UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Environment

  • Dan Tomlinson – 2026 Statement on Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

    Dan Tomlinson – 2026 Statement on Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

    The statement made by Dan Tomlinson, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, in the House of Commons on 5 January 2026.

    I thank the shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for asking this question. I wish a happy new year to her and to all Members of the House.

    The reforms announced in December go further to protect more farms and businesses while maintaining the core principle that more valuable agricultural and business assets should not receive unlimited relief.

    The allowance for the 100% rate of relief for agricultural property relief and business property relief will be increased from £1 million to £2.5 million when it is introduced in April. That means that a couple will now be able to pass on up to £5 million of agricultural or business assets tax-free between them, on top of the existing allowances such as the nil rate band. Taken together with the reform announced at the recent Budget, widows and widowers will benefit from up to £2.5 million of their spouse’s allowance, even if their spouse passed away many years ago.

    Our changes further reduce the number of estates forecast to pay more inheritance tax, and they further reduce the liability for many of the remaining estates. Compared with Budget 2025, the number of estates claiming APR—including those also claiming BPR—affected by the reforms in the coming tax year is expected to halve, from what would have been 375 estates to just 185 estates. That means that around 85% of estates claiming agricultural property relief in 2026-27 are forecast to pay no more inheritance tax on their estates under the changes.

    The Government have announced these changes after listening carefully to feedback from the farming community and family businesses, and I am pleased that the National Farmers’ Union and others have welcomed the changes. Even after the reforms, the Government expect to raise around £300 million in 2029-30 from our changes to these tax reliefs. We are making fair and responsible choices to support the farming community, with a record £11.8 billion investment in sustainable farming and food production over this Parliament, and to modernise our tax system for the future.

  • Philip Duffy – 2025 Statement on Cleaning Up Kidlington Waste Dump

    Philip Duffy – 2025 Statement on Cleaning Up Kidlington Waste Dump

    The statement made by Philip Duffy, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, on 11 December 2025.

    The brazen criminality at Kidlington has appalled all of us at the Environment Agency. Our local teams have been at this site working with partners to reduce harm and minimise risks while we pursue those responsible.

    This week, new information on the risk of fire was received from the Fire and Rescue Services and the Police and a decision made to clear the site as soon as possible on a wholly exceptional basis. The EA and our local partners are now working through the most effective way to manage this work.

    We will update the public on progress with that as soon as we are able. We are determined that waste criminals will see justice for this serious offending.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2025 Good Food Cycle Speech

    Daniel Zeichner – 2025 Good Food Cycle Speech

    The speech made by Daniel Zeichner, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in Bradford on 15 July 2025.

    Well, good afternoon everybody and thank you. First of all, thank you to Andrew, and to all our brilliant contributors – really fantastic.

    Politicians often say they’re really pleased to be in places. And I am pleased to be in places – but I have been really thrilled to be here. I’ve not been to Bradford before, and I’ve been absolutely knocked out by what I’ve seen this morning. I’m so pleased to be here.

    I’m told you’re one of the UK’s youngest, most diverse, and dynamic cities. I represent Cambridge, and we probably could have a little discussion about that – but I think you may be winning! What I know for sure is that you’ve got a rich food culture here. I’ve been seeing it outside, I’ve been hearing about it, and I’m so thrilled that we made the decision that Bradford should be the place to come and talk about the government’s vision for our food system. What we’re calling the Good Food Cycle.

    And I hope that’s a phrase that will stick in your minds – because that’s what this is all about.

    Let me start, though, by thanking some of the people who’ve made this morning possible: Bradford 2025, the local council – I’m delighted to be here working with you – and Inn Churches. Very impressed by the work you’re doing.

    I’ve heard about Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, I’ve seen some of the demonstrations that are being done outside with some of the children – I’ve met some of the children – who are extraordinarily confident and well-informed about raw beans! Very good for them!

    Living Well, the wider community, all the efforts being made to empower, educate, and inspire as many people as possible to cook great-tasting, healthy food for themselves and their families. I think this project here, which I’ve been hearing about – clearly a long time in the making – what a fantastic achievement in this year of 2025.

