14. > :45:21.way. Our commitment to these tasks has not changed and will not change.

:45:22. > :45:26.I have made it my priority to the year these points over the past

:45:27. > :45:31.fortnight. I have said security of supply would be our first priority

:45:32. > :45:35.and it remains so. My department announced last week how much

:45:36. > :45:39.electricity capacity we intend to buy in the forthcoming capacity

:45:40. > :45:43.market auctions. This commitment is the backbone to our energy policy. I

:45:44. > :45:49.announced that the Government would accept their recommendations of the

:45:50. > :45:54.committee on the level of the first carbon budgets, a long-term

:45:55. > :46:00.commitment is taking us beyond this Parliament, until 2032. I also made

:46:01. > :46:10.clear that we remain committed to holding a competitive CFT allocation

:46:11. > :46:15.round this year. There is no point pretending that the votes to leave

:46:16. > :46:19.the EU is not of huge significance. There are risks that this Government

:46:20. > :46:22.will continue to do its part to deliver on the environmental

:46:23. > :46:29.challenges that this country faces. I give way. Will she take the

:46:30. > :46:33.opportunity to confirm that the Government intends in the future to

:46:34. > :46:38.honour its commitments to the environment as set out in EU

:46:39. > :46:42.directives in the pass so that standards do not slip from the

:46:43. > :46:47.current standards on air quality, flooding, climate change, does she

:46:48. > :46:54.agree that should be legislation to series should become standard? What

:46:55. > :46:58.I can say is that this Government's commitment to a clean environment

:46:59. > :47:03.and to its climate change commitments remain unchanged. I will

:47:04. > :47:08.address my remarks, the issue on climate change issues specifically,

:47:09. > :47:12.energy, I will allow the Minister to address the environmental once when

:47:13. > :47:18.he makes his remarks, no doubt addressing the exact point you have

:47:19. > :47:23.raised. Does she not ideally that it is a pity that the benches opposite

:47:24. > :47:27.seemed to be suggesting that the European Union has tracked the

:47:28. > :47:30.United Kingdom from darkness into enlightenment and Ritchie agree with

:47:31. > :47:36.me that Britain has traditionally led the way in environmental

:47:37. > :47:45.legislation, I would cite the clean air act of 1956, which was cited by

:47:46. > :47:51.the member for Brent Northwood vote irony? As he rightly has said we

:47:52. > :47:55.must move on. There are benefits to what we have already proposed and

:47:56. > :47:59.there have been benefits to the EU directives as well but have read

:48:00. > :48:03.standards in some areas but what I believe we'll nighty places that we

:48:04. > :48:14.will maintain the standards and not allow those standards to slip all.

:48:15. > :48:19.Increasingly investors are getting more cautious, can she confirmed she

:48:20. > :48:22.is doing all she can to persuade colleagues to make sure that we

:48:23. > :48:26.remain part of the European investment bank as least as long as

:48:27. > :48:30.the negotiations are going on, because if we withdraw now there

:48:31. > :48:36.will be a huge amount of potential investment not coming into this

:48:37. > :48:39.country when we needed most. I was going to talk about investment and

:48:40. > :48:43.she is absolutely right about the importance of investment in securing

:48:44. > :48:48.clean energy going for. Regarding the European investment bank I

:48:49. > :48:52.appreciate the impact it has had on supporting clean energy in this

:48:53. > :48:58.country and I would hope that our membership will continue. I cannot

:48:59. > :49:18.give commitments going for word. I share her views about how a it is.

:49:19. > :49:24.We have heard this morning that there is with the temper sent

:49:25. > :49:33.achievement gap that has opened between 2023 and 20 27. The decision

:49:34. > :49:36.to cancel the carbon capturing storage competition at the last

:49:37. > :49:41.spending review will do little to encourage investor confidence in

:49:42. > :49:46.that area. The right honourable lady is right. We have always known that

:49:47. > :49:50.we have an issue with the fourth carbon budget, and there is more

:49:51. > :49:54.work to be done, which is why, and I thank her for her comments, it was a

:49:55. > :49:57.reasonable achievement to get cross Government approval to get the fit

:49:58. > :50:02.carbon budget approved. There is a lot of work to be done. There are

:50:03. > :50:05.policies to be decided on, and we will be coming forward with the

:50:06. > :50:08.emissions proposals by the end of this year in order to address those

:50:09. > :50:16.policies that will be needed in the 20s. In a former life, I was the

:50:17. > :50:20.rack and tour of the European Parliament for the European

:50:21. > :50:24.Investment Bank, and we are not on the stakeholder in the bag but a

:50:25. > :50:27.shareholder in the bank, one of the biggest funders, and it funds

:50:28. > :50:33.projects across the planet, not just in the EU. So surely there is no

:50:34. > :50:37.risk to investment in the UK while those factors remain the same. I

:50:38. > :50:41.thank my honourable friend for clarifying that position, which no

:50:42. > :50:47.doubt will give the honourable lady as much comfort as it does me as

:50:48. > :50:50.well. Can I make some comments on the issue of investor confidence,

:50:51. > :50:56.which was central to the debate for this afternoon. Then the referendum,

:50:57. > :50:59.I have met with investors from across the energy spectrum, all

:51:00. > :51:03.areas in which we need investment. Yesterday I spoke to the Siemens

:51:04. > :51:06.managing board to reassure them of the commitments I am setting out you

:51:07. > :51:10.today. Officials across my department have regularly kept in

:51:11. > :51:15.contact with energy investors and companies to reiterate that message.

:51:16. > :51:19.But the message from businesses is clear. They still see the UK as a

:51:20. > :51:23.great place to invest. Britain remains one of the best buddies in

:51:24. > :51:29.the world to live and do business. The rule of law, low taxes, talented

:51:30. > :51:35.workforce, a strong finance sector. We have to build upon the strength,

:51:36. > :51:38.not turn away from them. These factors, clear energy policy

:51:39. > :51:41.framework and a strong investment economy conveyed to make the UK an

:51:42. > :51:45.ideal place to attract the much-needed energy investment. The

:51:46. > :51:51.UK has been the fourth highest investor globally. This is the

:51:52. > :51:54.investment in the energy structure we need to underpin a strong,

:51:55. > :51:58.competitive economy. This Government will do all it can to keep the UK as

:51:59. > :52:02.an attractive place for investment, and whatever settlement we do decide

:52:03. > :52:08.on in the coming months, these fundamentals will remain unchanged.

:52:09. > :52:12.I wanted to underline our commitment to addressing climate change.

:52:13. > :52:16.Climate change has not been downgraded as a threat. It remains

:52:17. > :52:20.one of the most serious long-term risks to our economic and national

:52:21. > :52:26.security. I attended the world-class team of British diplomats at last

:52:27. > :52:30.year's Paris climate talks. Our efforts were essential to securing

:52:31. > :52:34.that deal. The UK will not step back from that international leadership.

:52:35. > :52:39.We must not turn our back on Europe or the world. Our relationships with

:52:40. > :52:43.the United States, China, India, Japan, other European countries,

:52:44. > :52:48.will stand us in strongest dead as we deliver on the promises made on

:52:49. > :52:52.Paris. At the heart of that commitment is our own Climate Change

:52:53. > :52:58.Act. The act was not imposed upon us by the EU. It was entirely

:52:59. > :53:02.home-grown. It was also a world first, and a prime example of the UK

:53:03. > :53:06.setting the agenda that others are now following. Let us not forget

:53:07. > :53:14.that it was delivered with unanimous support right across the House. It

:53:15. > :53:19.is true, we have... I give way. She will be aware that the fifth time

:53:20. > :53:24.its budget means the UK is reducing carbon at a rate faster than any

:53:25. > :53:27.country in the EU, and significantly faster than the EU IND CeBIT forward

:53:28. > :53:32.at Paris. It is not the risk of at Paris. It is not the risk of

:53:33. > :53:35.Brexit that we go back on climate change objectives, but that we do

:53:36. > :53:38.not bring the rest of Europe with any readership decision we have

:53:39. > :53:44.taken, and that we are going so much more quickly than will the art. My

:53:45. > :53:48.honourable friend, who knows this area so well, has raised a very

:53:49. > :53:52.important point, and I hope I will be able to reassure him that we will

:53:53. > :53:55.be able to continue to use our influence to encourage the European

:53:56. > :53:59.Union to raise their game in reaching the high standards that we

:54:00. > :54:02.do. But I agree with him that this will be an additional concern which

:54:03. > :54:08.we will have to work to try to deliver. It is true that we have had

:54:09. > :54:13.to make tough decisions on renewable energy when we came into office last

:54:14. > :54:17.year, reflecting the need to cut costs and for technologies to stand

:54:18. > :54:20.on their own two feet. I will not shy away from taking those tough

:54:21. > :54:24.decisions going forward. We need technologies which are low cost and

:54:25. > :54:32.clean to protect bill payers. I give way. I thank the honourable lady for

:54:33. > :54:36.giving way. She mentions India among others standing by us in respect

:54:37. > :54:41.with investment. Does she agree that given there are something like 2400

:54:42. > :54:45.coal-fired power stations planned or under construction around the world,

:54:46. > :54:48.including India and China, that cancelling the CCF project is a

:54:49. > :54:53.massive missed opportunity for this country? The honourable gentleman

:54:54. > :54:59.will be aware, we have been through the issue of the CCS many times. We

:55:00. > :55:04.would like to have a CCS programme. We are working on an industrial

:55:05. > :55:12.programme to address having a CCS strategy. But at the time, we could

:55:13. > :55:17.not go ahead with the ?1 billion that had otherwise been planned for

:55:18. > :55:20.the CCS proposal. It is not off the table at all. We are still working

:55:21. > :55:29.towards having some sort of CCS proposals. So are commitment to

:55:30. > :55:33.decarbonisation is clear. With ?13 million of investment in renewable

:55:34. > :55:38.energy city in 2015 alone. And with investment in renewables increasing

:55:39. > :55:41.by 40% since 2010. We have our funding to be provided through

:55:42. > :55:46.auctions in this Parliament to support up to four gigawatts of

:55:47. > :55:50.offshore wind and other offshore village mac renewable technologies.

:55:51. > :55:56.With the potential for up to ten gigawatts in total if the course

:55:57. > :56:02.continue to go down. We are making real progress to deliver new nuclear

:56:03. > :56:06.power in the UK, addressing a legacy of underinvestment. We are enabling

:56:07. > :56:12.new and innovative ways of heating our homes and businesses. And we

:56:13. > :56:16.will lead the world by consulting or closing unabated coal-fired

:56:17. > :56:19.stations, a commitment that was praised across the world and on

:56:20. > :56:24.which we will be setting out further details on. All of these commitments

:56:25. > :56:27.remain in place. They will help us dramatically rebuild our energy

:56:28. > :56:32.infrastructure, and they are underpinned by our commitment to

:56:33. > :56:35.carbon budgets, which is why the CBI, the EEF, businesses and

:56:36. > :56:37.investors from a wide range of different sectors, are also

:56:38. > :56:44.supportive of the decision we took to set the fifth carbon budget. We

:56:45. > :56:47.have a proud history of energy innovation. The world's first

:56:48. > :56:51.coal-fired power station was built on the banks of the Thames in the

:56:52. > :56:57.late 1800 's. The world's first nuclear power station was opened by

:56:58. > :57:02.Her Majesty The Queen in Cumbria in 1956. And well before the EU

:57:03. > :57:07.referendum had begun in earnest, my department was making sure that this

:57:08. > :57:10.country remains at the forefront of energy and climate change

:57:11. > :57:14.innovation. That is why, the Government, we have committed more

:57:15. > :57:17.than ?500 million over the spending review to supporting new energy

:57:18. > :57:22.technologies. This means supporting entrepreneurs as they look to

:57:23. > :57:26.develop the innovations of the future, in storage, energy and

:57:27. > :57:30.renewables. As part of that programme, we will build on the UK's

:57:31. > :57:34.expertise in nuclear innovation. At least half of our innovation

:57:35. > :57:38.spending will go towards nuclear research and development, and this

:57:39. > :57:42.will support our centres of excellence in Cumbria, Manchester,

:57:43. > :57:46.Sheffield and Preston. Our nuclear programme will include a competition

:57:47. > :57:49.to develop a small modular nuclear reactor, potentially one of the most

:57:50. > :57:55.exciting innovations in the energy sector. Otherwise have focused

:57:56. > :57:58.primarily on energy and climate change, we must not forget the trade

:57:59. > :58:01.and businesses surrounding the environment and agricultural

:58:02. > :58:07.sectors, which are so profoundly affected by our decisions on

:58:08. > :58:10.tackling rising global temperatures. The Department for Environment, Food

:58:11. > :58:12.and Rural Affairs continues to engage farmers, businesses and

:58:13. > :58:17.environmental groups to make sure their voices are heard. It has been

:58:18. > :58:20.made clear to them that there will be no immediate changes, and we will

:58:21. > :58:24.hear later from my honourable friend and the Minister, the member for

:58:25. > :58:28.Penrith and The Border, who will address the environmental issues.

:58:29. > :58:32.There have been significant advantages to us trading energy,

:58:33. > :58:36.both within Europe and being an entry point into Europe for the rest

:58:37. > :58:41.of the world. In Europe, we have led the world on acting to address claim

:58:42. > :58:46.it change. The economic imperative that drove those relationships has

:58:47. > :58:50.not changed. An openness to trade remained central to who we are as a

:58:51. > :58:54.country. And be Prime Minister has repeatedly said, we will work

:58:55. > :59:02.towards the best deal for Britain, and as I have said, our challenges

:59:03. > :59:08.remain the same. Securing our energy supply, keeping bills low, holding a

:59:09. > :59:11.low carbon energy infrastructure, and protecting the environment and

:59:12. > :59:24.farming. Our commitment to these is unboned. -- is the same. It is a

:59:25. > :59:27.good debate to be having, and I thank the shadow Secretary of State

:59:28. > :59:31.and the Labour front bench for giving us the opportunity to debate

:59:32. > :59:36.this. It is just a shame the right honourable member did not get beyond

:59:37. > :59:42.his introductory remarks in what was an excellent overview of the issues

:59:43. > :59:45.that have been raised. I think today, SNP history will be made in

:59:46. > :59:51.that it will be the first time the full force of team Cal will be

:59:52. > :59:56.deployed at the same time in a debate. We will hear from the member

:59:57. > :00:05.from Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, or as I like to call him,

:00:06. > :00:09.the junior member of team Callum later on. This feels like an element

:00:10. > :00:15.of the last day of school or something like that. There is the

:00:16. > :00:19.bones of Brexit to pick over, there is how do we go forward, and I'm

:00:20. > :00:22.sure the Secretary of State is pleased that we have a new Prime

:00:23. > :00:25.Minister, as we all are, that will help ease some of the uncertainties

:00:26. > :00:30.that were building. I think it is welcome that there will not be the

:00:31. > :00:34.several weeks of uncertainty, and I hope the Government uses the summer

:00:35. > :00:45.recess particularly to come up with some plans, because plans are badly

:00:46. > :00:47.needed. Last week we discussed the excellent energy and climate change

:00:48. > :00:51.committee report in investor confidence, and were able to discuss

:00:52. > :00:55.some of the issues that are affecting the sector, which have

:00:56. > :01:01.really been exacerbated by the Brexit wrote. I think it is fair to

:01:02. > :01:06.say, and it bears repeating time and time again - Scotland did not vote

:01:07. > :01:11.for Brexit, and we will be doing everything in our power to make sure

:01:12. > :01:15.that that is not done to us. I think we perhaps should change the lexicon

:01:16. > :01:24.slightly, and refer to this either as exit or perhaps Wexit. Scotland

:01:25. > :01:28.is not for leaving. Our Government has united around effort is to keep

:01:29. > :01:34.Scotland in the European Union. But that uncertainty is afflicting the

:01:35. > :01:39.United Kingdom following the vote will have effects on us whilst that

:01:40. > :01:44.clarity of our position in the European Union works out. Today, in

:01:45. > :01:50.terms of energy bills, the Guardian was reporting research that

:01:51. > :01:54.suggested 12 providers have pooled their cheapest fixed rate tariffs

:01:55. > :01:58.and replaced them with more expensive deals since June 23. That

:01:59. > :02:02.is the impact that this is having. That is the impact that will be had

:02:03. > :02:05.on consumers and those who cannot afford to pay more. There is the

:02:06. > :02:09.impact of the weak pound, and what that will mean in terms of our call

:02:10. > :02:16.cost as a net importer of electricity. These things will have

:02:17. > :02:21.impact. They will drive our bills, and I think it is an unfortunate

:02:22. > :02:26.consequence of the Brexit vote. There is also uncertainty around the

:02:27. > :02:30.huge river interconnection. I think it is important we have

:02:31. > :02:33.interconnection. -- the future ground interconnection. I think that

:02:34. > :02:38.is a sensible aim for the Government to have. I have said again and again

:02:39. > :02:42.that we should not see it as a way to import cheap elders are deeper on

:02:43. > :02:46.the continent, which as the Secretary of State said, I think we

:02:47. > :02:54.should be using it to export elegant city to the continent, and looking

:02:55. > :02:58.to invest in domestic low-carbon electricity generation, which

:02:59. > :03:05.Scotland has immense and highly enviable potential. -- we should be

:03:06. > :03:08.using it to export electricity. The idea of importing cheap relativity

:03:09. > :03:16.is questionable, giving the assumptions that will be built into

:03:17. > :03:20.the sums in terms of decisions which may not look so good when the pound

:03:21. > :03:27.is daring not so well against the euro. These things will come out in

:03:28. > :03:30.the wash, as we say in Scotland, but there is a requirement to look at

:03:31. > :03:35.energy policy, at interconnection, and see whether it is the right

:03:36. > :03:38.thing to do. There is also the large question of Hinkley. We have had

:03:39. > :03:41.some discussion about that. It will not come as any is a prize to anyone

:03:42. > :03:48.on the Government benches that we on this site are not in favour of that.

:03:49. > :03:53.-- it will not come as a surprise. Its beers repeating. The economic

:03:54. > :04:01.salt Hinkley where, in my view and in my party's view, highly dubious.

:04:02. > :04:05.-- the economic 's of Hinkley. The fundamental economics of it have

:04:06. > :04:09.only been undermined by the Brexit wrote. We need to look at it again.

:04:10. > :04:14.We cannot afford to have all of our eggs in this particular basket,

:04:15. > :04:18.because if it does not happening, and I sincerely suspect it will not

:04:19. > :04:23.happen, there is a rather large hole to be filled, and we cannot be in a

:04:24. > :04:24.position like we are with the Brexit board, where we enter the unknown

:04:25. > :04:40.with no back-up plan. It quite is shocking that element

:04:41. > :04:49.estimates have been driven up for the cost of Hinkley to 37 billion,

:04:50. > :04:56.rather than 14 billion. The costs are eye watering and given the

:04:57. > :04:59.extent to which this is an international project there are

:05:00. > :05:05.questions as to whether the cost will rise further still. It is time

:05:06. > :05:11.to have a sincere look at the plans, decide whether it is possible. My

:05:12. > :05:15.assumption will be that it will not, and find a back-up plan that we

:05:16. > :05:19.require. There are huge strains on our energy system and if we do not

:05:20. > :05:24.fill them then the bread and butter of keeping the lights on will beat

:05:25. > :05:30.Pitt in jeopardy, perhaps not today, but in decades to come. That is

:05:31. > :05:36.incumbent on Government to act and act now. We also need clarity from

:05:37. > :05:40.the Government in terms of the position about the internal energy

:05:41. > :05:46.market in the European union. The report last week about the potential

:05:47. > :05:53.of being out with that system adding an extra ?500 million power and to

:05:54. > :06:00.the cost of our energy system is a sobering reality when the Government

:06:01. > :06:04.as I haul is indulged in the summer homework working out how we get out

:06:05. > :06:08.of this particular pickle I would suggest strongly that one of the

:06:09. > :06:11.things that needs to be high up the agenda is making sure that we keep

:06:12. > :06:21.the cooperation because it delivers for us here but also for people

:06:22. > :06:26.abroad it will help us meet energy costs and should not be sold down

:06:27. > :06:34.the river likely. To maintain security of supply time has come to

:06:35. > :06:40.scrap Hinkley, invest in viable and cheaper forms of domestic energy,

:06:41. > :06:44.including onshore wind, we need to lift the embargo that has been

:06:45. > :06:50.placed on it. We need the auctions that the Secretary of State has been

:06:51. > :06:53.talked about. There should be the widest possible and technology

:06:54. > :06:57.neutral, and nothing should be excluded from biting into it, we

:06:58. > :07:02.need to get serious about building the new gas plants that have been

:07:03. > :07:06.suggested. I will make the case. And again, if we can get the anomaly of

:07:07. > :07:15.transmission charging sorted we are ready to go, Scotland can provide a

:07:16. > :07:22.significant contribution to reducing the whole that is coming in terms of

:07:23. > :07:26.energy production. And across these islands we need to invest in energy

:07:27. > :07:30.efficiency. There is strong work from the Scottish Government and

:07:31. > :07:35.this needs to be replicated across these islands. If we are going to

:07:36. > :07:39.meet what is an ever more challenging set of circumstances

:07:40. > :07:45.around about energy, where we get it, the best way of doing that is to

:07:46. > :07:51.use less of it, the benefits to everyone are substantial in the long

:07:52. > :07:56.run. To climate change, I would agree with the member for Warrington

:07:57. > :08:03.South who is no longer here, it is regrettable UK will not be a member

:08:04. > :08:06.of the European Union. I to the Secretary of State for her role in

:08:07. > :08:11.the Paris talks. She played a strong hand. Not as strong at hand as I and

:08:12. > :08:16.others might have wanted but it was a strong hand played well that

:08:17. > :08:21.resulted in a pretty good deal. The fact that we are no longer going to

:08:22. > :08:23.be at the heart of the decision-making process is

:08:24. > :08:28.regrettable because the UK can be proud of what it has done in terms

:08:29. > :08:32.of climate change, and there is more it could offer at the European

:08:33. > :08:37.Union. That is the reality. We need to work out how in terms of our

:08:38. > :08:43.renewed relationship with the European union that will happen. But

:08:44. > :08:48.there will be an absence and that is regrettable. I have specific

:08:49. > :08:53.questions and they have been touched upon around the process and the

:08:54. > :09:00.impact of Brexit on our commitments from the Paris talks. Our nationally

:09:01. > :09:11.defined contribution was the European union's NDC and read that

:09:12. > :09:15.applies to as, I am not sure, but I assume it does. We can and should do

:09:16. > :09:25.more. There are issues around ratification of the deal that I am

:09:26. > :09:30.not clear about. Do we have two ratify this before the Brexit deal

:09:31. > :09:39.is concluded? Is there an impact on the European Union as a whole? And

:09:40. > :09:42.in terms of EU ratification process I understand that requires all

:09:43. > :09:48.member states to ratify that before they can ratify it as a whole.

:09:49. > :09:56.Ultimately the UN requires the 55 countries sold are -- so are the

:09:57. > :09:58.implications for us, for the European Union, as the implications

:09:59. > :10:09.for the entire deal if we are not able to do that? I may not answer

:10:10. > :10:15.all his questions on this particular intervention but just to say because

:10:16. > :10:19.I did not pick it up, we are pushing for early ratification of the Paris

:10:20. > :10:23.treaty on behalf of the United Kingdom. I thank the Secretary of

:10:24. > :10:28.State for that intervention and welcome that. That is progress and I

:10:29. > :10:35.hope that can be done. There will not be opposition from these benches

:10:36. > :10:39.in terms of that. The biggest single statement we have heard, I do not

:10:40. > :10:44.want to go through the negatives, on the eve of palace we had the suite

:10:45. > :10:55.and this hour, the sewer of the carbon capture that my honourable

:10:56. > :11:08.friend has mentioned, -- the sour of the carbon capture. But I question

:11:09. > :11:12.the deliverability of that. The commitment had the caveat that it

:11:13. > :11:20.would only be done if and when it was possible and I would suggest

:11:21. > :11:25.that the combination of effect of invest in confidence, the lack of

:11:26. > :11:30.clarity around a number of these things, will make it more difficult

:11:31. > :11:36.to meet the conditions required to have that call taken off the system.

:11:37. > :11:40.There is a requirement to look at that again and in terms of the fifth

:11:41. > :11:46.carbon budget which I think we all welcome the fact that we are now

:11:47. > :11:49.getting it and I agree with the climate change committee's

:11:50. > :11:54.recommendations that we need the action plan. It is the

:11:55. > :11:59.bread-and-butter of this, is how we do it. Ambition, determination is

:12:00. > :12:05.there that it will only come to be if we have a viable plan. It is

:12:06. > :12:12.achievable that it has become more uncertain because of the Brexit

:12:13. > :12:16.fought. To conclude I think that we are in probably a better place as of

:12:17. > :12:22.yesterday's events than many of us expected to be. We do not have the

:12:23. > :12:25.added unwelcome uncertainty of a nine week leadership contest but

:12:26. > :12:31.there is a power of work that needs to be done by Government. I hope the

:12:32. > :12:37.Secretary of State continues in her post to do that and I look forward

:12:38. > :12:43.to continuing to work with her and marking her homework after the

:12:44. > :12:48.summer recess. It is a pleasure to speak in the

:12:49. > :12:52.debates today. Opposition being opposition often fires questions to

:12:53. > :12:55.Government and this is a difficult time for governments to answer all

:12:56. > :12:59.the questions because we are about to change Prime Minister is. There

:13:00. > :13:03.will probably be a substantial reshuffle in Government and then

:13:04. > :13:06.those ministers will get down to dealing with the consequences of

:13:07. > :13:11.what the British people have decided. The essential point, and

:13:12. > :13:18.many of the points made in the speech today, what is going to

:13:19. > :13:22.happen with regulations, I do not leave that this parliament is going

:13:23. > :13:24.to go through every piece of European legislation that has been

:13:25. > :13:28.passed over the past 40 years and decide whether to keep it or not.

:13:29. > :13:33.The most likely outcome is enabling legislation that in needles

:13:34. > :13:37.everything we have agreed with the EU into UK legislation and then this

:13:38. > :13:41.Government and future governments at their leisure can what they want to

:13:42. > :13:43.do. That is the most sensible approach and that is the most

:13:44. > :13:47.sensible approach and that might been that in some areas some

:13:48. > :13:50.legislation me get rid of, in other areas we strengthen. Whatever the

:13:51. > :13:56.outcome this parliament makes sure that picks what is best for our

:13:57. > :14:01.country. A lot of legislation has been agreed with 27, 28 other

:14:02. > :14:05.states. Some of it may not be that applicable relevant to us but there

:14:06. > :14:11.may be things that we want to improve standards in and as my

:14:12. > :14:17.honourable friend made the point, our record on environmental, clean

:14:18. > :14:22.air and everything else predates a lot of our joining the EU. Quite

:14:23. > :14:27.often the Duke has been more vociferous in these areas than many

:14:28. > :14:33.states of the European union. -- quite often the UK has been more

:14:34. > :14:45.vociferous. The Queen air act was about stopping people burning things

:14:46. > :14:50.in London -- bit clean air act says nothing about particulates because

:14:51. > :14:56.diesel cars had not been invented. Things move on. Just because we are

:14:57. > :15:00.out of the EU does not mean that we cannot make sensible decisions that

:15:01. > :15:10.affect our citizens from things such as you suggest. My guess... I will

:15:11. > :15:12.make progress. Essentially what we will have is enabling legislation

:15:13. > :15:15.and we will deal with the consequences of Britain leaving in

:15:16. > :15:20.terms of the detail of European directives that we have signed over

:15:21. > :15:26.the years at our leisure, as governments determine priorities. I

:15:27. > :15:33.want to move on and talk about energy. I am sure that when the

:15:34. > :15:38.Right honourable lady was given her task the Prime Minister said do not

:15:39. > :15:45.let the lights go out. Given that the capacity and the gathered and

:15:46. > :15:49.the manned, that is probably her principal concern and her job, and

:15:50. > :15:55.the principal concern of her predecessors, that we do not have

:15:56. > :15:59.that situation. I am pleased with many things that the Government has

:16:00. > :16:05.done but we have two increase capacity. While I disagree with the

:16:06. > :16:09.comments from the SNP is that we need nuclear capacity as part of

:16:10. > :16:16.that. Whether it is a good deal or a bad deal depends on crystal ball

:16:17. > :16:23.gazing. All I predict is that prices go up and down and I do not know

:16:24. > :16:26.when that happens. In the last Parliament the Labour Party had a

:16:27. > :16:36.policy of freezing energy prices and when that policy was made by SIS

:16:37. > :16:40.began to fall. Energy goes up and down and that is to do with the

:16:41. > :16:44.market, it is not necessarily as being in the EU and I would also

:16:45. > :16:48.caution joint long-term conclusions about what has happened in the

:16:49. > :16:53.markets when it has only been two weeks and since we had a vote to

:16:54. > :16:56.leave EU. Long-term interest rates have fallen, the pound has gone up

:16:57. > :17:01.and condoned, markets have got up and gone down, there will be a bumpy

:17:02. > :17:10.ride in the markets in the next couple of years, but we as a UK

:17:11. > :17:16.Government has got to do our bit for increased capacity. That means

:17:17. > :17:20.nuclear power, more gas, fracking, I know a lot of people do not like

:17:21. > :17:27.fracking that it is a natural resource we have to make use of. It

:17:28. > :17:31.was mentioned about running down coal fired power stations, I think

:17:32. > :17:35.until we are certain that some of the investment is starting to kick

:17:36. > :17:38.off I would be reluctant to close off some of that capacity because I

:17:39. > :17:45.think it will be a challenge for us to keep the lights on in the future.

:17:46. > :17:49.The problem is that we have in capacity are largely caused by not

:17:50. > :17:52.that current Government or the Coalition Government but the

:17:53. > :17:57.previous Labour Government which put off making decisions such as having

:17:58. > :18:00.a White Paper on nuclear power and I welcome what the Coalition

:18:01. > :18:04.Government and this Government has done but we really do need to

:18:05. > :18:09.improve confidence and improve investment so that we have more

:18:10. > :18:14.capacity in the energy market. I welcome a lot of what the Government

:18:15. > :18:18.has done. There is no reason why this country should not be still at

:18:19. > :18:23.the forefront of fighting environmental damage. I still think

:18:24. > :18:27.that this country can provide lessons to the European union. I do

:18:28. > :18:32.not believe our leading is going to be a disaster, I believe it is a

:18:33. > :18:36.great opportunity for our country. We have to make it a success and I

:18:37. > :18:40.am perfectly sure that this parliament is perfectly capable of

:18:41. > :18:42.making decisions that benefit our citizens rather better than some of

:18:43. > :18:53.those made within the EU. It is a pleasure to follow on from

:18:54. > :18:58.the honourable gentleman. We have heard today that environmental

:18:59. > :19:04.problems do not respect borders and I would like to posit an alternative

:19:05. > :19:12.argument, which is that everything was pretty much OK, to say things

:19:13. > :19:16.were not that OK and Britain's membership of the EU has been

:19:17. > :19:23.instrumental in the UK's improvement of its air quality, of cleaning up

:19:24. > :19:30.water elution, of our management of waste, protection and enhancement of

:19:31. > :19:35.biodiversity and in giving us a global platform in which we can show

:19:36. > :19:40.global leadership in tackling climate change. This year the

:19:41. > :19:48.environmental audit committee, which I chair, carried out an inquiry into

:19:49. > :19:51.the effects of that membership on UK environmental protection and we

:19:52. > :19:57.heard from a variety of witnesses, from businesses, academics,

:19:58. > :20:03.politicians and NGOs, and the overwhelming majority told our

:20:04. > :20:09.committee that the environment was better protected as a result of our

:20:10. > :20:14.EU membership. We don't have to look too far to find examples of this. In

:20:15. > :20:19.the 1970s the Thames was biologically dead and it may not

:20:20. > :20:24.like any cleaner from the Palace of Westminster than it did in the 70s

:20:25. > :20:30.but it serves as a reminder of how EU membership has cleaned up our

:20:31. > :20:34.environment. We can see seals, dolphins, I've yet to see one but I

:20:35. > :20:41.think otters are now up in the high-end of the Thames, and this has

:20:42. > :20:46.been repeated, this success story has been repeated up and down the

:20:47. > :20:50.country as once dead rivers have been brought back to life, where

:20:51. > :20:55.once it was dangerous to swim now it is safe for people and wildlife and

:20:56. > :21:02.the EU legislation has cleaned up beaches and rivers because of that

:21:03. > :21:06.water framework directive and the Marine strategy directives which

:21:07. > :21:11.have encouraged us, and it hasn't been easy, and I've paid tribute to

:21:12. > :21:18.the minister for Defra on this, to set out that ecological eat coherent

:21:19. > :21:26.network of marine protection zones. I give way. Will my honourable

:21:27. > :21:32.colleague agree that one of the things we found in the study was

:21:33. > :21:36.that the European Union is a union which has minimum standards that are

:21:37. > :21:42.ratcheted up and it doesn't allow individual members to under cut that

:21:43. > :21:48.and as a platform across the globe for best practice? That is right and

:21:49. > :21:54.the setting of minimum standards does not repent individual states

:21:55. > :22:01.from going above without but it also provides that common baseline and a

:22:02. > :22:07.harmonised market for products. That is absolutely crucial for UK

:22:08. > :22:12.witnesses as we move forward into the uncertainties of a Brexit world.

:22:13. > :22:16.EU membership has also been keen on our quality and successive

:22:17. > :22:22.governments have dragged their feet on this difficult issue. Since 2010

:22:23. > :22:31.the UK has been in breach of EU air quality limits in 31 of its 43 error

:22:32. > :22:36.zones, one of which is in Wakefield, I know London tends to get all the

:22:37. > :22:43.attention and as a cyclist in London I am aware of high pollution but

:22:44. > :22:49.areas like Wakefield with the motorways crossing by it have severe

:22:50. > :22:55.burdens of vascular disease and lung disease as a result of breaching

:22:56. > :22:58.these limits. EU legislation has allowed UK campaigners to hold the

:22:59. > :23:04.Government to account, the High Court has ordered Defra ministers to

:23:05. > :23:10.come up with new plans and in court they were backing allegations that

:23:11. > :23:14.these plans are still insufficient to bring our quality into line with

:23:15. > :23:18.EU standards, and there are questions about what will happen to

:23:19. > :23:24.our standards in the new Brexit world. On biodiversity, the nature

:23:25. > :23:30.directives have preserved some of the most treasured places, plants

:23:31. > :23:39.and species in our country. Many of our best loved sites, Dartmoor,

:23:40. > :23:46.Snowdonia, are protected via the EU. Thank keeper giving way. On that

:23:47. > :23:51.issue of habitats direct is, would she agree that even if we do keep

:23:52. > :23:56.that, as we hope the lead do, in legislation, we must make sure there

:23:57. > :24:02.is proper enforcement because that is what the EU has given us and we

:24:03. > :24:06.need to create a new enforcement mechanism that is as rigorous as

:24:07. > :24:12.possible. I don't think anything can be guaranteed, the first step is to

:24:13. > :24:16.hear from ministers, I wish the honourable gentleman well in

:24:17. > :24:21.whatever future role he is called on to play in the Government and he has

:24:22. > :24:26.been an excellent minister and appeared before us many times on the

:24:27. > :24:31.committee, but I don't think anything should be taken for granted

:24:32. > :24:36.because in my debates on the EU referendum campaign, I was a

:24:37. > :24:42.passionate pro-remain, but there were different versions of Brexit

:24:43. > :24:47.depending on who you were debating with, we had the member for Redruth

:24:48. > :24:51.who was minister in the Department for Food and Rural Affairs, who

:24:52. > :24:58.described the directives as spirit crushing and said if we voted to

:24:59. > :25:04.leave they would go. Whether his version of events is the same as the

:25:05. > :25:08.new Prime Minister's, we wait to see, but he also said he thought

:25:09. > :25:13.leaving the EU would free up common agricultural payments, up to ?2

:25:14. > :25:18.billion for payments to farmers in, and I quote, insurance and

:25:19. > :25:24.incentives for farmers. Nowhere do I hear about the need for protection

:25:25. > :25:31.of species, protection of wildlife and plant life, words are vital

:25:32. > :25:37.services provided by soils and bogs and the need for restoration of bogs

:25:38. > :25:42.and influence, which is something an excellent report on soil that was

:25:43. > :25:49.published a month ago recommended and which was echoed by the climate

:25:50. > :25:55.change committee's report, which was published this morning. We have seen

:25:56. > :26:00.otters, hen Harriers and it turns making a comeback and I think the

:26:01. > :26:05.referendum result could put all this progress at risk. The EU has also

:26:06. > :26:11.laid a key role in promoting investment in sustainable this is

:26:12. > :26:17.technologies. Investors nuclear policy signals from strong

:26:18. > :26:22.legislative frameworks, and those frameworks are provided by the

:26:23. > :26:26.climate change act but our current inquiry into transport and Treasury

:26:27. > :26:31.is finding some mixed messages coming from that on government and

:26:32. > :26:36.especially the question I've posed to the Secretary of State under

:26:37. > :26:43.carbon capture storage competition being cancelled, which has a

:26:44. > :26:48.debilitating effect on investor confidence and we do not want to get

:26:49. > :26:51.into a position where consumers aren't spending, investors aren't

:26:52. > :26:59.investing, because that is disastrous for the economy and for

:27:00. > :27:07.environmental progress. On waste, 20 years ago the UK sent almost all of

:27:08. > :27:14.our household waste to landfill. Now we recycle almost 45% of household

:27:15. > :27:19.waste, although I was disappointed to see those numbers dip last year.

:27:20. > :27:25.The Treasury introduced the landfill tax escalator in response to the EU

:27:26. > :27:28.than full directive and since then the waste and resources management

:27:29. > :27:33.sector has invested five young pounds in new infrastructure over

:27:34. > :27:38.the last five years thanks to this long-term policy signal and the

:27:39. > :27:43.environmental services Association told our committee that. Those

:27:44. > :27:49.policy signals are vital and we need to keep investing in infrastructure

:27:50. > :27:59.if we are to make those 2020 waste targets. If they do still apply in

:28:00. > :28:07.UK law. A set of the gin! To keep me going, that's better. A slice next

:28:08. > :28:11.time, please. I want to conclude by saying a couple of things on Micro

:28:12. > :28:19.plastics. We are concluding an inquiry into Micro plastics, tiny

:28:20. > :28:24.particles of elastic that can come from larger particles of plastic

:28:25. > :28:30.that are broken down or they can come in shaving foams, deodorants,

:28:31. > :28:34.toothpastes, and facial scrubs, and it seems to be the higher end ones

:28:35. > :28:40.that have not been cleaned up as quickly as the mass volume scrubs,

:28:41. > :28:43.and we are finding they have washed down the sink, passed through

:28:44. > :28:51.filtration systems and ended up in the sea, and if you have had half a

:28:52. > :28:54.dozen oysters, you will have consumed 50 Micro plastic particles,

:28:55. > :29:03.so for those of us who like seafood that is something to reflect on. Bon

:29:04. > :29:07.appetit. Over a third of fish in the English Channel are contaminated

:29:08. > :29:13.with Micro plastics, and as an island nation we have to take this

:29:14. > :29:18.seriously, and the way to do that is to work with our partners in the EU.