    It really does show how communities, local government, food producers and processors can work together for the community. Because it shows that good, healthy food can be accessible to everyone, and help bring communities together.

    And just in my brief tour around, I could see how that’s being brought to life.

    I’m told it’s £31 million of investment into the heart of Bradford – it shows what can be done to support local food producers, what you’re making, and how we used to have those strong local food production systems. What a chance to re-energise that!

    But of course, this sits in a wider context – one that includes household-name food businesses with a national footprint, like Morrisons, like Marks and Spencer. They all play a part in our national food system.

    And let’s pay tribute to that national food system, because it is one of the most extraordinary and advanced in the world. Huge, huge things. I remember, I was the shadow minister during the Covid crisis, and there was a point where it wasn’t entirely clear that we could carry on feeding the nation. But people stepped up. And it really showed what an amazing system this is.

    But we also have to be aware that the current food system does have some challenges.

    Henry Dimbleby – a lot of you will be aware – did a lot of work a few years ago on this. He called it the junk food cycle. Which, at one level, is harsh. But what he was pointing out was that there are internal dynamics within the system that keep producing negative feedback loops.

    That’s the thing we want to address.

    I think it can be addressed. I think there are many people in this room who have been working on this for many, many years. But it’s possible to do something about it. To do it differently.

    And that’s why I’ve come here today – to launch what we’re calling the Good Food Cycle. We think it’s a really significant step in the change we want to take together.

    And I think this is actually a very special moment because it’s the first time, as far as I can see, that the whole of government is aligned on a vision for the food system, looking ahead to the future. And it’s one which puts people and the planet at its heart.

    Now, we haven’t done this alone. This is not just about government. We’ve worked across the food system.

    Sarah [Bradbury, IGD CEO] has been saying this – and our colleagues involved in the systems process have told us too – we’ve worked with industry, trying to do what only government can do: convene and coordinate action on food.

    And the reason we’re doing this is not just because it’s a good thing to do – it’s because what we’re hearing from people, right across the country, across generations and communities, is that this is really, really important.

    Because the one thing we all do – is eat. And we should take joy and celebration in that. It’s really important.

    So, over the last six months – in the early part of this government – we’ve spoken to over 400 individuals. That’s been coordinated through the process – thank you to everyone who helped make that happen.

    We’ve heard from organisations, from businesses. We’ve been asking the question: What would a good food system look like?

    I’m very grateful to the people who’ve been sitting on the Food Strategy Advisory Board – some of you may have read about that – Sarah has been providing the secretariat and more; keeping together a complicated group of people with very different views, but we’re working well together – and the Systems Advisory Council. Also, the F4 – that’s the grouping of the key parts of industry. All of them have been involved in this discussion. So many people from academia as well – I see leading academic figures locally.

    All have given time and effort to help us develop what we believe is a shared vision.

    [Political line removed]

    Well, I’m absolutely determined, as the food minister, that we will not make that mistake.

    We will listen. We’ll work alongside those in the food system who make key decisions – and also those who play key roles in that system. Whether that’s a supermarket boss, or someone who’s making the Sunday lunch. Or someone working in a shop.

    All those people are going to be involved in this discussion.

    This is a vision for a healthier, more affordable, sustainable, and resilient 21st-century UK food system that grows the economy, feeds the nation, nourishes people, and protects the environment and climate – now and in the future.

    So, for the next steps to make our Good Food Cycle vision a reality, we’ve identified ten priority outcomes that we’ll be working with people to deliver.

    Those outcomes are focused on:

    • Ensuring everyone has access to healthier and more affordable food
    • Creating the conditions for a thriving and growing food sector, with more investment in healthy, sustainable, affordable food
    • Ensuring a secure, sustainable and resilient food supply
    • Building on vibrant local food cultures – like we’ve seen here in Bradford

    We know there’s a huge prize for investing in the UK food system, which is why we are focused on creating the right conditions to bring money and talent into the UK food system.