:29:19. > :29:25.That is what the member for Camborne and Redruth told our committee when

:29:26. > :29:31.he gave evidence just before the referendum, so if the EU takes

:29:32. > :29:34.action to address an environmental problem, it creates a level playing

:29:35. > :29:40.field for businesses and creates an opportunity to market environmental

:29:41. > :29:45.solutions. There are a whole series of questions now raised by Brexit,

:29:46. > :29:52.the issue of the circular economy package, the EU's drive to get us to

:29:53. > :29:57.reduce the waste and recycle more and have a secure sustainable supply

:29:58. > :30:04.of raw materials, paper, glass or plastics, which would have driven

:30:05. > :30:07.new green jobs in this UK economy and the decision to abandon this has

:30:08. > :30:13.left investors reeling. We have heard from my honourable friend the

:30:14. > :30:18.Shadow Secretary about the Siemens decision to freeze their investment

:30:19. > :30:26.in that wind industry in Yorkshire and the Humber, and we face a

:30:27. > :30:29.protracted period of uncertainty. The minister, when he appeared

:30:30. > :30:36.before our committee, told us that a vote to leave would result in a long

:30:37. > :30:43.and tortuous they juicy nation. That hasn't even begun yet. The period

:30:44. > :30:48.ahead of us is fraught with risks. The UK risks not being regarded as a

:30:49. > :30:55.safe bet, investors may no longer wish to invest their cash here, and

:30:56. > :31:00.contracts now are no longer being signed in London because the risk of

:31:01. > :31:05.London no longer being part of the European single market means people

:31:06. > :31:09.want to sign their contracts in a European country so in the event

:31:10. > :31:15.that something goes wrong, contract law will be enforceable across all

:31:16. > :31:21.the countries of the EU, so it will have a very big effect on our

:31:22. > :31:29.financial and legal services. I will give way. Could I ask whether she

:31:30. > :31:34.agrees, in terms of the emerging recycling market across Europe, with

:31:35. > :31:39.us possibly a sink tariffs and different regulations, it will mean

:31:40. > :31:46.people will not invest in Britain but instead in Europe? That is the

:31:47. > :31:51.point I was making, and when looking where to put new foreign direct

:31:52. > :31:57.investment into the economy, they will look again and go to the area

:31:58. > :32:05.of least risk, and those risks are being active now in the economy. We

:32:06. > :32:11.found out in our report that the environment and the UK's membership

:32:12. > :32:16.of the EU being a two-way street, it forced us to take action more

:32:17. > :32:21.quickly on waste and water and also gave us a platform to project our

:32:22. > :32:26.own values, especially in the area of climate change, and Lord born

:32:27. > :32:32.told the committee the UK's voice was loader in Paris and I worry

:32:33. > :32:41.about the global agreement received at Paris and perhaps damage to

:32:42. > :32:47.achieving those climate change targets that withdrawing from the EU

:32:48. > :32:51.could have. To conclude, in the 1970s the UK was the dirty man of

:32:52. > :32:58.Europe and economically the sixth man of Europe. We have cleaner

:32:59. > :33:02.beaches, we drive fuel efficient cars, we have more fuel efficient

:33:03. > :33:08.vacuum cleaners and we can hold the Government to account on air

:33:09. > :33:10.pollution. Environmental problems do not respect borders and they require

:33:11. > :33:17.much longer term solutions then eight five-year term of government.

:33:18. > :33:21.EU membership allowed the UK to be a world leader in tackling

:33:22. > :33:26.environmental problems with our science base and our civil servants

:33:27. > :33:33.to provide nuts and builds solution to these challenges and created

:33:34. > :33:37.British with this as a world leader, whether retrofitting diesel buses in

:33:38. > :33:41.China are helping the Indian government to water management for

:33:42. > :33:47.the Ganges delta. These are services we can export proudly because we

:33:48. > :33:53.have been cleaned in the EU and the result has caused political and

:33:54. > :33:57.economic uncertainty and I hope we will get reassurances from the

:33:58. > :34:02.Government about the threats it poses to our common home and the

:34:03. > :34:03.actions any new government will take to make sure we leave a better

:34:04. > :34:13.future for our children. I am very pleased to follow my

:34:14. > :34:17.honourable friend and I have a great deal of the night before as the

:34:18. > :34:20.chair of the Select Committee, but I would like to say aye would like to

:34:21. > :34:26.be more positive about life post EU than she has been today. I am

:34:27. > :34:30.pleased to speak on this important subject and I am pleased that the

:34:31. > :34:35.opposition have brought this subject today, talking about the EU energy

:34:36. > :34:40.and environmental implications post EU and the environment is something

:34:41. > :34:45.we cannot avoid. It effects us all. The air we breathe, the water we

:34:46. > :34:50.drink, the food we eat, the soil which produces it, the trees which

:34:51. > :34:55.take in carbon dioxide. Absolutely every single thing we touch and it

:34:56. > :35:00.is essential that we deliver policies that will determine that we

:35:01. > :35:05.can go forward to having a healthy life and that all God's creatures

:35:06. > :35:10.can have a healthy life as well. As has been said many times today, much

:35:11. > :35:16.of our environmental legislation that we adhere to does stem from

:35:17. > :35:22.Europe and, actually, yes, we have been instrumental in writing a lot

:35:23. > :35:26.of it. The birds directive, the habitats directive, the bathing

:35:27. > :35:30.water directive, the quality directive, but I did want to touch

:35:31. > :35:35.on the something mentioned in the motion today which said that little

:35:36. > :35:42.mention of environmental protection was made during the EU referendum

:35:43. > :35:47.run-up. Actually, many people, me included and some of my honourable

:35:48. > :35:52.colleagues, did refer to these areas of the environment, including many

:35:53. > :35:58.from the environmental from Europe group. Interestingly, what I believe

:35:59. > :36:05.happened, was that the media give it a little average. The statistics

:36:06. > :36:12.show it only got 1.7% coverage in all media to do with the referendum

:36:13. > :36:17.and, on television, how much coverage did it get? 0%. It wasn't

:36:18. > :36:21.that people were talking about it, it just wasn't picked up. That is

:36:22. > :36:28.one issue we face. When you talk about it, people engage with that. I

:36:29. > :36:35.set up an environmental Forum to which I held a big debate about the

:36:36. > :36:39.EU and the environment. It wasn't pro one side or the other but it was

:36:40. > :36:44.a talking point. Over 100 people turned up to this event. It shows

:36:45. > :36:48.people are interested. What we have got to do now is, we are where we

:36:49. > :36:52.are, we are out of Europe and I believe we have to move forward

:36:53. > :36:58.positively. I will just mention if you smoke concerns that have arisen

:36:59. > :37:02.to show that we have some immediate problems to sort out, Minister. For

:37:03. > :37:09.example, a number of Londoners have spoken to me you are about to sign

:37:10. > :37:14.higher level stewardship contracts, protecting really precious bits of

:37:15. > :37:20.our habitat and those are being held off. I would like some reassurance

:37:21. > :37:24.about what will happen with those things. Where will the money come

:37:25. > :37:29.from? What we don't want is to lose those wonderful bit of protective

:37:30. > :37:34.habitat when people are waiting to see what happens. Similarly, with

:37:35. > :37:38.other greening issues for farmers. We do not want to risk farmers being

:37:39. > :37:43.forced to plough up field margins were edges were ponds because they

:37:44. > :37:46.don't know what is happening with environmental protection money where

:37:47. > :37:52.it is coming from. Some reassurance in the short term would go down

:37:53. > :37:55.really well. We had to bear in mind that no one has mentioned farmers

:37:56. > :38:02.and landowners but they own the land we are talking about. We have to

:38:03. > :38:07.work with them. Likewise, fishermen. I have heard rumours, I don't know

:38:08. > :38:09.if they are true, fishermen are ignoring money from marine

:38:10. > :38:12.protection because they think it doesn't apply any more that we have

:38:13. > :38:21.left Europe. Reassurance would be helpful. What now? I did mention we

:38:22. > :38:26.should be positive in our approach and I see this as a real opportunity

:38:27. > :38:35.to take ownership of the environment and to adopt the best systems that

:38:36. > :38:40.will work for us. This is the time to start building more than ever

:38:41. > :38:43.before and we have talked about it on the committee before, to build in

:38:44. > :38:48.sustainability and to build in a healthy future and to think more

:38:49. > :38:53.about how every single Department across government delivers on these

:38:54. > :38:57.things. How infrastructure works when it is going through special

:38:58. > :39:01.landscapes and injured trees, how our homes can be more sustainable

:39:02. > :39:04.and we have touched on all of this and I am pleased the government is

:39:05. > :39:11.undertaking an enquiry to look again at sustainable urban drainage

:39:12. > :39:17.systems and, also, carbon efficiency and energy efficiency, but we needed

:39:18. > :39:20.to build these in. Also, how to reduce flooding impact. The Defra

:39:21. > :39:25.Select Committee is doing an enquiry and it will bring forward useful

:39:26. > :39:29.ideas on how to build in resilience to flooding into our land-use plans

:39:30. > :39:34.and this is the time to get these things in. I see it as a great

:39:35. > :39:37.opportunity and how energy generation, how we can do more and

:39:38. > :39:42.our low carbon energy generation and more on transport to have lower

:39:43. > :39:48.emissions to reduce those error pollution statistics we have got. It

:39:49. > :39:52.is all possible with clear land use planning and thought. I have talked

:39:53. > :39:59.to lots of bodies already about these issues, from the RSPB to the

:40:00. > :40:05.wetland trust, to the wetland trust for, to farmers and landowners. We

:40:06. > :40:13.have to work with them and continue to support them if we are going to

:40:14. > :40:16.deliver what we need. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, there are things I

:40:17. > :40:23.would like to suggest we should consider. The EU legislation sets

:40:24. > :40:26.are targets. This has been referred to by my honourable friend from

:40:27. > :40:33.Wakefield on error pollution in particular and water pollution. It

:40:34. > :40:36.is the EU legislation which others to account, said last targets and

:40:37. > :40:42.then took us to task if we didn't take those targets. We must ensure

:40:43. > :40:47.that, going forward, we set targets and that we have a system of

:40:48. > :40:53.checking and we have a system of reporting and, I suggest annually,

:40:54. > :40:57.on how we are doing. I would very much urge that we do not lower our

:40:58. > :41:03.quality standards for our water quality standards. We have heard the

:41:04. > :41:07.shocking statistics that 50,000 people are dying every year from the

:41:08. > :41:12.pollution related diseases. We would be crazy to the word those

:41:13. > :41:16.standards. I am sure you are listening on that, Minister. A new

:41:17. > :41:21.thoughts on how to progress. They have been referred to by other

:41:22. > :41:26.members, but let's take those relevant EU directives, transpose

:41:27. > :41:32.them into UK law and amend them as we think that as we go on, but let's

:41:33. > :41:35.at least have them. Let's ensure we have the special areas of

:41:36. > :41:40.conservation and let the war on the world stage. We need to do more

:41:41. > :41:44.error, increase our global influence with bodies like the UN and the

:41:45. > :41:50.OECD, the animal welfare legislation is important and we need to stay

:41:51. > :41:57.part of nature 2000. I know and I applaud the fact that the Defra has

:41:58. > :42:02.been working away on its, I won't seek elusive, it's 25 year plans for

:42:03. > :42:07.farming and the environment, which is excellent, but let's see those

:42:08. > :42:10.plans as soon as possible, but make sure the environment is absolutely

:42:11. > :42:16.inextricably interwoven with those farming production targets. This is

:42:17. > :42:20.a great opportunity, that make greening slightly less complicated

:42:21. > :42:26.for the farmers, Minister, because I know most farmers are keen to

:42:27. > :42:29.undertake greening aspects. Some of the forms they have to fill out and

:42:30. > :42:33.the demands are torturously complicated, to the point, and I

:42:34. > :42:36.only heard this this morning from my barn owl expert who works with

:42:37. > :42:42.farmers in the south-west, some are thinking of not bothering in future

:42:43. > :42:47.if we cannot simplify it a bit to deliver what we need to put make it

:42:48. > :42:51.easy to do. Let's get in the soil monitoring while we are rewriting

:42:52. > :42:59.the plans and recognise that soil is an ecosystem and not just a growing

:43:00. > :43:04.medium to be abused. Let's deal with the circular economy, Minister. The

:43:05. > :43:07.effort suggests it could bring in a ?22 billion of savings, let's have a

:43:08. > :43:15.look at how it can and build all that in. So, subsidies, I reiterate,

:43:16. > :43:19.they will happen to be part of the system but let's work out how they

:43:20. > :43:24.are placed on our landowners and farmers and I suggest, Minister,

:43:25. > :43:27.that they are not just based on land ownership, but the farmers and

:43:28. > :43:32.landowners have to deliver something for it in terms of green services,

:43:33. > :43:36.whether it is a good production for whatever, but they must deliver for

:43:37. > :43:40.it and potentially caps should be put on so if you have 3000 makers

:43:41. > :43:45.producing parable, is it right that you clock in so why not have a cab

:43:46. > :43:51.so that everything is on a level playing field? I know farmers and

:43:52. > :43:55.landowners are discussing this countrywide. Heino environmental

:43:56. > :43:59.organisations are discussing this. Let's put all their findings

:44:00. > :44:03.together and build them in to our forward-thinking plan and, finally,

:44:04. > :44:08.Madam Deputy Speaker, I will touch on energy because it is in the

:44:09. > :44:13.motion. I am pleased that the Secretary of State has committed to

:44:14. > :44:16.delivering secure, affordable, clean energy and I welcome the system

:44:17. > :44:23.which is enabling consumers to switch to lower cost energy, to help

:44:24. > :44:26.with bills. I really have welcomed the commitment to lead on climate

:44:27. > :44:33.change. It has been referred to by many honourable colleagues today and

:44:34. > :44:35.the early ratification and I reiterate decreases for that climate

:44:36. > :44:39.change system which had the honourable member from Aberdeen

:44:40. > :44:46.referred to. We are all together on that. This government has committed

:44:47. > :44:51.to low carbon energy. It is phasing out: and it is committed to nuclear

:44:52. > :44:54.and I will touch on nuclear. The south-west is pressing ahead with

:44:55. > :44:59.its commitment for Hinkley point. This is a crucial part of our

:45:00. > :45:04.economy, it can deliver 7% of our energy and I welcome the government

:45:05. > :45:07.involvement in establishing the National College for nuclear and

:45:08. > :45:12.there is a big spin off there in Somerset at Bridgwater College which

:45:13. > :45:15.is just linking up with by Somerset College in my constituency. That is

:45:16. > :45:20.swanning not only the ingenious but it is one of the new skills we will

:45:21. > :45:24.need to move forward in this low carbon energy sector which has got

:45:25. > :45:28.to be part of our brave new world. To conclude, let's not be negative

:45:29. > :45:33.about any of this, government must listen and I am sure they are. We

:45:34. > :45:37.must link farming with the environment very closely fought the

:45:38. > :45:41.good of the nation, to deliver for the environment, to deliver for us

:45:42. > :45:51.all in terms of health and well-being and in life chances going

:45:52. > :45:54.forward. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker for graciously allowing me

:45:55. > :45:59.to Mick McGiven speech in this really important debate. I am deeply

:46:00. > :46:05.honoured to be standing here in this chamber as the new member of

:46:06. > :46:09.Parliament for tooting. When I think about this chamber's long and proud

:46:10. > :46:15.history, the men and women who have sat here before me and all they have

:46:16. > :46:22.achieved, I feel humbled. Clement Attlee, now Bevan, very recently Jo

:46:23. > :46:25.Cox. But to name a few. I am also reminded of the vast

:46:26. > :46:29.responsibilities that we, in this chamber, are entrusted with and over

:46:30. > :46:34.the coming years and the magnitude of what we must now achieve for our

:46:35. > :46:37.country. I would like to talk a little bit about this task and about

:46:38. > :46:41.the mindset with which we should approach it. First of all, I would

:46:42. > :46:48.like to talk about where I come from. It is hard for me to

:46:49. > :46:52.adequately express my gratitude to the people of tooting for putting

:46:53. > :46:58.their trust in me. During my campaign, I said I would be a

:46:59. > :47:02.passionate, energetic and tireless representative for absolutely

:47:03. > :47:07.everyone in my constituency. It is with that promise that I intended to

:47:08. > :47:11.serve. Just two months ago, I was working day and night on the front

:47:12. > :47:15.line of the NHS as an emergency doctor in A Now I find myself

:47:16. > :47:19.wandering the corridors of Westminster, grappling with vast

:47:20. > :47:26.piles of booklets and mistaking offices for Lady's rooms. It has

:47:27. > :47:29.happened. It was a piece of good news which set me on the journey I

:47:30. > :47:36.am here today and that is the election of our new Mayor of London,

:47:37. > :47:42.my good friend, city can. He had the largest personal mandate in British

:47:43. > :47:46.personal history. From the first time I met Sadik, it was clear to me

:47:47. > :47:49.he was destined for greatness. When I became a councillor, he took the

:47:50. > :47:53.time to offer me support and guidance as he remembered well what

:47:54. > :47:57.it was like to suddenly find yourself in the responsibilities of

:47:58. > :48:02.elected office. He spent 11 years working tirelessly for the people of

:48:03. > :48:07.tooting. His commitment to equality, justice and inclusivity is

:48:08. > :48:11.inspirational. Whether he is celebrating International women's

:48:12. > :48:14.Day year after year, breaking bread with every religious community were

:48:15. > :48:19.talking to children about how they can achieve no matter what their

:48:20. > :48:24.background, his interactions are always warm and very welcoming. He

:48:25. > :48:27.truly believes in the power of people and communities and has shown

:48:28. > :48:31.that throughout his time representing tooting and now, the

:48:32. > :48:35.great City of London. He has made improving the environment a top

:48:36. > :48:40.priority in City Hall and has started tackling the important issue

:48:41. > :48:43.of air quality in London. This debate gives us an opportunity again

:48:44. > :48:47.to see what the difference we can make in the House when we get

:48:48. > :48:52.legislation right. Legislation like the clean air Act of 1956, past 60

:48:53. > :48:57.years ago, following the London smogs of the 1950s.

:48:58. > :49:06.I will endeavour to build on Sadiq's fine legacy. His shoes are big to

:49:07. > :49:14.fail but I have the benefit of much higher shoes to help! We share a lot

:49:15. > :49:21.in our history is an art characters, our surname, a love of football, a

:49:22. > :49:28.keen interest in boxing, and perhaps most importantly we are children of

:49:29. > :49:32.Tooting, now choosing to raise our families in the streets where we

:49:33. > :49:39.grew up. We have one important difference, my dad was not a bus

:49:40. > :49:44.driver. However, my mum did work in a local Vettel 's Haitian and

:49:45. > :49:52.perhaps Sadiq's father fills up his bus there. As a Tooting girl, I

:49:53. > :49:57.never liked when people say Tooting is becoming a fantastic place to

:49:58. > :50:02.live, anyone who has lived there knows it has always been great. The

:50:03. > :50:10.green open spaces, the iconic market and the lido opened for residents to

:50:11. > :50:15.swim out doors for 110 years. There has always been a rich tapestry of

:50:16. > :50:20.communities living harmoniously and that unity should be celebrated and

:50:21. > :50:27.I will defend it with every fibre of my being. That unity is woven into

:50:28. > :50:33.me, an essential part of who I am. When people ask me where I am from,

:50:34. > :50:38.I say I am half Polish, half Pakistani, raised in England,

:50:39. > :50:45.married a Welshman and I am 100% Tooting! What binds us to gather, in

:50:46. > :50:52.Tooting and across the country it is a sense of common purpose. The

:50:53. > :50:58.selflessness that drives community groups binds us together. Many local

:50:59. > :51:03.businesses not only fuel are thriving economy but bind us

:51:04. > :51:08.together. Saint Georges Hospital and our NHS, where everyone is treated

:51:09. > :51:14.with equal concern is based on their need binds us together. In these

:51:15. > :51:20.fragile times we should never forget the charities, businesses and

:51:21. > :51:23.national in situations are important not only because they provide a

:51:24. > :51:31.service that because they've wind us together. As local residents and as

:51:32. > :51:36.Schumann being is. Why am I see? Life wasn't easy growing up but I

:51:37. > :51:42.always had the bedrock that was the love and support of my mum Maria.

:51:43. > :51:47.Even in the face of adversity she was on her own, a single mum but

:51:48. > :51:52.like a small army Shari my brother and me with praise, providing a

:51:53. > :51:57.sense of possibility. She gave me hope, showing us that even people

:51:58. > :52:04.from our background can achieve anything with hard work. She

:52:05. > :52:09.instilled in me determination to help others who have seen hardship

:52:10. > :52:14.and to fight for social justice. But I am also here because of Labour. My

:52:15. > :52:20.dream of becoming a doctor became a reality not just due to hard work

:52:21. > :52:24.but because a Labour government made it financially possible for me to

:52:25. > :52:30.access a world-class medical school at Cambridge. That is one reason why

:52:31. > :52:35.my ambition will always be for Labour to win Palmer, not just to

:52:36. > :52:41.sit in opposition. I've served in an ice cream shop, fried eggs at a

:52:42. > :52:46.hotel, but my proudest job is being a wife and a mother. My heart first

:52:47. > :52:53.with the love I have for my husband and my two young daughters, aged

:52:54. > :52:58.three and just one. They are an immense source of strength for me

:52:59. > :53:04.and will continue to be so. We must now all look to those coming years.

:53:05. > :53:10.They will be turbulent and challenging and in the history will

:53:11. > :53:16.be made. This House will be responsible for shaping Britain's

:53:17. > :53:18.future by hiding and providing accountability for the most

:53:19. > :53:24.important negotiations are country has seen for decades. Important and

:53:25. > :53:30.a questions will be asked about who we are and who we want to be, about

:53:31. > :53:34.the legacy we leave the next generation and generations after

:53:35. > :53:38.that, about the relationships we want to have with our friends across

:53:39. > :53:43.the world. Britain has always been an looking country, one that doesn't

:53:44. > :53:49.shy away from challenges that face us. My experience as a doctor and

:53:50. > :53:54.all over the world has taught me a lot about those challenges. I have

:53:55. > :53:59.lived and worked in squalid refugee camps, pulled dead bodies out of

:54:00. > :54:09.floodwater, watched children suffer as victims of war. I have witnessed

:54:10. > :54:12.aching, 18 suffering. My commitment is to be a voice for those who have

:54:13. > :54:19.none, to find hope for those who have lost it, to build strength for

:54:20. > :54:25.those who are we, regardless of race or socio economic status, we all

:54:26. > :54:31.bleed, grieve and feel pain. The sound of a parent losing a child is

:54:32. > :54:34.an international language. It is tragically a sound that is

:54:35. > :54:40.increasingly common in unstable world. We live in a time of

:54:41. > :54:47.insecurity and change without parallel in recent history. Europe

:54:48. > :54:51.is in flux, the Middle East is in crisis, the axis of global power is

:54:52. > :54:56.shifting, old certainties no longer seem so certain. It's too easy to

:54:57. > :55:01.write off calls for international social justice as irrelevant when we

:55:02. > :55:10.ourselves live in such an uncertain times. We have so much to do here,

:55:11. > :55:14.why should we think about overseas? That is to misunderstand what social

:55:15. > :55:21.justice is about. It is not just a gold to be ranked in relation to

:55:22. > :55:26.other goals, it is about who we are. It applies to everything we do,

:55:27. > :55:30.whether protecting our NHS, protecting workers' rights were

:55:31. > :55:38.working to seek peace in Syria and Yemen. Everywhere I looked there is

:55:39. > :55:43.work to do. Here at home, I pledge to bring my years of experience in,

:55:44. > :55:49.a deep commitment to the NHS to stand up for it. I could not be

:55:50. > :55:53.proud of my NHS colleagues. At St George's Hospital and elsewhere,

:55:54. > :55:59.they worked day and night with little thanks, anyone who has worked

:56:00. > :56:03.in the NHS or in any of emergency services knows that feeling of

:56:04. > :56:11.leaving behind the comfort of home day after day, night after night,

:56:12. > :56:15.selflessly to work gruelling hours in difficult circumstances, serving

:56:16. > :56:20.the communities they love. I will work to protect them from the

:56:21. > :56:26.taxpayer under. Our NHS staff see work as a vocation, not as a job.

:56:27. > :56:31.This is why they have been so damaged by the recent mishandling of

:56:32. > :56:34.the junior doctors contract and white nurses are distraught when

:56:35. > :56:41.they see their bursaries axed. -- axed. It is reprehensible that

:56:42. > :56:45.students are forced to seek food banks or that nurses are penalised

:56:46. > :56:51.for having children. I have already asked two questions in my short time

:56:52. > :56:56.in this House and I will not stop asking until I get satisfactory

:56:57. > :57:04.answers. In these times, who knows how long I may be sitting here?

:57:05. > :57:13.What I do know and can tell you is that I will make every single

:57:14. > :57:14.minute, every single day, count for the people of Tooting and four Great

:57:15. > :57:29.Britain. Thank you. What an absolutely fantastic,

:57:30. > :57:35.brilliant maiden speech we have just heard from the member for Tooting.

:57:36. > :57:40.I've served in this House 14 times and that is the best maiden speech I

:57:41. > :57:46.have ever heard. It was eloquent, moving, witty, it talked about

:57:47. > :57:52.Tooting, about history, where we are and where we're going. The member

:57:53. > :57:58.for Tooting is a credit to Tooting, a credit to her family and I know

:57:59. > :58:02.her mother is here, as is her brother, her best friend and her

:58:03. > :58:09.husband, who I'm very pleased to hear is from Neath and I hope to

:58:10. > :58:17.share an ice cream later in the summer if all goes well, and

:58:18. > :58:23.supporters in the gallery. I will be mentioning the Mayor of London. It's

:58:24. > :58:29.fantastic to hear about Tooting and it is great to have the Mayor of

:58:30. > :58:34.London back with us today because this debate is about the

:58:35. > :58:39.environment, our concerns as we break free from Europe that we will

:58:40. > :58:44.know longer have a mandatory standards over air quality and I am

:58:45. > :58:51.proud that Siddique can has now made headway after two terms of indolence

:58:52. > :58:56.from the previous mayor in terms of air quality, in terms of moving

:58:57. > :59:04.forward in this direction because after all, we have heard that in

:59:05. > :59:10.London alone there is something like 9500 premature deaths from air

:59:11. > :59:14.pollution, largely from diesel cars, the Royal College of Physicians that

:59:15. > :59:19.the number is 40,000 across Britain, lung disease, heart disease,

:59:20. > :59:25.premature strokes, problems for children, whether or not they are in

:59:26. > :59:30.the classroom or the womb, so I am pleased that Sadiq Khan, I was with

:59:31. > :59:35.him last week when he launched his new air quality standards on the

:59:36. > :59:40.60th anniversary of the clean air act, I look forward to low emissions

:59:41. > :59:46.coming forward with the new technology, and there is new

:59:47. > :59:53.technology from America that can use lasers to counter the amount of

:59:54. > :59:58.emissions for each car and set standards for that. One of my real

:59:59. > :00:08.concerns about this debate is that there will be no mandatory standards

:00:09. > :00:11.enforceable in the courts. I am glad to see planet Earth taking the

:00:12. > :00:17.Government to court to make sure we deliver those standards, because the

:00:18. > :00:21.fact they have to take them to court shows that left to our own devices

:00:22. > :00:26.we are in danger of going back to being the dirty man of Europe, the

:00:27. > :00:32.embarrassing situation we faced before. The world health

:00:33. > :00:40.organisation has standards but they are not enforceable and I hope to

:00:41. > :00:44.hear that in not just air quality standards we will honour our

:00:45. > :00:49.commitments, we have the responsibility to make future laws

:00:50. > :00:54.ourselves but unless the integrated we will not work as a platform to

:00:55. > :00:59.make the world more sustainable. I'm grateful to him, he has touched off

:01:00. > :01:05.an important issue in respect of the fines that are to be levied in

:01:06. > :01:12.respect of breaches of air quality standards. Does he think there is a

:01:13. > :01:17.important job to be done here in terms of joined up government

:01:18. > :01:22.because we hear the British Government will pass the fines down

:01:23. > :01:28.to local government, who are also controlled by central government and

:01:29. > :01:33.housing targets, which means in one hand they have to approve new

:01:34. > :01:40.developments in areas of their towns and cities that are suffering from

:01:41. > :01:45.poor air quality, and at the same time the Government are passing the

:01:46. > :01:50.fines down to them. I think that is a concern. I've put forward an air

:01:51. > :01:55.quality built, the idea being to give more of our two local

:01:56. > :02:00.authorities with the support of government to bring forward more air

:02:01. > :02:06.quality concerns, more testing, encouraged trams and electric driven

:02:07. > :02:12.systems and not just having a series of zones where we have to reach

:02:13. > :02:15.minimum standards but having air quality approved for all people

:02:16. > :02:21.across our nation, and we don't want the Government passing the buck and

:02:22. > :02:28.reverting to becoming the dirty man of Europe. We have got a lot of them

:02:29. > :02:34.are fats from being in Europe. In Swansea West we have beautiful

:02:35. > :02:44.beaches, we don't want to revert to having the old Hightower beaches of

:02:45. > :02:46.the past. We have a situation with environmental innovation being

:02:47. > :02:53.shared across Europe, you're in danger of risking that, we work

:02:54. > :03:00.world leaders for Kyoto, across Europe, we were leaders in Britain

:03:01. > :03:05.for the nomination of CFCs and closing the hole in the ozone there.

:03:06. > :03:10.We don't want to miss those chances but we are likely to do so. Today

:03:11. > :03:16.the climate change committee had a meeting where they talked about the

:03:17. > :03:22.latest Rob Evans with adaptation in terms of climate change, what we

:03:23. > :03:26.have to do in terms of flooding, changes in biodiversity, health and

:03:27. > :03:31.food, challenges we need to face together and I hope to hear

:03:32. > :03:35.reassurances from the minister that we will work together, not just

:03:36. > :03:42.float off on our own and become worse environmentally. We face

:03:43. > :03:47.challenges from Gtech, the trade negotiations between the EU and the

:03:48. > :03:53.US, and now we are leaving we will find we cannot veto or influenced

:03:54. > :04:00.those negotiations, we will just be a bystander and have to live I those

:04:01. > :04:03.rules, which do not protect the environment in relation to

:04:04. > :04:09.investors, so we run the risk of being fined by fracking companies,

:04:10. > :04:15.as we have seen in the Lone Pine in Canada, hundreds of millions of

:04:16. > :04:19.pounds, there was a moratorium on fracking in crop that, I did not

:04:20. > :04:22.want to see that happen in Wales or Scotland or elsewhere when these

:04:23. > :04:37.companies are given the open door. I am rapporteur for Tito and

:04:38. > :04:43.fracking. I hope the advice will be taken by the government. People have

:04:44. > :04:48.mentioned the issues of the environmental audit committee. I am

:04:49. > :04:55.a member of that. We have said that, working together with Europe has to

:04:56. > :04:59.be good for standards. What we don't want to see is undercutting other

:05:00. > :05:05.countries for competitive reasons on the environment which will bring

:05:06. > :05:10.everybody down. In terms of climate change, in Paris, it was agreed we

:05:11. > :05:20.would have a target for our water temperature is not to go up more

:05:21. > :05:25.than 2%. We have already moved 1 degrees up and on the basis of CO2

:05:26. > :05:33.in the pipeline, it is calculated that we are at 1.5% up, which is the

:05:34. > :05:39.Paris aspiration. It means we need to move toward zero carbon

:05:40. > :05:43.technology and zero carbon and shamefully, the government, even

:05:44. > :05:49.before leaving Europe, has abandoned its aspirations and plans for carbon

:05:50. > :05:54.capture. I am really concerned as an environmentalist that we will not

:05:55. > :05:59.just become the dirty man of Europe, but we will start playing dirty to

:06:00. > :06:02.reduce standards to attract jobs as we face tariffs as one of the

:06:03. > :06:13.inevitable consequences of the Brexit boat. I will be putting down

:06:14. > :06:17.a Bill tomorrow. It will give the opportunity for the government to

:06:18. > :06:21.sign up to say we will keep the current standards so we won't sink

:06:22. > :06:27.backwards as the EU is moving forward. I hope that would be

:06:28. > :06:33.agreed. It is with great regret that we voted for Brexit. I hope we will

:06:34. > :06:36.have a second referendum on the exit package so people precisely know

:06:37. > :06:42.what they are voting for and if it doesn't deliver the reasonable

:06:43. > :06:46.expectations, they'll have the option to default back to recover

:06:47. > :06:50.membership of the EU again. We will see how it goes. People are shaking

:06:51. > :06:55.their heads but I don't think we should continue to work into what

:06:56. > :06:58.may be an environmental disaster. Finally, I would like to once more

:06:59. > :07:07.say what a fantastic speech from The Member For tooting. From this side,

:07:08. > :07:11.can I say what a pleasure it was to hear from the new member, she given

:07:12. > :07:18.excellent speech in terms of content and delivery. My son is a junior

:07:19. > :07:22.hospital doctor and I know how hard doctors work and for me I would like

:07:23. > :07:26.to say that we need more scientists and doctors in the House of Commons

:07:27. > :07:31.and, for that reason, she is welcome. Congratulations. Madam

:07:32. > :07:35.Deputy Speaker, the implication of the opposition Day motion here is

:07:36. > :07:41.that, somehow, we are leaving the EU and as a result of that, as we have

:07:42. > :07:46.heard, we will become the dirty man of Europe, but somehow, without the

:07:47. > :07:54.cloud hand of European legislation, we will go back to our dirty ways. I

:07:55. > :07:58.am going to talk about climate change policy and in particular I

:07:59. > :08:01.will talk about how far ahead in climate change policy we are to the

:08:02. > :08:08.rest of the EU, which is causing an increasing difficulty the world in

:08:09. > :08:12.terms of how slow Europe is being. Where people are right is that

:08:13. > :08:20.environmental protection and policy is something that is cross-border.

:08:21. > :08:27.We are 1.3% of global emissions. Since 1990, the UK has decreased

:08:28. > :08:31.carbon emissions by 28%. The EU has decreased carbon emissions by 21%.

:08:32. > :08:37.That is including our 28, so the rest of them have done a bit worse.

:08:38. > :08:40.That isn't a disaster. What is extraordinary is the variability

:08:41. > :08:45.within different countries in Europe in terms of performance on carbon

:08:46. > :08:52.emissions since 1990. Austria has increased emissions by 14%. Ireland

:08:53. > :08:57.by 7%. Poland by 14%, Germany has decreased, but nothing like as much

:08:58. > :09:01.as asked. It is quite bizarre, because people talk about countries

:09:02. > :09:04.like China as being the issue in terms of emissions. The reality is

:09:05. > :09:08.that the Chinese are taking the whole issue a great deal more

:09:09. > :09:12.seriously than a number of OECD countries. China has 40 to 50

:09:13. > :09:17.nuclear power stations under construction. It increased its

:09:18. > :09:22.proportion of energy from nuclear by 30% last year, but 20% for

:09:23. > :09:28.renewables. A huge amount of effort. The truth is, where the issue

:09:29. > :09:34.exists... Thank you for giving way. I take his point that China are

:09:35. > :09:38.making commendable progress in respect of nuclear construction, but

:09:39. > :09:41.inset is not the case that, along with India, they are constructing

:09:42. > :09:46.property several thousand coal-fired power stations and the argument, as

:09:47. > :09:51.well put by the Prime Minister of India stated, why should we come to

:09:52. > :09:56.the banquet, have only a dessert and be presented with the Bill? I have a

:09:57. > :10:00.lot of sympathy for that argument and that is why we have had to cut

:10:01. > :10:05.more slack for developing countries. I will come on to talk about coal.

:10:06. > :10:12.The Secretary of State in November said we were going to phase out coal

:10:13. > :10:19.by 2020 -- 2025. The following week, Germany commissioned a lignite

:10:20. > :10:24.burning coal power station. That sort of behaviour plays to the point

:10:25. > :10:28.just made by the member from the Scottish National Party that it is

:10:29. > :10:34.very hard to lecture the Indians and the Chinese on hold when there are

:10:35. > :10:39.countries in Europe, in this year, commissioning brand new coal power

:10:40. > :10:44.stations. I want to come on and talk about Paris. We have talked about

:10:45. > :10:49.how important Paris is. The member who spoke before me the point that

:10:50. > :10:53.we might well be close to one and half percent annually. It is a

:10:54. > :11:04.statistical model and it is hard to tell that but the facts are that the

:11:05. > :11:08.IM DC, the EU made a commitment like something like half as owner is in

:11:09. > :11:13.terms of decarbonisation as the climate change Act is requiring us

:11:14. > :11:22.to do within the UK. We will reduce emissions by 57% in 2030. The

:11:23. > :11:27.European offering, the EU offering, was a 40% reduction in which

:11:28. > :11:33.includes the 57% from the UK. We are seeing the result of this. Last

:11:34. > :11:40.year, carbon emissions across the EU as a whole increased by 9.7%. That

:11:41. > :11:45.is only one year. This isn't a thing you can look at one year at a time.

:11:46. > :11:55.18 of the 28 countries within the EU either had no decrease in emissions

:11:56. > :12:03.for an increase. In that same time the UK reduced by about 3%. One of

:12:04. > :12:07.the courses, I will talk more widely about why I think the EU has lost

:12:08. > :12:15.its way on climate policy, but there is a fixation around: in the EU.

:12:16. > :12:18.Germany is often regarded as being a leader in renewables and they are.

:12:19. > :12:20.They have more renewables than we do, but they also have much higher

:12:21. > :12:24.carbon emissions than we have and carbon emissions than we have and

:12:25. > :12:30.the reason is because of the code they use. They use four times as

:12:31. > :12:35.much coal as the UK. They are four times more populous. Other countries

:12:36. > :12:40.are at the same. Does this matter? Perhaps not in one sense, someone

:12:41. > :12:49.has got to need and it is us, but if you look online you will see that

:12:50. > :12:52.the UK for domestic consumers are something like 50% higher than the

:12:53. > :12:55.EU average. Our gas prices are not. Our industrial prices are about 80%

:12:56. > :12:59.higher. That matters because I come from a constituency in the north of

:13:00. > :13:03.England where we manufacture things and it is very hard to talk about

:13:04. > :13:08.rebalancing our economy, very hard to talk about the northern

:13:09. > :13:12.Powerhouse on the back of differentially high energy prices. I

:13:13. > :13:19.just want to make a viewpoint about why it is that I think the EU have

:13:20. > :13:22.taken the position they have. As to why it is that the policy objectives

:13:23. > :13:28.of reducing carbon have not been realised. The first error which was

:13:29. > :13:33.made, this is the clue, there was confusion as to the target. A lot of

:13:34. > :13:37.the early EU directives about renewables, they were not about

:13:38. > :13:41.decarbonisation, which is a secondary target. The consequence is

:13:42. > :13:47.that cc gas, which we have talked about, was not emphasised. Gas was

:13:48. > :13:52.not emphasised as a transition and nuclear was not emphasised. The

:13:53. > :13:58.biggest omission, 30% of EU electricity, comes from nuclear and

:13:59. > :14:03.the fact that isn't even regarded as part of the solution is quite

:14:04. > :14:11.bizarre. Two or three speeches have talked about Sisi S. It is true that

:14:12. > :14:16.the UK is not pushing ahead here. To say that this is an european issue

:14:17. > :14:23.when a number of countries, Germany for example have banned, not just

:14:24. > :14:32.not developing at, really the disbelief. Plus the other error I

:14:33. > :14:36.think you have made is a general parity between different types of

:14:37. > :14:43.fossil fuels. The fact is that coal and gas are very different indeed in

:14:44. > :14:47.terms of the materiality. One of the reasons that the UK does a lot

:14:48. > :14:51.better than the EU is the amount of gas use and the way we have

:14:52. > :14:56.displaced coal with gas. A statistics I like to call is this,

:14:57. > :15:04.if the woodwork to replace all the code we currently with gas, that

:15:05. > :15:08.would be equivalent of five times, a factor of 500%, more renewables and

:15:09. > :15:12.pretend that isn't part of the solution is just plain wrong. One of

:15:13. > :15:16.the reasons people regarded as not being part of the solution is that

:15:17. > :15:23.there has been an error between a pathway that at some point we need

:15:24. > :15:30.to get to an emissions level Leo that afforded by gas emissions

:15:31. > :15:39.accumulative. The member who spoke before me from Swansea, I beg your

:15:40. > :15:43.pardon, talked about the fact that we might be close to one and half

:15:44. > :15:49.percent in terms of particulates and that is true. It is accumulative

:15:50. > :15:53.effect. Carbon doesn't go out of the atmosphere up until after a long

:15:54. > :15:58.period of time. It is not just about pathway. For that reason, gas should

:15:59. > :16:06.have been more of a factor in this than it has been. The fourth thing

:16:07. > :16:13.is... On the related matter, isn't he is concerned as I am about

:16:14. > :16:17.leakages of methane from fracking, which are 5%, given that meeting is

:16:18. > :16:26.83 times worse than CO2 in global warming? First of all, I recognise

:16:27. > :16:30.the issue he raises, that methane released from fracking at that level

:16:31. > :16:35.would represent a threat. I don't think that is the case in the United

:16:36. > :16:38.States of America, but I am prepared to be corrected. I don't think

:16:39. > :16:47.anything like that amount of methane is being emitted by fracking in the

:16:48. > :16:51.United States. I really don't. I can provide him with the satellite

:16:52. > :16:55.evidence of this. It is between three and did percent and the best

:16:56. > :17:01.judgment is 5%, which makes it two and a half times worse than coal in

:17:02. > :17:07.terms of global warming. If that was true, it would apply to fractal gas

:17:08. > :17:11.only. Most of our gas comes from Norway and Russia. That said, there

:17:12. > :17:16.have been papers written about the motive methane that emotive Wales

:17:17. > :17:19.and I don't think the evidence is quite as the honourable gentleman

:17:20. > :17:26.said but we should leave it at that for now. We will have a coffee

:17:27. > :17:30.afterwards. The other thing that wasn't done was that the EU has no

:17:31. > :17:37.price of carbon. The emission trading system that was put into

:17:38. > :17:40.pace was an attempt to put into pace a price for carbon because of the

:17:41. > :17:44.recession, carbon permits became very cheap indeed and they begin

:17:45. > :17:49.publishing at all. We then established a for price. The EU

:17:50. > :17:54.Parliament, the parliament in Brussels, debated this, it was

:17:55. > :17:57.clocked by MPs from Germany in particular and there is no price for

:17:58. > :18:03.carbon within the EU which would have fixed some of this. The result

:18:04. > :18:07.of all of this is a policy that overly emphasises renewables as a

:18:08. > :18:13.solution without taking into account some of the other things we could be

:18:14. > :18:20.doing like nuclear, like CCS, like displacement of coal with gas. We

:18:21. > :18:26.see the result in Germany. A country that has very high renewables, but

:18:27. > :18:31.also has very high carbon emissions. Germany has something like 15% now

:18:32. > :18:34.of its total energy coming from renewables, 30% of its electricity

:18:35. > :18:40.coming from renewables, but because of the amount of coal producers,

:18:41. > :18:46.carbon emissions are a third higher GDP than the UK and a third higher

:18:47. > :18:51.per capita than the UK. There is an issue with is leaving the EU. It is

:18:52. > :18:54.not an issue of us learning from the EU about how to reduce carbon

:18:55. > :18:59.emissions, it is an issue of them not being held to account for the

:19:00. > :19:04.level of emissions that many of those countries are

:19:05. > :19:12.If Brexit has a downside in terms of environmental policy, it is that the

:19:13. > :19:18.leadership did you say has been able to, perhaps unsuccessfully,

:19:19. > :19:26.demonstrate to the EU about climate targets will not be as evident in

:19:27. > :19:32.the future. Thank you, Madam deputies weaker, it is a pleasure to

:19:33. > :19:37.see you in the chair. It was frustrating to me that the

:19:38. > :19:41.environment received so that'll add tension during the referendum

:19:42. > :19:44.campaign, despite the best efforts of my other members of the

:19:45. > :19:55.cross-party environmentalists for Europe. It seems a lifetime ago I

:19:56. > :20:02.was stood on the windswept beach in Hove as Stanley Johnson, the member

:20:03. > :20:08.of the honourable father 's of Orpington, exhorted people to remain

:20:09. > :20:15.for nature. Brighton and Hove voted to remain, and I'm sure it was down

:20:16. > :20:20.to our efforts that day. The public voted narrowly for Brexit, although

:20:21. > :20:22.I did not believe they voted to remove the environmental protections

:20:23. > :20:27.that have served us well over the years. There is much that is good

:20:28. > :20:32.that has flowed from our EU membership. Britain was once the

:20:33. > :20:41.dirty man of Europe, we used to worry about acid rain but our

:20:42. > :20:49.software dioxide emissions fell between 1990 and 2010, thanks to EU

:20:50. > :20:53.direct those, the band on the petrol and the requirement for catalytic

:20:54. > :20:59.converters in cars. I'm grateful to my honourable friend, as I represent

:21:00. > :21:04.a constituency that has an air quality management area, she will

:21:05. > :21:11.know there is a public health issue in respect of obtaining clean air.

:21:12. > :21:15.Does she think it is incumbent on the Government to make sure we

:21:16. > :21:20.tackle the air quality issue so we never those health inequalities that

:21:21. > :21:29.are endemic inconsistencies like mine? I agree, 60 years on from the

:21:30. > :21:34.Clean Air Act it is clear that many open areas are suffering greatly

:21:35. > :21:40.from Eric elution. It is an issue of social justice as it tends to be her

:21:41. > :21:46.people in poorer communities that are most affect it, and whether we

:21:47. > :21:52.are in the EU work out, we need further action. It is hard to

:21:53. > :21:57.believe we used to allow untreated sewage to flow into our seas before

:21:58. > :22:01.the EU force the UK have meant to make our water is fit for swimming

:22:02. > :22:08.in and to test for back carrier like E. Coli. In 1990 just 27% of an

:22:09. > :22:19.bathing waters met minimum standards, by 2014 99% complied. The

:22:20. > :22:23.US required us to recycle 50% of household waste by 2020, although it

:22:24. > :22:28.looks as if the UK is moving slightly upwards in its progress

:22:29. > :22:34.towards recycling targets and that needs to be halted. We also have

:22:35. > :22:40.nature direct the risk protecting our most threatened habitats, with

:22:41. > :22:48.beauty spots like Ben never stand the Brecon Beacons designated for

:22:49. > :22:54.protection. There is a lot of uncertainty and I am clean to hear

:22:55. > :22:58.indications from the minister as to what are negotiated stance will be,

:22:59. > :23:04.and reassurance about the importance of such protections. I understand if

:23:05. > :23:10.the UK were to negotiate membership of the EEA, most legislation would

:23:11. > :23:17.continue to apply, including legislation covering chemicals and

:23:18. > :23:23.waste management but not bathing waters or bird protection. Outside

:23:24. > :23:32.the EEA, most legislation would cease to comply, except where

:23:33. > :23:35.companies were importing to the EU. Many EU directives have been

:23:36. > :23:41.transposed into UK law under arts other than that European communities

:23:42. > :23:47.act on this legislation would continue to apply until changed by

:23:48. > :23:52.Parliament. The EU regulations would present aid from problem for the

:23:53. > :23:57.garden -- the Government, as these could cease to apply. We need a

:23:58. > :24:03.cover or that of clear guidance to be given to the Hub, who felt

:24:04. > :24:08.through the referendum campaign that they did not have the information

:24:09. > :24:12.needed to make the decision in front of them. We need clear guidance as

:24:13. > :24:18.to what attractions could be under threat in each scenario before they

:24:19. > :24:22.decide which of these scenarios the order to support, and we need to

:24:23. > :24:29.know what the Government intends in each case. There are doubts about

:24:30. > :24:34.Defra's capacity to do this. The department was underprepared for a

:24:35. > :24:42.Brexit result, the Secretary of State said there was no fan be. The

:24:43. > :24:46.Chancellor last night and then set a cut of 15% for this Parliament,

:24:47. > :24:51.Defra and its agencies have launched a quarter of its staff, and I hope

:24:52. > :24:56.the minister can now tell us how the department will untangle EU

:24:57. > :25:01.directives went it does not have sufficient staff or even its day

:25:02. > :25:06.work. I urge the Government to bring in experts from outside Parliament

:25:07. > :25:11.who are already gathering I'd is an meeting and trying to collate a

:25:12. > :25:18.strategy for how we should now proceed, for example Professor Tim

:25:19. > :25:23.Lang. We also need to know which civil servants from Defra will take

:25:24. > :25:28.part in the member for West Dorset's EU unit and what their remit will

:25:29. > :25:33.be. Aim concerned that of some in the Government have their way we

:25:34. > :25:38.will have a bonfire of protections. We note some of the most prominent

:25:39. > :25:43.leave campaigners are climate change deniers and much EU rhetoric has

:25:44. > :25:50.cast environmental protections as a bureaucratic urban rather than a

:25:51. > :25:55.buffet. The Chancellor tried to claim these protections have faced

:25:56. > :26:01.ridiculous costs on British witness of the big government's own review

:26:02. > :26:06.proved him wrong, and the Farming Minister vowed that the nature

:26:07. > :26:10.directors would go after Brexit, describing them as spirit crushing

:26:11. > :26:17.green directives, although he did later say that was misrepresented.

:26:18. > :26:19.He said the Marine strategy framework directive, which requires

:26:20. > :26:26.member states to achieve good environmental status in waters and

:26:27. > :26:31.to promote a more sustainable approach, would go as well, so we

:26:32. > :26:39.need reassurances that those voices will not prevail. The European

:26:40. > :26:43.Commission's fitness check and there regulatory burden is due to report

:26:44. > :26:49.soon. In the largest response ever to win EU consultation, 500,000

:26:50. > :26:54.people called for nature of those to be kept and better enforced. More

:26:55. > :26:59.than 100,000 of these responses came from British citizens. Organisations

:27:00. > :27:08.like the RSPB have been instrumental in protect the directives. To take

:27:09. > :27:11.another example where the EU is currently discussing issues that

:27:12. > :27:17.affect the UK, it is not a question of there being legally binding

:27:18. > :27:22.obligations that they are things we should still be a part of, the

:27:23. > :27:27.circular economy package was agreed last year. There have been reports

:27:28. > :27:33.that during those negotiations are UK tried to water down the package,

:27:34. > :27:37.arguing against mandatory targets and priding ourselves on inserting

:27:38. > :27:43.the word voluntary. Scotland has brought forward fans to compliment

:27:44. > :27:47.the package and Wales has its own blueprint for a more sickly economy,

:27:48. > :27:53.so what will England do? If the package is properly implemented the

:27:54. > :27:59.potential for new jobs is huge. I would like the minister to reassure

:28:00. > :28:04.us we will not allow Brexit to do real our progress. To give a third

:28:05. > :28:12.example, the new nicotine joints and, the European food safety is

:28:13. > :28:20.reviewing restrictions on the use of these and their harm to his and

:28:21. > :28:25.other indicators. This will consider whether they should be extended to

:28:26. > :28:30.cover all crops. Will the UK now base its view on future regulation

:28:31. > :28:33.on the assessment or, as these restrictions were only introduced

:28:34. > :28:38.thanks to the EU, does the Government now see this as an

:28:39. > :28:45.opportunity in the way the member for North Shropshire does for

:28:46. > :28:51.overturning the current ban? I also want to talk about the impact on

:28:52. > :28:54.farmers and unmanaged environment. The Common Agricultural Policy is

:28:55. > :29:01.far from perfect but it is a lifeline for farmers, about 35% of

:29:02. > :29:04.their income coming from the EU. Britain's lack of food

:29:05. > :29:12.self-sufficiency makes us vulnerable to Brexit. Most experts agree prices

:29:13. > :29:17.are likely to rise on imported food, and we will have difficulties of

:29:18. > :29:22.setting this with British grown food, given how reliant the sector

:29:23. > :29:27.is on free movement of Labour. I think I am right in saying 38% of

:29:28. > :29:33.workers in the food and farming sector come from outside the UK and

:29:34. > :29:38.their situation is in doubt in a post Brexit scenario. The Leave

:29:39. > :29:43.campaign promised a post Brexit UK have with the more generous to

:29:44. > :29:49.farmers but we know the UK lobbied for cuts to see a piece support. We

:29:50. > :29:55.also know that they had the chance of development but opted for 5%

:29:56. > :30:02.modulation, so there are worrying signs. There were too many examples

:30:03. > :30:06.of the Government not meeting EU requirements. It had to be taken to

:30:07. > :30:14.court for breaching EU clean-air laws. It was taken to court by WWF

:30:15. > :30:18.for its failure to protect our rivers, lakes and coastal areas from

:30:19. > :30:24.agricultural pollution. The water framework directive required good

:30:25. > :30:30.ecological status I20 fifth in in all water bodies but only 19%

:30:31. > :30:34.currently comply. Beaches are being has admitted that this Government so

:30:35. > :30:41.they did not have to warn swimmers about poor water quality. My final

:30:42. > :30:46.point is about TTIP. Some people worried that by staying in the EU we

:30:47. > :30:50.would end up as a signatory and our hard-won food safety and animal

:30:51. > :30:55.welfare standards could be compromised, for example the EU does

:30:56. > :31:01.not allow for Mount punt made in the US does. Just when it looks like the

:31:02. > :31:06.EU will resist TTIP, and the signals from France and Germany are that

:31:07. > :31:11.they will do so, will Brexit means the Duke team government ends up

:31:12. > :31:17.negotiating Abe bilateral trade deal with the US and will are weaker

:31:18. > :31:22.position mean we see the ground on the standards? Bilateral

:31:23. > :31:27.negotiations with the US could leave us with even less control. Faced

:31:28. > :31:31.with losing EU protections, ministers need to wish a rest that

:31:32. > :31:39.are except one not mean environmental degradation and

:31:40. > :31:44.pollution spiralling out of control. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

:31:45. > :31:50.It's a pleasure to take part in this debate. I thought the new member for

:31:51. > :31:55.Tooting, apart from having a fantastically named constituency,

:31:56. > :32:00.did herself heard. She stood tall for Tooting today. I wondered if she

:32:01. > :32:06.would make a bid for the Labour leadership, there were so many MPs

:32:07. > :32:15.on benches. Could I also thank my colleagues on the other half of Jean

:32:16. > :32:21.Callum. He failed to mention that he is taller, has more hair, but anyone

:32:22. > :32:30.can see his shoes knows there are still clearly some flaws. So I think

:32:31. > :32:34.this has been an excellent debate. I think it's a shame we didn't have

:32:35. > :32:40.more of this type of debate prior to the referendum. We did everything in

:32:41. > :32:47.our power to promote the case for the UK remaining in the EU and a key

:32:48. > :32:52.part of that case was about the protections that EU legislation has

:32:53. > :32:57.brought in the workplace, and human rights and on the environment.

:32:58. > :33:06.Unfortunately these issues were often brushed aside in the political

:33:07. > :33:08.contest we experienced. As we heard earlier, the environment scarcely

:33:09. > :33:13.featured in the debate about Britain's membership of the EU at

:33:14. > :33:19.all, yet the environmental protections we have enjoyed here for

:33:20. > :33:27.decades, they come in areas like air and water quality, emissions, waste,

:33:28. > :33:32.chemical regulations and habitat protection, or all underpinned by EU

:33:33. > :33:38.legislation. Our membership of the EU has had a positive affect on the

:33:39. > :33:42.quality of beaches, walkers and rivers and the air we breathe. It

:33:43. > :33:50.has underpinned protection for many of our rarest birds, plants and

:33:51. > :33:55.animals and their habitats. Like so many other questions in the detail

:33:56. > :33:56.Brexit, the question of how we continue to protect these assets

:33:57. > :34:13.needs an answer. As the honourable member for

:34:14. > :34:19.Oxbridge told the country just days after encouraging us to vote to

:34:20. > :34:22.leave, there will still be intense and intensifying European

:34:23. > :34:28.co-operation and partnership in a huge number of fields, the arts, the

:34:29. > :34:34.sciences, universities and improving the environment. It is not clear how

:34:35. > :34:39.this picture of intensifying cooperation squares with the Home

:34:40. > :34:44.Secretary's statement yesterday that Brexit means Brexit. On matters that

:34:45. > :34:49.stretch across a whole range of fields vital to our prosperity and

:34:50. > :34:54.well-being, there has been little more than aviation and confusion

:34:55. > :34:59.from the government thus far. This is why ministers must do everything

:35:00. > :35:03.in their power to offer clarity about how they will take forward the

:35:04. > :35:09.protection of the environment in this new political situation. There

:35:10. > :35:14.is so much about the EU that we do not want to abandon. I have noticed

:35:15. > :35:18.this in relation to my other brief, in meetings on the digital single

:35:19. > :35:24.market, there is a strong view that it makes sense to continue to adhere

:35:25. > :35:29.to EU directives and projects, even though we have voluntarily given up

:35:30. > :35:33.the capacity to ship them. It is worth considering for a moment how

:35:34. > :35:39.the approach to the environment in this country has been shipped so far

:35:40. > :35:43.since we joined the EU. As many honourable members have mentioned,

:35:44. > :35:47.in the 1980s, Britain was known as the dirty man of Europe. That is

:35:48. > :35:53.because of widespread pollution of air, land and water. There is a risk

:35:54. > :35:59.that Britain will end up rekindling that reputation. Well, the UK has

:36:00. > :36:03.sometimes willingly followed a driver for incremental standards and

:36:04. > :36:07.occasionally it the way. It has taken years to get the country to

:36:08. > :36:12.meet the standards considered the norm in Europe. I would also like to

:36:13. > :36:14.point out that when considering matters around environmental

:36:15. > :36:19.protection it is worth remembering that in addition to the inherent

:36:20. > :36:26.worth of our landscape and ecosystems, there are key economic

:36:27. > :36:29.benefits to protecting diversity. In Scotland, our natural environment

:36:30. > :36:34.contributes an estimated 21 and half billion pounds to the Scottish

:36:35. > :36:42.economy. Scotland also provides a major part of the UK contribution to

:36:43. > :36:46.the EU. It established protective sites with over 15% of land

:36:47. > :36:52.designated for a wealth of habitats and species. During the campaign, we

:36:53. > :36:57.didn't hear anything from the Brexit campaign about what this vote would

:36:58. > :37:01.mean for the habitats directive, for the circular economy with its need

:37:02. > :37:05.for long-term planning and investment were issues around water

:37:06. > :37:10.quality, where the UK still has a lot of catching up to do. What we

:37:11. > :37:16.did here was a deep and often ideological driven opposition to red

:37:17. > :37:21.tape. This red tape includes measures that protect rare species

:37:22. > :37:26.and unique habitats and which prevents companies damaging the

:37:27. > :37:31.environment were using dangerous chemicals in their products. It is

:37:32. > :37:38.now time to put the rhetorical bluster about red tape behind us and

:37:39. > :37:42.to move on to focusing on what the government will do as it undertakes

:37:43. > :37:47.these negotiations. If its priorities are modelled for key

:37:48. > :37:52.protections are sacrificed for short-term gain, we could be living

:37:53. > :37:56.with the impact for generations. When ever all of the different

:37:57. > :38:03.moving parts of this constitutional crisis ends, we must ensure that the

:38:04. > :38:10.UK continues on the right path. As a range of environmental groups have

:38:11. > :38:14.asserted before and after Brexit, cooperation and collaboration within

:38:15. > :38:22.Europe and with the EU works. This is because we do not solve such

:38:23. > :38:27.problems in isolation. My own admission, Scotland, understands

:38:28. > :38:35.this. What does This House and does this government? No. Thank you Madam

:38:36. > :38:41.Deputy Speaker. Consideration of the question and in respect, my concerns

:38:42. > :38:47.are as follows. Investment in oil and gas, renewables, any project or

:38:48. > :38:52.initiative relies upon, amongst other things, stable legislation.

:38:53. > :38:57.Investors can rely on conditions under which they would be prepared

:38:58. > :39:00.to invest to last for preferably the duration of the project or

:39:01. > :39:06.initiative. This has not been the case with this and previous

:39:07. > :39:12.governments whether there have been changes in the warrant and gas

:39:13. > :39:16.sector, allied with withdrawal from green initiatives, such as the zero

:39:17. > :39:21.Carbon home policy, abolishing the green the home improvement fund,

:39:22. > :39:26.subsidy cuts, onshore wind farm subsidy removal, opening the doors

:39:27. > :39:30.to fracking, biomass fuel caps, privatisation of the green

:39:31. > :39:36.investment bank, abandoning green tax targets and renewable energy

:39:37. > :39:39.investment, cutting green car incentives and, particularly

:39:40. > :39:43.significant for myself since I worked on a project, cancel the

:39:44. > :39:48.competition for carbon capture and storage. I will happily give way.

:39:49. > :39:51.Does he not agree he has illustrated the Surrey plays the government has

:39:52. > :39:59.taken this country which market is no longer Britannia rules the waves

:40:00. > :40:04.but Britannia waives the rules? An honourable point well made by my

:40:05. > :40:09.friend. That short list of changes in legislation can do nothing but

:40:10. > :40:16.discourage investors from investing in new energy production and

:40:17. > :40:18.investment. The carbon capture and storage ?1 billion competition

:40:19. > :40:22.initiative, cancelled late in the Autumn Statement of 2015, will make

:40:23. > :40:28.it almost impossible for the UK to meet climate change targets. I will

:40:29. > :40:31.gladly give way. I thank him for giving way. This highlights one

:40:32. > :40:38.reason there is concern on this side of the House. We have a degree of

:40:39. > :40:41.faith in the ministerial team opposite that they get the

:40:42. > :40:48.challenges involved here. My colleague across the border, the

:40:49. > :40:52.Secretary of State understand the challenges, but in this pace, all

:40:53. > :40:56.too often, it is the Treasury that decides. Will he join with me in

:40:57. > :41:03.pushing one member opposite for the Chancellor position. I thank my

:41:04. > :41:09.friend for commend the comments and agree with him wholeheartedly. The

:41:10. > :41:13.confirmation by Matthew Bell, the chief Executive of the committee of

:41:14. > :41:19.climate change she said, and accord, if you do not have CCS then you

:41:20. > :41:21.really need to decarbonise the transport sector and completely

:41:22. > :41:28.decarbonise your heating sector in to deliver the 2050 ambitions. Since

:41:29. > :41:34.both of these sectors seriously lagged behind decarbonisation in the

:41:35. > :41:39.energy production, this seems extremely unlikely to say the least.

:41:40. > :41:42.The underlying message of these changes is that the cost of

:41:43. > :41:47.subsidising renewable energy has been previously underestimated by

:41:48. > :41:51.the government, which has led to the withdrawal of the green fields by

:41:52. > :41:54.the Treasury for consumers. House-builders and energy investors

:41:55. > :41:59.alike. The government has instead put all its eggs in the jewel basket

:42:00. > :42:03.of fracking and nuclear energy. Neither of which looks like to be

:42:04. > :42:08.progressing very smoothly at the moment, making achievement in the

:42:09. > :42:12.matter to regard it highly unlikely. The problems of Hinkley C, touched

:42:13. > :42:20.on by my honourable friend from Aberdeen South, as anyone can see,

:42:21. > :42:25.this history of successive short term used UK Government continues to

:42:26. > :42:30.move the legislative goalpost and only undermined investor confidence.

:42:31. > :42:34.Brexit will only serve to exacerbate the problem further. A point well

:42:35. > :42:39.made by the honourable member for Brent North who is no longer in his

:42:40. > :42:45.pace. But Deputy Speaker, in consideration of the question, in

:42:46. > :42:50.respect of energy security, I would add that last year I was a member of

:42:51. > :42:55.the market debate committee and while this was a very early

:42:56. > :42:58.engagement and a very early stage discussion, the potential for cross

:42:59. > :43:04.European energy sharing via interconnector 's and the like was

:43:05. > :43:09.striking amongst EU members. I wonder if that committee will even

:43:10. > :43:13.sit again this year given Brexit. It should be obvious to all that and

:43:14. > :43:17.efficient interconnector network shared energy design across Europe

:43:18. > :43:21.would benefit all the when the wind is blowing in Scotland, as

:43:22. > :43:25.invariably it does, and the energy generated can be used elsewhere.

:43:26. > :43:30.When it is not, the sun is shining in Spain. We can share that mutual

:43:31. > :43:36.benefit. I sincerely hope that this committee does meet again, but we

:43:37. > :43:38.have just made it much harder for ourselves as we try to coordinate

:43:39. > :43:43.Europe-wide efficient energy supply from without the EU. I should say at

:43:44. > :43:47.this point, Scotland has no intention of suffering the fallout

:43:48. > :43:51.from Brexit. The ramifications of which are still to be understood. As

:43:52. > :43:57.my honourable friend is from both Aberdeen South and Berwickshire

:43:58. > :44:03.pointed out, we are staying in Europe. In further consideration of

:44:04. > :44:05.the question as respect the natural environment, I like most sensible

:44:06. > :44:11.politicians, turn to independent experts in the field for questions

:44:12. > :44:18.on issues of context matters such as the natural environment. The point

:44:19. > :44:23.on the circular economy have been well made, so I will skip to the

:44:24. > :44:27.point on the comments by the institution of environmental

:44:28. > :44:32.sciences is that it is currently conducting a survey of its members

:44:33. > :44:38.asking what impact do you think the decision to leave the EU will have

:44:39. > :44:42.an environmental protection. Overwhelmingly, 80% of highly

:44:43. > :44:47.educated, experienced environmental professionals consider and the

:44:48. > :44:49.court, without binding EU law, it is likely environmental regulations

:44:50. > :44:57.will be weakened or scrapped by the UK. A pre-EU referendum survey of

:44:58. > :45:01.members of the institution of environmental scientists showed that

:45:02. > :45:06.68% of members were in support of the EU. The UK has been

:45:07. > :45:11.disproportionately successful in securing funding for research

:45:12. > :45:17.projects in the environmental sciences and other sectors due to

:45:18. > :45:24.the strength of our UK science base. Under the seventh framework

:45:25. > :45:29.programme, which ran from 2007 to 2013, 1000 704 million euros were

:45:30. > :45:36.spent on projects for under the environment theme. Of the 4055

:45:37. > :45:40.projects funded under the FP seven theme, according to the community

:45:41. > :45:47.research and development services, 603 were based in the UK, second

:45:48. > :45:53.only to Germany with 645. I will gladly give way. He is making an

:45:54. > :45:59.important point about the important contribution that EU funding makes

:46:00. > :46:02.to research and, just in recent months, I visited the Plymouth

:46:03. > :46:07.Marine laboratory and as I was there they just cut and as through the to

:46:08. > :46:10.pick up a significant 6-figure sum from Europe to fund some of the

:46:11. > :46:18.research. They are very worried about what Brexit will mean. There

:46:19. > :46:21.is amazing thing the Glazers and drones and all sorts of high-tech

:46:22. > :46:28.research and that is dependent on EU funding, to a large extent. I agree

:46:29. > :46:31.with the honourable member and Asher concerns in respect of future

:46:32. > :46:36.funding and Britain leads the EU. Given Brexit, this does not bode

:46:37. > :46:41.well for the future of positive environmental projects in the UK. To

:46:42. > :46:45.finish, I would ask the following questions of the Minister and make

:46:46. > :46:48.one final point. Number one, Scotland has an incredible

:46:49. > :46:52.opportunity to be a world leader in a range of renewable technologies

:46:53. > :46:57.which are a vital part of our energy supply in the UK. We help the

:46:58. > :47:00.environment and create jobs in communities across Scotland. What

:47:01. > :47:06.steps will the Minister and the government take to ensure Scotland

:47:07. > :47:10.remains at the forefront of both renewable and offshore industries?

:47:11. > :47:15.Number two, the recent vote to leave the European Union has plunged our

:47:16. > :47:17.energy sector into further uncertainty. The Scottish National

:47:18. > :47:21.Party call upon the UK Government to hold the damage and programme of

:47:22. > :47:24.austerity and inject the economy with investment necessary to

:47:25. > :47:28.stimulate growth and create a healthy environment for investors

:47:29. > :47:33.and consumers alike. What will the government do to protect businesses

:47:34. > :47:37.and consumers from this fallout? Number three, the Scottish National

:47:38. > :47:42.Party belief that enhancing energy efficiency in homes throughout the

:47:43. > :47:47.UK can provide valuable benefits to individual consumers. From improving

:47:48. > :47:51.the quality of life to reducing fuel poverty, a key issue that has not

:47:52. > :47:55.been touched on enough in this debate. The energy efficiency of

:47:56. > :47:59.homes should be a top priority. What does the Minister intend to do to

:48:00. > :48:04.reduce fuel poverty in this respect? Number four, what does the Minister

:48:05. > :48:09.and the government intend to do to get climate change targets and keep

:48:10. > :48:17.the lights on? One final point, it is in respect of storage. Renewable

:48:18. > :48:23.energy storage and efficiency are key for the future of energy in the

:48:24. > :48:27.UK. More needs to be done in green energy that is not intermittent. I

:48:28. > :48:37.would urge the Secretary of State to engage in pumped storage. Thank you.

:48:38. > :48:41.Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Not only have we had a very important

:48:42. > :48:46.debate this afternoon, we have also had a very revealing debate.

:48:47. > :48:49.Revealing because it has confirmed are very worst fears that the

:48:50. > :48:51.government called a referendum without first carrying out the

:48:52. > :49:04.analysis as to what could It is nothing but reckless to enter

:49:05. > :49:08.a process without first taking out a risk assessment of the scenarios

:49:09. > :49:14.that could occur. Analysis should have come first, as we have heard

:49:15. > :49:21.from so many members today. We had an excellent debate with real depth

:49:22. > :49:30.and understanding of all issues across the impact of what leaving

:49:31. > :49:33.the EU will mean, whether, as my honourable friend the Shadow

:49:34. > :49:37.Secretary of State said, in respect of climate change and the impact it

:49:38. > :49:43.is having on some of the first people in fat immunities as 2.8 3

:49:44. > :49:49.million households are already in fuel poverty, and as we were told,

:49:50. > :49:55.the fuel bills are already rising. We also heard an excellent speech

:49:56. > :49:58.from the honourable member for Wakefield, who was an outstanding

:49:59. > :50:05.chair of the environment audit commission. She highlighted so many

:50:06. > :50:09.of those protections which are now at risk if we are to move forward

:50:10. > :50:15.with leaving the EU and looking at the advances we have made in the

:50:16. > :50:22.past 40 years, 40 years of marriage to then be put into two years of

:50:23. > :50:28.divorce, and she highlighted issues around air quality, water

:50:29. > :50:33.management, waste and biodiversity, but we were privileged to date to

:50:34. > :50:38.hear the maiden speech from the honourable member for Tooting. It

:50:39. > :50:43.was a tour de force with the energy that she has clearly brought from

:50:44. > :50:49.serving patients in accident and emergency serving her community and

:50:50. > :50:55.ringing that to our benches. We have been honoured to have her in our

:50:56. > :51:02.house and I know she will be an accident advocate for her

:51:03. > :51:06.constituency. We also had excellent speeches from the member for Swansea

:51:07. > :51:12.West, a strong campaigner on air quality and emissions. The member

:51:13. > :51:17.for Bristol East said many of the things I would want to bring up to

:51:18. > :51:24.date as her expertise has brought to this House, and we heard from

:51:25. > :51:27.honourable members across this House about some of the concerns around

:51:28. > :51:34.leaving the EU and the impact it will have. It was the Government's

:51:35. > :51:39.determination that we should have a referendum but first it should have

:51:40. > :51:46.been analysed, what would we be impact of leaving as remaining would

:51:47. > :51:50.have resulted in normal policy processes, then it could have shared

:51:51. > :51:55.the outcomes with the electorate. We heard today the many risks. Not only

:51:56. > :51:59.should this impact assessment have taken place but we should have

:52:00. > :52:05.understood did depth of our regulatory ties with the EU and the

:52:06. > :52:08.scenario planning of what environmental protections the

:52:09. > :52:14.Government would prioritise should the pound plummet as we are now

:52:15. > :52:22.seeing, for instance one question put to me by a member of the public

:52:23. > :52:28.will pillar to of CHP be implemented in full or world the Government

:52:29. > :52:33.scaled back on the 563 million currently received back from the EU

:52:34. > :52:39.and reach its match funding obligations? We need to know the

:52:40. > :52:44.detail. How will farmers remain competitive while addressing

:52:45. > :52:49.challenges and sustaining protections? We have not heard from

:52:50. > :52:56.the Government's front bench how much legislature is tied up with the

:52:57. > :53:01.EU. It is estimated that around 70% of our environmental protections

:53:02. > :53:07.originate from Brussels but what is the real figure and how integrated

:53:08. > :53:11.are we? We've not heard the amount resource needed to carry out

:53:12. > :53:20.detailed analysis of the impact of leaving the EU in that context of a

:53:21. > :53:25.Department of cut at Defra of 57% in 2020, nor the resources needed to

:53:26. > :53:30.re-negotiate each regulation if that is the path we go to and the member

:53:31. > :53:37.for Poole suggested an alternative way forward Derek, how will be not

:53:38. > :53:43.engage with the EU in the future and so many of these issues? How will we

:53:44. > :53:49.regulate and police and enforce a new UK based law system around the

:53:50. > :53:53.environment since this currently occurs in the EU courts, so what

:53:54. > :53:59.will be the mechanisms of the future? We haven't heard the courts

:54:00. > :54:05.of this work or if the people with the right skill set up even present

:54:06. > :54:09.in their departments at this time. We haven't heard how the impact of

:54:10. > :54:16.the fall of the pound, wiping millions of the value of economy,

:54:17. > :54:20.will impact on projects and research, and we haven't seen the

:54:21. > :54:27.analysis of the global impact. Maybe the plan is to simply buy the whole

:54:28. > :54:32.package of Europe, but at what price will this be? Will it be the same as

:54:33. > :54:40.existing EU nations or will we pay more for those benefits? The reason

:54:41. > :54:44.why so many on our benches are concerned about the global impact to

:54:45. > :54:50.the environment is because we believe protect our climate and

:54:51. > :54:54.environment is one of the most important functions of government.

:54:55. > :55:00.We are already witnessing a massive impact of decades of neglect. We see

:55:01. > :55:07.floods and famine, disease and dread, climate change and conflict,

:55:08. > :55:14.and population migration. The impacts can be felt across our

:55:15. > :55:18.globe, including here in the UK. The environment doesn't respect national

:55:19. > :55:24.borders and so from the macro level to the micro level, from the loss of

:55:25. > :55:28.habitats and rarest PCs, the Government have a responsibility to

:55:29. > :55:35.drive Ford a programme of stewardship. By 2010 the UK lead the

:55:36. > :55:41.world on issues like climate change and the environment, something we

:55:42. > :55:49.own our benches are heard of, while indulging there is much more to do,

:55:50. > :55:53.but as we have heard today we have now slipped out of the top ten

:55:54. > :55:59.nations on dealing with issues of climate change, now ranked 13th in

:56:00. > :56:04.the world. That is not how we want to progress on these issues. The UK

:56:05. > :56:11.led the EU through many of these issues to be a major player on the

:56:12. > :56:15.global stage and bringing environmental and and we want to

:56:16. > :56:22.make sure we maintain a strong voice as we move forward to rebalance our

:56:23. > :56:28.national environment. The strength of our influence is now unclear. We

:56:29. > :56:33.will not be at the table of the EU, pressing the EU to go further, and

:56:34. > :56:40.under a failing economy I must press the minister today whether he will

:56:41. > :56:43.now commit to legislate to secure protection of all environmental

:56:44. > :56:50.measures we are currently obliged to meet in the EU. How will he advanced

:56:51. > :56:56.these and regulate to ensure there is enforcement around? We do not

:56:57. > :57:02.want to become known as the dirty man of Europe, as so many have said

:57:03. > :57:06.as we look back at our history, but we want to make real advances on

:57:07. > :57:13.where we are today. They government must urgently act to replace these

:57:14. > :57:20.vital environmental and is in full. On the most simple level, I want the

:57:21. > :57:27.minister to clarify today, will we even see the two long-awaited 25

:57:28. > :57:31.year plans for food and farming and the plan for the environment before

:57:32. > :57:38.the summer recess, as the Government committed to, what are these now

:57:39. > :57:43.based in the box marked" we didn't have a leaf plant so we don't know

:57:44. > :57:49.what are going to do"? Labour wants to ensure that external flashers

:57:50. > :57:57.still lead on this dormant -- pressures. When we look at issues

:57:58. > :58:02.like air quality and we saw the world health organisation report

:58:03. > :58:07.today, this is a public health issue, it impacts on people's

:58:08. > :58:14.respiratory function. I know the impact this has and we heard today

:58:15. > :58:19.how up to 50,000 people's lives are ended amateur league as a result of

:58:20. > :58:25.the quality of their and our country. People are dying

:58:26. > :58:33.prematurely. So what is the Government going to do on the issue

:58:34. > :58:39.of air quality, this urgent issue? We need to know because even in my

:58:40. > :58:44.own city of York, it is a serious issue as people die prematurely but

:58:45. > :58:51.also I have seen planning which will worsen the air quality in our city.

:58:52. > :58:56.There are issues we need to address, how many trees we will plant, how we

:58:57. > :59:01.will bring protection around important directives, as so many

:59:02. > :59:05.colleagues referred to today, and again we want answers and the

:59:06. > :59:12.Government must now set out its strategy to take us forward as it

:59:13. > :59:19.failed to do before the EU referendum, should they leave out

:59:20. > :59:25.occur. Moving forward, Madam Deputy Speaker, perhaps this afternoon, the

:59:26. > :59:31.minister can enlighten us, will he, too continued to apply the

:59:32. > :59:36.precautionary principle where scientific data is not complete or

:59:37. > :59:42.will he agreed with his Minister for farming and food to go down the much

:59:43. > :59:48.weaker US -based approach, which we know has a limit on the way things

:59:49. > :59:54.are moved forward, for example on pesticides, GM crops and food

:59:55. > :59:58.management, often putting profit before environmental and is. The

:59:59. > :00:04.people of our country have a right to know. If there were more time I

:00:05. > :00:10.would raise more concerns over environmental protections. We have a

:00:11. > :00:17.complex and fragile environment. We have worked diligently with our

:00:18. > :00:21.European friends to read balance our environment, and today the

:00:22. > :00:25.Government should have made it clear how we will advance progress made to

:00:26. > :00:32.date. We cannot afford further delay when it comes to this issue. We

:00:33. > :00:36.believe the Government must urgently replicate the EU directives into law

:00:37. > :00:41.and I look forward to hearing the minister's response as to how he

:00:42. > :00:50.will secure our environment for the future years to come. Minister, Mr

:00:51. > :00:55.Rory Stewart. Can I begin, Madam Deputy Speaker, by paying huge

:00:56. > :01:02.tribute to the honourable member for Tooting for her extraordinary maiden

:01:03. > :01:07.speech? There were five elements which encapsulates the heart of this

:01:08. > :01:14.debate, first the sense of history, talking about Nye Bevan, the 1956

:01:15. > :01:22.Clean Air Act, the scale of the challenge we face, her energy, her

:01:23. > :01:26.up the mess and, her sense of place, the fact she said she thought people

:01:27. > :01:32.who said Tooting was becoming a fantastic place was missing the fact

:01:33. > :01:37.she had that it was fantastic all her life, and her sense of the

:01:38. > :01:44.importance of humans in the history of the landscape, whether the leader

:01:45. > :01:54.or her own community. Through her rhetoric and language, her love of

:01:55. > :01:59.this place, she shows as a Member of Parliament a real reason to be

:02:00. > :02:02.optimistic about Parliament and its sovereignty and those things she

:02:03. > :02:07.contributed in her speech I think represent exactly what we hope to

:02:08. > :02:13.bring into the British environment in the future. There have been an

:02:14. > :02:19.enormous number of different questions asked. The Shadow

:02:20. > :02:22.Secretary of State asked on nine different occasions that the

:02:23. > :02:27.Government should respond to specific queries. I counted 35

:02:28. > :02:32.different questions posed by the Shadow Secretary of State and an

:02:33. > :02:38.additional 117 questions posed by other members. I have approximately

:02:39. > :02:45.nine minutes to answer those questions. I will, with the

:02:46. > :02:50.permission of the House, focus on the natural environment rather than

:02:51. > :02:58.energy questions, with apologies to Callum senior, the member for

:02:59. > :03:03.Aberdeen South, and a member for Coatbridge, who provided a

:03:04. > :03:09.discussion around GM and a member for Warrington South, who discussed

:03:10. > :03:15.how domestic legislation underpins UK energy policy and some references

:03:16. > :03:20.to the EU work a little misleading. I'd cannot detail as fully as I

:03:21. > :03:26.would like with the speech even by the member for Bristol East, which

:03:27. > :03:31.raised important points, but I will try to deal with them in the rounds.

:03:32. > :03:36.There were four main types of points made by some eateries, and they form

:03:37. > :03:41.a structure of an answer. The first was that people pointed out,

:03:42. > :03:52.especially the honourable member for Taunton Deane, and the Secretary of

:03:53. > :03:56.State for Energy and Climate Change, they pointed out the importance of

:03:57. > :04:03.being deeply up the mystic about Britain's future after the European

:04:04. > :04:07.Union, partly as the member for Hastings and right pointed out

:04:08. > :04:13.because of the strength in this country, but there were of course

:04:14. > :04:16.immense positives that we derive from our membership of the EU and

:04:17. > :04:31.they have been listed. The honourable members have laid out

:04:32. > :04:38.a very powerful progress that has been made over the last 42 years in

:04:39. > :04:43.air quality, water quality and this is driven by European Union law,

:04:44. > :04:47.European Union financial assistance and by the structures of the

:04:48. > :04:52.European Union that protected our landscape. As the honourable member

:04:53. > :04:55.for Swansea West pointed out, it is indeed important for our

:04:56. > :04:59.international industry to ensure that we have uniform standards so

:05:00. > :05:07.there is not a race to the bottom. We cannot simply think about this

:05:08. > :05:12.island as though we were not exposed to environmental factors from

:05:13. > :05:16.abroad. 85% of our birds are migratory. Between a third and a

:05:17. > :05:20.half of our error blows in from other countries. That is the air

:05:21. > :05:23.pollution coming into our country and our terrestrial biodiversity is

:05:24. > :05:30.dependent on ensuring that isn't acid rain raining on those peat bogs

:05:31. > :05:35.or on those grass lands on which we depend. However, as the honourable

:05:36. > :05:40.member for Wiltshire and the honourable Member for Poole pointed

:05:41. > :05:42.out, we had an extremely strong, powerful tradition of

:05:43. > :05:49.environmentalism in the United Kingdom long before we joined the

:05:50. > :05:52.European Union. Indeed, the history of environmental protection in the

:05:53. > :05:57.United Kingdom stretches back almost 1000 years to the formation of the

:05:58. > :06:02.royal forests in Scotland and the royal forests in England and habitat

:06:03. > :06:07.protection brought in pace to nearly 23% of our landmass at that period.

:06:08. > :06:10.It goes through the contributions of Walter Scott for Wordsworth to

:06:11. > :06:15.ensuring the protection of our landscapes and, indeed, we celebrate

:06:16. > :06:18.over the next four years the anniversary of the Forestry

:06:19. > :06:22.Commission, the centenary of the Forestry Commission, founded in

:06:23. > :06:31.1919. The anniversary of our 19 parks founded in 1947 and the clean

:06:32. > :06:34.air Act itself, passed in 1956. And there will be opportunities

:06:35. > :06:40.available to us from leaving the European Union. The honourable

:06:41. > :06:44.member pointed out that there have been some advantages of European

:06:45. > :06:48.Union funding for flooding, but there have been significant

:06:49. > :06:53.challenges as well. One of the ways in which we would like to address

:06:54. > :06:58.natural responses to the management is to plant trees. In order to do

:06:59. > :07:01.this we need to be able to look at flexible and intelligent ways of

:07:02. > :07:06.moving money between what are currently quite rigid budget

:07:07. > :07:10.structures. If we are going to be dealing with farmers planting trees

:07:11. > :07:15.on the land in order to slow the flow of water, we need to think

:07:16. > :07:23.intelligently about how the pennant since we give for agriculture, the

:07:24. > :07:25.payments were given for the environment and the payment we give

:07:26. > :07:28.for flooding can work together, rather than against each other. When

:07:29. > :07:32.looking at laws we need to make sure we are flexible and there are ways

:07:33. > :07:36.in which rigid legal structures brought into pace by 27 member

:07:37. > :07:42.states have, in the past, made it quite difficult to respond to recent

:07:43. > :07:49.evidence. Again, inspection regimes. Honourable members have raised the

:07:50. > :07:52.issues of inspections. These regimes have, at the worst, sometimes

:07:53. > :07:57.discredited the very environmental regulations which we wish to

:07:58. > :08:02.protect. Finally, as the honourable member pointed out, it is, of

:08:03. > :08:06.course, true that there are perverse consequences of part of the common

:08:07. > :08:11.agricultural policy for the environmental conditions which we

:08:12. > :08:16.value so much. So, the principles on which we now need to move forward

:08:17. > :08:19.would seem, to me, as laid out powerfully by This House and by the

:08:20. > :08:26.honourable member for Bristol East in her initial intervention sixfold.

:08:27. > :08:31.A principal first of realism. A principal of humility. A principal

:08:32. > :08:34.of honesty about conflict. A principal about being honest with

:08:35. > :08:38.the public. A principal of confidence and a principal of

:08:39. > :08:43.identity. If I could expand briefly on those principles. Firstly,

:08:44. > :08:47.realism. We have to acknowledge that leaving the European Union will not

:08:48. > :08:52.mean the government behind. People will continue to be frustrated by

:08:53. > :08:56.bureaucracy, people will continue to have to respond to procurement

:08:57. > :08:59.regulations. We will have to continue to operate inside an

:09:00. > :09:04.international environment and we will have to make compromises.

:09:05. > :09:08.Humility, as the honourable member pointed out, it is not true that

:09:09. > :09:12.everybody in this country is always interested in this environment and

:09:13. > :09:17.we have to be realistic about our power and capacity as the government

:09:18. > :09:22.to respond. An honesty on conflict, land remains a deeply conflicted

:09:23. > :09:26.issue. It will not be possible for us to imagine that simply leaving

:09:27. > :09:29.the European Union will overcome the serious conflict within any other

:09:30. > :09:34.constituencies between different land uses. Between the desire to

:09:35. > :09:39.build housing, the desire to create renewable energy, the desire to

:09:40. > :09:44.produce productive food or to protect the species habitats which

:09:45. > :09:49.we value so much. But the principles of confidence and identity are

:09:50. > :09:54.perhaps the most important of all. This decision in this referendum was

:09:55. > :09:57.made by one of the most well-educated, well travelled

:09:58. > :10:05.populations in the most mature democracy on earth. We need to

:10:06. > :10:09.ensure that we recognise the legitimacy of that democratic choice

:10:10. > :10:13.and we need to put a full energy and optimism behind it. We need to

:10:14. > :10:18.understand that in responding to this, British identity and this

:10:19. > :10:21.extends to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is

:10:22. > :10:29.fundamentally on our land. We need to do two things in moving forward.

:10:30. > :10:33.We need to reassure people. We need to play a full role in all our

:10:34. > :10:39.international conferences, we need to ensure that in the forthcoming

:10:40. > :10:43.conferences on biodiversity or sites, we play a responsible

:10:44. > :10:50.international role. But can also be far more imaginative. This accept

:10:51. > :10:54.there is a case for a second referendum on an exit package over

:10:55. > :10:57.the precise terms of leaving? We have only agreed to leave in

:10:58. > :11:03.principle and people haven't seen what it has in the can? Absolutely

:11:04. > :11:09.not. I disagree very strongly with that intervention. When I do think

:11:10. > :11:15.the honourable member shows the optimism we need is to your focus on

:11:16. > :11:20.technology and the focus indeed from the honourable member on the markets

:11:21. > :11:25.in China and India. There is so much potential out there. We could show

:11:26. > :11:28.the lead in the Amazon rainforest, we could show the lead in defining,

:11:29. > :11:34.through our natural capital approach, what it means to take it

:11:35. > :11:38.British initiative. Water, water. The minister is suing important

:11:39. > :11:52.things and people are chatting. Minister. In conclusion, land and

:11:53. > :11:55.conflict around land has been fundamental to the problems in our

:11:56. > :12:01.society since the days of Cain and Abel. We can be confident in this

:12:02. > :12:07.country, we have extraordinary natural scientists, we have a very

:12:08. > :12:12.rich civil society with 9 million people connected to environmental

:12:13. > :12:15.NGOs. We have extraordinary legal structures in pace. We have

:12:16. > :12:19.incredible new members of Parliament, such as the honourable

:12:20. > :12:24.member for cooking, bringing the energy and optimism into This House.

:12:25. > :12:28.If we can bring this together, we can prove, in the future, as we have

:12:29. > :12:32.proved over the last millennium, that the British landscape, the

:12:33. > :12:38.British environment and its extraordinary combination of

:12:39. > :12:50.productive food and nature can remain at the heart of our national

:12:51. > :12:56.identity for ever. The question is as on the order paper. Clear at the

:12:57. > :14:38.lobby. Water. The question is is on the

:14:39. > :14:40.order paper. As many as have an opinion say aye. On the contrary,

:14:41. > :25:36.no. The ayes to the right, 229, the noes

:25:37. > :25:45.to the left, 278. The ayes to the right, 229, the noes to the left,

:25:46. > :25:56.278. The noes habit. The noes have it. Unlock. We now come to the

:25:57. > :26:01.second Opposition Day motion in the name of the Leader of the

:26:02. > :26:08.Opposition. The subject is Sessay -- SATs results. I call Angela Rayner

:26:09. > :26:13.to move the motion. I beg to move the motion in my name and in the

:26:14. > :26:22.name of the Leader of the Opposition as set out in the order paper. Madam

:26:23. > :26:30.Deputy Speaker, the 2016 Key Stage 2 SATs tests, which assessed children

:26:31. > :26:35.in reading, writing, punctuation and maths, by the first to assess the

:26:36. > :26:40.new national primary curriculum. The Government claims it has raised

:26:41. > :26:47.expectations for pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 of those at the

:26:48. > :26:52.chalkface, primary teachers, school leaders, say the expected standard

:26:53. > :26:59.for SATs has been set at a level beyond the reach of majority of

:27:00. > :27:09.children. Our children are being set up to fail. Our almost half of

:27:10. > :27:12.11-year-olds will now go on to secondary school having been told

:27:13. > :27:20.they are failures, but the real failures are in this Government, and

:27:21. > :27:23.in particular the current Secretary of State for Education, who pushed

:27:24. > :27:28.ahead with this flawed system despite warnings from education

:27:29. > :27:33.professionals that its assessment system was not fit for purpose.

:27:34. > :27:38.Under this Government children who failed to meet the unrealistic

:27:39. > :27:47.expected targets at the end of Key Stage 2, the 47% of children, will

:27:48. > :27:51.be required to reset these tests in future and school leavers were told

:27:52. > :27:56.yesterday that catch up on link for secondary schools will not increase

:27:57. > :28:03.despite the number of pupils deemed to be the low the expected standard

:28:04. > :28:10.increasing. Madam Deputy Speaker, for these pupils the first year at

:28:11. > :28:15.the school and all the excitement and anticipation that it would bring

:28:16. > :28:21.will instead become an anxious replay of the rolling for tests in

:28:22. > :28:28.English and maths which they sat in primary school. I can only imagine

:28:29. > :28:36.the impact on those young lives to have to go through it all again, to

:28:37. > :28:39.feel a failure. To see their friends getting on when they should be

:28:40. > :28:47.looking ahead to new challenges and new opportunities. I remember being

:28:48. > :28:53.told that I would never amount to anything but look at me now. I want

:28:54. > :28:59.and teachers want every child to know they are amazing. I want an

:29:00. > :29:04.education system that helps every child realise their full potential.

:29:05. > :29:11.I'm grateful to the honourable lady Ford giving way. In the last Labour

:29:12. > :29:16.government we have such a system, every child was told they were

:29:17. > :29:20.succeeding the twin we looked at international league tables we went

:29:21. > :29:23.down and down, and whatever her critique of results this year, does

:29:24. > :29:28.she agree we must have high standards or we will go back to

:29:29. > :29:35.those days when we let in the future of young people by pretending they

:29:36. > :29:40.were successful? I remember under Labour that we had sure start, we

:29:41. > :29:46.had new schools, we had teachers in the profession, we had teachers and

:29:47. > :29:51.children feeling they were happy, at the moment we have teachers taking

:29:52. > :29:57.unprecedented industrial action and leaving the profession at record

:29:58. > :30:02.rates, so I will take no wreck -- lectures from that side of the

:30:03. > :30:07.House. We recognise ongoing assessment and consistent testing in

:30:08. > :30:12.schools is important to help teachers and parents provide new

:30:13. > :30:17.challenges for all children. They can identify and close any gaps in

:30:18. > :30:23.knowledge so all pupils can do well but a proper assessment regime needs

:30:24. > :30:30.consistency and to be understood by all. This Government has utterly

:30:31. > :30:36.fail to deliver on this. The current SATs test goes too far. The

:30:37. > :30:40.Secretary of State has chopped and changed, causing disruption and

:30:41. > :30:45.chaos in schools and extra bureaucracy for teachers. The Key

:30:46. > :30:50.Stage 2 assessments have been an unmitigated disaster and a nightmare

:30:51. > :30:57.for thousands of children ending in disappointment and uncertainty. But

:30:58. > :31:03.they also have serious consequences for thousands of schools because the

:31:04. > :31:08.way this Government uses them as part of the school accountability

:31:09. > :31:14.system. Key Stage 2 SATs are used to rank schools in league tables, they

:31:15. > :31:16.are scrutinised either DFP and regional schools commissioners who

:31:17. > :31:23.form judgments on schools performance. Ofsted used them when

:31:24. > :31:26.forming their inspection judgments and parents take them into account

:31:27. > :31:34.when choosing their children's school. Schools reputations are

:31:35. > :31:40.heavily dependent on how pupils perform in these tests. The National

:31:41. > :31:45.Association of head teachers ask the Secretary of State not to publish

:31:46. > :31:52.the data as she herself conceded it is not to be compared to previous

:31:53. > :31:57.years, and the NAHT general Secretary, given the changes to SATs

:31:58. > :32:02.this year and the mistakes we have seen, it is hard to see how valuable

:32:03. > :32:07.this data will be to parents who want to understand how well a school

:32:08. > :32:11.reforms year on year, but the Government does love a leak table

:32:12. > :32:18.regardless of how accurate it may be. Worryingly the schools

:32:19. > :32:23.commissioners are already using the original results from these tests to

:32:24. > :32:29.identify schools which they can apply their extensive legal powers

:32:30. > :32:32.to force them into academy status on this curious grounds that they are

:32:33. > :32:38.failing, coasting or underperforming. Madam Deputy

:32:39. > :32:45.Speaker, does all this remind you of anything? Children who are judged

:32:46. > :32:50.failures at an early age, being separated from their primary school

:32:51. > :32:55.classmates, schools which are being worryingly condemned as second

:32:56. > :32:59.class, sounds to me like the dark days of 11 plus. Children branded

:33:00. > :33:05.failures before they have even read their teens, separated out from

:33:06. > :33:10.their classmates with all the stigma that can bring. Many adults today

:33:11. > :33:20.still recount the lasting effects this has had on them. Happy too. I

:33:21. > :33:25.thank the honourable lady for giving way and I have to confess I am one

:33:26. > :33:30.such failure of the 12 plus system. Does she agree with any form of

:33:31. > :33:34.testing and if so what type of testing which she brings Ford? I

:33:35. > :33:40.thank him for his intervention and I think I made it here in my opening

:33:41. > :33:46.remarks that we do acknowledge the need for a testing, but it is the

:33:47. > :33:51.chaotic nature in which the Secretary of State has roared in

:33:52. > :33:56.these Newquay stage two SATs which has damaged, and I'm sure the

:33:57. > :34:03.honourable member will recognise the 11 plus 412 plus did cause

:34:04. > :34:08.uncertainty and that feeling, as I know how I felt when I was rounded a

:34:09. > :34:14.feeder, and it does not help young people today.

:34:15. > :34:19.It seems that this government is hell-bent on bringing back the 11

:34:20. > :34:24.plus by the back door. The evidence is in front of us, children being

:34:25. > :34:31.selected on the basis of muddled headed tests. Winners and losers,

:34:32. > :34:39.and failure. The primary skills are being branded in exactly the same

:34:40. > :34:43.way. The 11 plus by any other name. Of course, these tests do not give a

:34:44. > :34:49.rounded picture of the work of individual pupils were their skins.

:34:50. > :34:53.I could not say any better than Mrs Jane Derrick, the head teacher of

:34:54. > :34:59.Lansbury Bridge School who wrote to one of her 11-year-old pupils, then,

:35:00. > :35:03.about his test results. Ben is artistic. She congratulated them on

:35:04. > :35:08.his fabulous progress and wrote, these tests only measure a little

:35:09. > :35:13.bit of you and your abilities. Ben is made up of many other skills and

:35:14. > :35:18.talents that we see and measure in other ways. These tests do not

:35:19. > :35:23.measure your artistic talents, your ability to work in a team, your

:35:24. > :35:30.growing independence, your kindness, your ability to express your

:35:31. > :35:35.opinion, durability in sport, your ability to make and keep friends,

:35:36. > :35:41.your ability to discuss and evaluate your own progress, your design and

:35:42. > :35:47.building talents, your musical ability. This fine head teacher

:35:48. > :35:51.concludes, we are so pleased with all these different talents and

:35:52. > :35:55.abilities which make you the special person you are. These are all of the

:35:56. > :35:59.things we measure to reassure us that you are always making progress

:36:00. > :36:06.and continued to develop as a lovely, bright young man. Well done

:36:07. > :36:09.then, we are very proud of you and I am sure, Madam Deputy Speaker, the

:36:10. > :36:13.whole house will join me in congratulating young then in his

:36:14. > :36:19.development at the tender age of 11. Indeed, to his head teacher for sure

:36:20. > :36:23.and in very real human terms how this test result should not in any

:36:24. > :36:32.way make a child feel that they are not developing well. I thank my

:36:33. > :36:41.honourable friend he makes a very persuasive case. Does she agree with

:36:42. > :36:46.me that we should be encouraging children and giving them that

:36:47. > :36:50.confidence, in particular in areas like mineworker is high levels of

:36:51. > :36:55.deprivation and children are often told by many people that they cannot

:36:56. > :36:58.achieve or go far in life? This adds to that. We should encourage our

:36:59. > :37:04.children, give them the confidence and not discourage them. I thank my

:37:05. > :37:08.honourable friend for his intervention. He is right. That is

:37:09. > :37:12.what we have defeated the concerns of the professionals. When you said

:37:13. > :37:16.children up to feel, that is a real tragedy. The government needs to

:37:17. > :37:19.work with the profession to nature the mistakes this year are not

:37:20. > :37:25.repeated and to build a system that works better for children, parents

:37:26. > :37:28.and schools. These results do not reflect the dedication of teachers

:37:29. > :37:32.and the many hours that they have worked extra to ensure that all

:37:33. > :37:37.children can fulfil their potential, despite the turmoil caused by the

:37:38. > :37:46.Secretary of State's Kell Brook and confusing reforms. Is she aware of

:37:47. > :37:48.the real danger of children leaving primary school without adequate

:37:49. > :37:53.maths and English and the fact that once they have done that, there is

:37:54. > :37:57.only a one in nine chance it will recover the ground necessary to

:37:58. > :38:01.develop into proper adults and is that not a serious matter and should

:38:02. > :38:06.it not be addressed through some form of knowledge of outcomes? I

:38:07. > :38:11.think the honourable member for his intervention and I am only too aware

:38:12. > :38:17.of that, because I failed my GCSEs. I didn't get grade a to C. I am only

:38:18. > :38:22.too aware of that and that is why we had a debate which was well attended

:38:23. > :38:25.regarding early years and intervention there as well. It is

:38:26. > :38:28.important we put structures in pace to help children, not make them feel

:38:29. > :38:35.like failures through our own failures. These stats undermine the

:38:36. > :38:39.morale of our dedicated primary teachers who have battled against

:38:40. > :38:42.the odds to prepare children for tests they use or inappropriate

:38:43. > :38:47.while trying to protect them from the worst consequences. They could

:38:48. > :38:53.result in thousands more skills being forced to become academies.

:38:54. > :39:00.They do not reflect the hard work of the children with special

:39:01. > :39:05.educational needs. These tests are designed to measure what children

:39:06. > :39:09.cannot do, not what they can do. Nor do they measure the many ways in

:39:10. > :39:15.which our children learn to develop, succeed every day of their young

:39:16. > :39:21.lives. The impact on children of these tests is best illustrated by

:39:22. > :39:25.the parents. Rachel McCullen from Birmingham says, mice and is tired,

:39:26. > :39:32.stressed and paranoid he is going to feel. I cannot wait for this week to

:39:33. > :39:37.be over. Catherine Lee from Bath, my son hardly slept on Sunday night and

:39:38. > :39:41.he was nervous on Monday morning, despite is telling him that these

:39:42. > :39:48.tests are not the be all and end all. It is way too much pressure at

:39:49. > :39:52.11. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have already forced the government into a

:39:53. > :39:57.U-turn on forced academies edition but they are using these results to

:39:58. > :40:03.compel even more academisation through the back door. Is hardly

:40:04. > :40:05.surprising that teachers and school leaders have lost confidence in the

:40:06. > :40:12.Secretary of State and education policies. Guidance arrived late and

:40:13. > :40:17.changed frequently. Test papers were leaked and the design of test

:40:18. > :40:25.pauper. Preparation for the tests had a negative impact on access to a

:40:26. > :40:30.broad and balanced curriculum. 90% of teachers thought that the changes

:40:31. > :40:38.had a negative impact on the experience children had at school.

:40:39. > :40:43.Teachers spoke of demoralisation, demotivation and physical and mental

:40:44. > :40:49.distress. Madam Deputy Speaker, this is a damning indictment of the

:40:50. > :40:53.Secretary of State's performance. She has been entrusted with the

:40:54. > :40:59.future of our children and the future of our country. She has

:41:00. > :41:08.failed. We do not need any test to see that. The question is as on the

:41:09. > :41:16.order paper. Secretary of State, Nicky Morgan. Madam Deputy Speaker,

:41:17. > :41:20.thank you very much indeed. It is a pleasure to speak under your

:41:21. > :41:26.chairmanship. I wanted to give the honourable lady the benefit of the

:41:27. > :41:28.doubt. I know she hasn't been Secretary of State for Education for

:41:29. > :41:33.very long. I can sense a passion for this subject both in terms of her

:41:34. > :41:38.own experience in education, but also in terms of her family. I have

:41:39. > :41:42.to say to the House that the honourable lady's speech captured

:41:43. > :41:49.everything that is wrong with the Labour Party at the moment. Mad

:41:50. > :41:54.conspiracy theories, the fairing to the unions and zero answers to the

:41:55. > :42:01.problems facing this country and, in this case, it is young people let

:42:02. > :42:04.down by the Labour Party, by the Labour government who consistently

:42:05. > :42:09.sold them short in terms of their life chances. The honourable lady

:42:10. > :42:13.was wrong on all counts. Wrong on tests, wrong on selection, wrong on

:42:14. > :42:19.giving young people the best start in life. Madam Deputy Speaker,

:42:20. > :42:23.nothing, nothing at all, is more important than making sure young

:42:24. > :42:28.people master the basics of the three hours and the master them

:42:29. > :42:32.early. If they do not come at struggling for the rest of their

:42:33. > :42:36.lives. Denied the opportunity to realise their full potential. That

:42:37. > :42:40.is why making sure that every child in this country has a good grasp of

:42:41. > :42:49.literacy and numeracy is a matter of social justice. I am grateful to my

:42:50. > :42:53.right honourable friend. Does she agree with me that what is sad is

:42:54. > :42:55.that the party opposite appears to think it more important to let

:42:56. > :43:01.children are ready for secondary school than actually to ensure that

:43:02. > :43:05.they are? I couldn't agree with my honourable friend, the former

:43:06. > :43:09.chairman of the Education Select Committee, enough. He is absolutely

:43:10. > :43:13.right. The party opposite appears to want to sell young people short,

:43:14. > :43:17.rather than actually being clear with them about the standards needed

:43:18. > :43:23.to compete with the best in this country and the best in the world.

:43:24. > :43:26.When this government came to office in 2010, too many young people are

:43:27. > :43:30.not entering secondary school able to read, write and add up well

:43:31. > :43:37.enough. Pupils in England were far behind their peers in top performing

:43:38. > :43:40.countries across the globe. International test at International

:43:41. > :43:43.test should other nations surging ahead while poor performance in

:43:44. > :43:48.England stagnated. The OECD identified England is one of the few

:43:49. > :43:57.countries with the basic skills -- skills of school leavers are no

:43:58. > :43:59.better than the grandparent's generations. Central to the scandal

:44:00. > :44:01.was that the curriculum into in many primary schools under the tests

:44:02. > :44:09.pupils were taking were not up to scratch. I am grateful to the

:44:10. > :44:12.Secretary of State and can tell her that in my constituency we have some

:44:13. > :44:19.really spectacular primary schools. We also have some outstanding

:44:20. > :44:22.secondary schools, but actually, what I find, as echo around the

:44:23. > :44:28.screws in my constituency is that too many young people are that down

:44:29. > :44:32.at the secondary stage of their education. They come out of primary

:44:33. > :44:37.school with very good results and they slip back over the five years

:44:38. > :44:41.they are in secondary school. What is she going to do about standards

:44:42. > :44:49.in secondary education as well as in primary? At the risk of strain of

:44:50. > :44:53.the subject matter of this debate, which is firmly on key stage two, I

:44:54. > :44:57.won't give the honourable gentleman on the details that we could have

:44:58. > :45:03.had if we had a proper debate on education, but we are reforming our

:45:04. > :45:06.GCSEs, we are be forming other aspects are also looking at

:45:07. > :45:11.technical and professional education. An increase of young

:45:12. > :45:15.people at 16 are apprenticeships. We launched a skills plan. I don't

:45:16. > :45:19.disagree with them that there are challenges at both stages and I know

:45:20. > :45:23.that the Chief inspector of Ofsted has identified those first three

:45:24. > :45:27.years at secondary school as one of the times when children, especially

:45:28. > :45:30.bright children from disadvantaged backgrounds, slipped backwards. That

:45:31. > :45:36.is a matter of social justice and I think we can find common cause in

:45:37. > :45:40.tackling that. The trouble with the attitude of the party opposite is

:45:41. > :45:45.that it allowed Labour politicians to trumpet ever higher pass rate but

:45:46. > :45:53.the price was low standards letting down the young people trying to

:45:54. > :45:58.master these vital subjects. Just to reinforce it would be Secretary of

:45:59. > :46:02.State is making, is she concerned with the observation of the national

:46:03. > :46:07.numeracy society that 78% of the adult population in this country

:46:08. > :46:11.scarcely reach level two in maths? That is an appalling situation and

:46:12. > :46:16.it is one that we really must work with total devotion to put right and

:46:17. > :46:24.the tests we are discussing today are one too a tool box we must use.

:46:25. > :46:27.I entirely agree with the chairman of the Education Select Committee.

:46:28. > :46:30.Numeracy and literacy and basic skills, the building blocks. The

:46:31. > :46:34.Prime Minister has called them the ultimate vocational subjects and it

:46:35. > :46:38.is something we need to see everybody having confidence in. One

:46:39. > :46:42.thing we have done is in terms of funding at post 16 levels is to

:46:43. > :46:47.require those who did not get a grade C is to continue taking it. In

:46:48. > :46:58.terms of the results from last week, 70% of the key stage two pupils

:46:59. > :47:00.taking the new test achieved expected standards in mathematics.

:47:01. > :47:03.That is 70%. That is through the hard work of those taking it and

:47:04. > :47:05.they are to be congratulated. This government refused to accept the

:47:06. > :47:10.status quo that young people down. That is why we consulted experts and

:47:11. > :47:14.introduced a new world-class primary school curriculum. That criticism

:47:15. > :47:18.raised the bar on what counts as a good enough standard some children

:47:19. > :47:22.would leave primary school genuinely ready for success in secondary

:47:23. > :47:26.studies. To measure how schools and pupils perform against the new

:47:27. > :47:31.curriculum, new test were required. I know some oppose testing, but they

:47:32. > :47:34.could not be more wrong. The honourable lady was challenged by

:47:35. > :47:38.the former chairman for my honourable friend on what tests she

:47:39. > :47:42.would introduce and she could not say. I think we can agree that tests

:47:43. > :47:47.are a vital part of teaching because they allow teachers to know whether

:47:48. > :47:50.a pupil has understood key subject, they give parents confidence that

:47:51. > :47:55.their children are on track and they allow schools to identify what

:47:56. > :48:00.support is needed. Let me make progress and I will give way. These

:48:01. > :48:05.tests are not about open children to account and they are not exams,

:48:06. > :48:09.because the best schools make the taking of tests as low stress as

:48:10. > :48:12.possible. As one teacher said, the children had such a positive

:48:13. > :48:19.attitude which definitely paid off. Let me give way. She will know some

:48:20. > :48:23.of the concerns teachers have on this particular issue and may I ask

:48:24. > :48:26.what she is doing to assuage these concerns and engage with the

:48:27. > :48:30.profession and more importantly ensured that mixture more than 53%

:48:31. > :48:39.of children are meeting the expected standards? I am aware of the

:48:40. > :48:42.concerns. I see the e-mails and letters, I have conversations with

:48:43. > :48:51.teachers at every school I go and visit and I think it is inevitable

:48:52. > :48:58.It will be a challenging year and I take that as somebody who was among

:48:59. > :49:05.the first to take the new GCSEs in the 1980s. We are listening to

:49:06. > :49:08.feedback from teachers about the structure for the frameworks and we

:49:09. > :49:14.will continue to do that. I'd talk about a positive attitude towards

:49:15. > :49:23.SATs because this is not unique. Pulling phone that 60 super-centre

:49:24. > :49:29.of pupils either do not mind for two not enjoy -- do not mind taking the

:49:30. > :49:35.test. The Administration was not as smooth as it could have been and for

:49:36. > :49:39.that we have apologise, but where errors occurred we took immediate

:49:40. > :49:43.action, making sure the overall roll-out was a success. Low results

:49:44. > :49:49.do not represent a failure of reforms. It is not possible to

:49:50. > :49:55.compare this year's results with last year's. Because we have raised

:49:56. > :50:03.a new curriculum and raised the bar, we knew that the bar would be lower,

:50:04. > :50:08.and this shows the contrast between parties because we want children to

:50:09. > :50:11.understand the curriculum so they compete with the best in the world

:50:12. > :50:16.and not to risk than leaving school without the skills they need to

:50:17. > :50:21.succeed, and the party opposite seems to be happy for that to

:50:22. > :50:27.happen. They forget it isn't the children in leafy skills with

:50:28. > :50:32.supportive parents who most need the primary curriculum, but the ones who

:50:33. > :50:37.were not brought up with high aspirations, who needs teachers to

:50:38. > :50:40.aim high for them. That is what these tests are about. Results

:50:41. > :50:47.showed that schools have resoundingly risen to meet that

:50:48. > :50:50.higher bar. Two thirds of pupils achieve the expected standard in

:50:51. > :50:55.Reading, seven in ten achieve that in mass, nearly three quarters

:50:56. > :51:01.achieved it in writing, so despite doom mongering, more than half are

:51:02. > :51:05.giving people achieve the expected standard in all three subjects, a

:51:06. > :51:10.number that will rise as schools and pupils experience more of the new

:51:11. > :51:15.curriculum. What does this mean for children who did not meet the

:51:16. > :51:19.standard? It means secondary schools can now give those pupils the

:51:20. > :51:25.support they need. It does not and never has meant that those children

:51:26. > :51:30.have somehow failed. The only people who used these results to label

:51:31. > :51:35.children figures are the National union of teachers, now join either

:51:36. > :51:42.the Labour Party. That is shameful. I will not give way. Let me be clear

:51:43. > :51:45.about what this means for schools. We believe schools have to be held

:51:46. > :51:51.to account for the results their pupils achieve but they need to be

:51:52. > :51:55.held to account fairly, which is quite we judge schools not just on

:51:56. > :52:00.the standards they achieved but the progress they make with every child,

:52:01. > :52:03.so schools with charging intakes get proper permission for the

:52:04. > :52:10.achievement they make in pushing their pupils to success. On top of

:52:11. > :52:13.that I have also announced that the proportion of schools judged to be

:52:14. > :52:18.allow the floor when the new progress bar is set ill be no more

:52:19. > :52:24.than one percentage point higher than last year. That progress bar

:52:25. > :52:30.will be released in September and no school can be the divide is below

:52:31. > :52:35.the floor until then. I was struck by just how easily the honourable

:52:36. > :52:41.lady's speech could have been written by the NU teeth and

:52:42. > :52:45.presented a final stage of the Labour Party's transformation into

:52:46. > :52:52.the parliamentary wing of the NU teeth. There was a greater presence

:52:53. > :52:55.on the benches opposite for a question on the NU teeth strike then

:52:56. > :53:02.there was for education questions the day before. In March we set that

:53:03. > :53:07.it planned to tackle areas of underperformance but we did not

:53:08. > :53:12.expect one of those areas of underperformance would be the NU

:53:13. > :53:17.teeth itself. There was enough to use children to oppose every reform

:53:18. > :53:21.designed to be worn great teaching and enable schools to tackle the not

:53:22. > :53:26.so good as a further example of chronic underperformance by that

:53:27. > :53:31.union on behalf of of its members, and that they do for those children

:53:32. > :53:36.that their members work with. We see that same attitude now from the

:53:37. > :53:40.opposition. I have seen the transformation of the Labour Party's

:53:41. > :53:47.attitude to our reforms, from the secret support of the memorable for

:53:48. > :53:51.Stoke Central, and now the outright hostility to raising standards from

:53:52. > :53:56.the honourable lady opposite, and I hope the member for Durham will

:53:57. > :54:01.forgive me for lacking the time to work out where she stood, so the

:54:02. > :54:07.Labour Party have firmly chosen to become the anti-standards party, the

:54:08. > :54:12.voice of ideas and determine to protect vested interests and unions

:54:13. > :54:18.rather than putting children first, from the party of education

:54:19. > :54:23.education education to the party of low standards, low aspiration and

:54:24. > :54:28.low expectations. I don't want to end the speech by focusing on the

:54:29. > :54:33.collapsing party opposite but by saying thank you. Rather than giving

:54:34. > :54:39.down the achievements of schools and pupils I want to commend them. The

:54:40. > :54:47.Secretary of State is not giving way. Is she? Thank you to the

:54:48. > :54:53.teachers who again have risen to the challenge to meet and deliver for

:54:54. > :54:56.young people. As I have said before, teaching is the most noble of

:54:57. > :55:02.professions and last week's achievement in helping young people

:55:03. > :55:10.demonstrate mastery of the basics is an example of why. I urge the House

:55:11. > :55:14.to reject the motion. Sometimes in these did its criticising the

:55:15. > :55:20.Government can be quite difficult but when the minister describes the

:55:21. > :55:25.back-up with SATs is a great success, criticising government

:55:26. > :55:35.policy is more like shooting fish in a barrel. I would like to start by

:55:36. > :55:39.referring to a headteacher in my constituency, headteacher of the

:55:40. > :55:44.largest primary school in the North West, who put his pupils through

:55:45. > :55:49.SATs recently. He was so shocked by the outcome, and this is a standard

:55:50. > :55:53.middle-class school, he was so shocked he felt that necessary to

:55:54. > :56:02.write home to the pupils in the following terms. He wrote to them

:56:03. > :56:06.saying that SATs were one big mess, and told the children to look on the

:56:07. > :56:11.bright side. He said the only thing people would remember about the SATs

:56:12. > :56:17.was that they were one big mess. He said of pupils, your results will

:56:18. > :56:20.not stop you achieving well at high school and being a success in the

:56:21. > :56:25.future, but what you got to the back of your mind and move on, he said

:56:26. > :56:32.there must is important in life that these tests were not fair. This is a

:56:33. > :56:37.very experienced headteacher of a very large primary school in a

:56:38. > :56:41.standard middle-class area with a record of success. He said the

:56:42. > :56:47.pupils, they were harder than usual and you did not get the chance to

:56:48. > :56:52.show how much you learn. Schools all over the country have been the same,

:56:53. > :56:55.I think we all feel that their own, you feel let down because you work

:56:56. > :56:59.hard and did not get what you deserve. Your teachers feel the same

:57:00. > :57:07.because they tried to help you achieve and it has not turned out as

:57:08. > :57:11.they would have wanted. He goes on to say what a great experience it

:57:12. > :57:17.has been having them at school, and says compared to everything you have

:57:18. > :57:23.enjoyed at school, test scores mean very little especially when the test

:57:24. > :57:29.was unfair anyway. I wonder if the honourable gentleman is as

:57:30. > :57:32.disappointed as I am that head like this did not write when we had

:57:33. > :57:39.inflation in standards and the perception of success but no reality

:57:40. > :57:43.to success, that letters like that were not written home to parents

:57:44. > :57:48.then, because it would be good if they showed similar outrage at that

:57:49. > :57:54.selling out as at the implementation of a new higher standard. I am sure

:57:55. > :58:00.he was doing what he thought necessary at the time, but he

:58:01. > :58:03.concludes by saying we don't need tests to tell us how great we are.

:58:04. > :58:08.The worst thing about that letter is the need to remove the feeling

:58:09. > :58:14.children have, hard-working children, that they have failed. I

:58:15. > :58:19.don't think anyone here is against summit of assessment of children's

:58:20. > :58:25.progress. I don't think you're against meaningful feedback or it

:58:26. > :58:30.cool for establishing a baseline for improvement. No one wants to go back

:58:31. > :58:35.to the days of total freedom where there were no reasonable expect

:58:36. > :58:40.patients but we all have to learn something from places like Finland,

:58:41. > :58:47.where they have very few tests like our SATs and do very well, Wayne

:58:48. > :58:52.need to learn from experts and from the teachers who have to implement

:58:53. > :58:59.what we impose on them, and we need a sense which is lacking from the

:59:00. > :59:04.Secretary of State's comment of comment enterprise with the teaching

:59:05. > :59:08.profession. I note the NU teeth are not the teaching profession that she

:59:09. > :59:15.needs to support what teachers are trying to do. We need humility, and

:59:16. > :59:21.if I could illustrate that I'd taking a look at grammar, because I

:59:22. > :59:29.looked at the grammar sections of the test, I think grammar has a

:59:30. > :59:33.definition as a living language. I think it helps more in the study of

:59:34. > :59:38.foreign language than your own and I would argue that the greatest

:59:39. > :59:42.orators in this place are not necessarily the greatest

:59:43. > :59:46.grammarians. Most people have been speaking dramatically most of their

:59:47. > :59:52.life with a fair amount of success, much like a character who had been

:59:53. > :59:57.talking prose all his life. I think there may be value in trying to

:59:58. > :00:05.understand the rules once unconsciously follows. It is

:00:06. > :00:11.generally fun, clause analysis, I enjoyed it, but it is arguable how

:00:12. > :00:17.far that benefits the users of language and it is debatable how

:00:18. > :00:23.much meta- vocabulary one needs to acquire, especially as there is no

:00:24. > :00:32.particular consistency and opacity in what terminology one needs. I did

:00:33. > :00:37.Latin, preferring the imperfect to the past progressive, all these

:00:38. > :00:41.things are rarely esoteric but it is arguable how far you can go down

:00:42. > :00:50.this road with the ascending into the type of pedantry about splitting

:00:51. > :00:57.in some -- infinite others, but it is not arguable that imposing a test

:00:58. > :01:01.in haste of limited value with scant preparation and discouraging

:01:02. > :01:08.well-intentioned pupils and teachers in the process is rash. It requires

:01:09. > :01:17.some serious explanation and apology. It is a pleasure to take

:01:18. > :01:23.part in this debate and talk about SATs this year. When a character

:01:24. > :01:29.select committee, we had the SATs fiasco under the previous

:01:30. > :01:35.government, a true mess of SATs. What we have this year is a new

:01:36. > :01:41.assessment and what I can share with the House, having chaired the

:01:42. > :01:44.committee, is whenever you bring in new assessment is you get some

:01:45. > :01:49.volatility, you don't get everything right and I would not try to claim

:01:50. > :01:55.we have this year, but when you bring that in you get volatility and

:01:56. > :02:00.then over time you see improvement, and the central question is how are

:02:01. > :02:06.we going to raise standards? The first question is, are we doing a

:02:07. > :02:10.good unit job? That would have been a good question for the Shadow

:02:11. > :02:18.Secretary of State to answer. Were we in 2010 or two day? The answer is

:02:19. > :02:24.always partial, but if you look around the world it appears too many

:02:25. > :02:31.children in this country are not given the requisite skills and

:02:32. > :02:36.knowledge to flourish in secondary skill with lifelong negative impacts

:02:37. > :02:39.on them and their families. We didn't hear that from the Shadow

:02:40. > :02:46.Secretary of State, instead we had a rather incoherent, and I don't mean

:02:47. > :02:53.to be overly harsh on one of her first outings, but it seemed like a

:02:54. > :02:57.passionate enunciation of testing because if you feedback the result

:02:58. > :03:00.of those tests, some people will be told they are not at the required

:03:01. > :03:06.standard and others told they are, it seemed to be an attack on that in

:03:07. > :03:11.principle, and that was married with a public statement that she and her

:03:12. > :03:16.party believe we should still have tests. I don't see how those could

:03:17. > :03:23.be put together. It seemed extraordinary to me and I think she

:03:24. > :03:28.needs to think clearly, that is what education policy requires, because

:03:29. > :03:32.it is not just a political fight in this House, it has real world

:03:33. > :03:38.affects on children what happens in schools, so I think that was

:03:39. > :03:43.disappointing, so it would be good to hear from the party opposite what

:03:44. > :03:50.they think about tests. They think if 20% of children are led to think

:03:51. > :03:54.they are feeling, there is a standard we aspire to and it is a

:03:55. > :04:00.high standard and not everyone will reach it, it doesn't mean everyone

:04:01. > :04:04.else is worthless or have not done a good job but we have to give people

:04:05. > :04:10.a objective ideas of where they would like to be, or do we throw

:04:11. > :04:19.that away because it might demoralise some?

:04:20. > :04:25.Thank you very much. It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to

:04:26. > :04:29.comment on my predecessor's observations. Does he agree with me

:04:30. > :04:35.that these tests are really part of it wider mission to improve

:04:36. > :04:38.standards and they are linked to differences in the curriculum, they

:04:39. > :04:44.are linked to the average good that we have, which is to give young

:04:45. > :04:50.people the aspiration and the tools to deliver on the aspiration? That

:04:51. > :04:55.is what this is about. Does he agree that is part of our own

:04:56. > :05:02.determination to give young people more opportunity in life? I do agree

:05:03. > :05:06.with my honourable friend. When I defer to the honourable gentleman of

:05:07. > :05:09.the city give such a fine speech, I would also have to say I did not

:05:10. > :05:15.like his use of the split infinitive and would prefer it was not used in

:05:16. > :05:21.This House. Then that is because I am a pedant in that respect. I do

:05:22. > :05:28.agree with my honourable friend. There is a genuine argument to be

:05:29. > :05:33.made. How practically useful is grammar? What is it designed for? Is