    Because when we grow, make, and sell healthy food, frankly, everyone benefits.

    Now, the cost of healthy food is a key concern for working people across the country. And we’re focused on food and nutritional security, from a household to a national level.

    One way to support a secure and more resilient food system is to enhance our food security monitoring – in response to continued volatility from geopolitical and climate shocks.

    It’s critical that this information is transparent and available to people across the food system.

    Today I am committing to a new annual food security statistics publication to be published in the years between the triennial UK Food Security Report, starting this year.

    It will be a more frequent and focused publication, designed to ensure that key UK food security analysis is made public in order to capture emerging trends, and to support both policymakers and the public.

    That’s a government step we’re announcing today – to ensure we continue to support a more secure food supply chain in this country, so we can build a stronger future.

    I believe now is the time to act and make positive change to support our nation. Because with climate, health, and economic pressures growing, we stand to lose out if we don’t act now. Action on improving the food system isn’t just for national government – frankly, it’s for all of us.

    So, I’d like to say just a little bit about what I’ve heard is happening here in Bradford – and I hope you’ll find it as inspirational as I do.

    I understand that in February of this year, the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, in collaboration with others, unveiled over 30 innovative projects as part of its Creative Health programme, harnessing the transformative power of culture and creativity to tackle some of the district’s most urgent health and social challenges.

    And we’re already seeing great outcomes from this work.

    The Cookery School, run by Inn Churches in this Market, in partnership with Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food,  teaches children and adults how to make healthy, fresh, tasty meals from scratch for themselves and their families.

    Living Well is an initiative led by Bradford Council Public Health, the NHS Bradford and Craven Health and Care Partnership and a wide range of key stakeholders and community groups. They are helping to address the rising levels of obesity and reduce the high levels of early and preventable deaths within the district.

    I’d like to thank the initiatives leaders, the Bradford Council and Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership for all their hard work in helping individuals to live well.

    This government wants to work across the food system to make the healthy choice the easy choice for people in Bradford and across the country.

    But a healthy food system is not only about what we eat, it is also about how our food is produced and the impact it has on the environment.

    When we come together to eat – we are sharing in something incredibly powerful. Culture.

    Which brings me back to why I am here in Bradford today. Culture and Community are closely interlinked. Communities build culture. This building is the site of a shift in culture. One which is about connecting people with their local food producers, as well as supporting them to have the skills to use this amazing bounty of British ingredients.

    Everyone should be able to take pride and joy in what they grow and eat. And we want local producers to grow more of what we eat and communities to eat more of what we grow.

    This Government is here to enable, protect and prepare. Enable health, growth and productivity. Protect food standards. Prepare for the impacts of a more extreme weather and more volatile world.

    This is a cross-government strategy, and we will work collaboratively to ensure we take the right steps to address the needs of the nation.

    This is a milestone in our commitment to transform the food system. So today, we set out what we want to achieve, and why it’s important.

    Now and in the future, we’ll work with citizens, with civil society, with farmers, with fishers, with food businesses to agree how to reach that vision, and how we will measure our progress.

    If we can replicate some of the energy and commitment I have seen today and enable the growth of other Darley Street markets in other towns across the country; enable every class of school children to enjoy healthy, delicious food; enable investment in responsible food businesses , we will be well on our way.

    Friends, together we can make the healthy, sustainable choice the easy and obvious one – for everyone. Together, we can create the Good Food Cycle.

  • Steve Reed – 2025 Speech at the Water UK Skills Summit

    Steve Reed – 2025 Speech at the Water UK Skills Summit

    The speech made by Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on 15 July 2025.

    This is a moment for Government and industry to join together to unlock the potential of our water sector and grow our economy in every region of this country.

    We need water for economic growth.

    Communities can’t function without it. Water is essential for every household and business across the country. We need it to grow the food that feeds our families. To build 1.5 million new homes, hospitals, schools and roads. To cool power stations that supply our electricity and the data centres to run our IT systems.

    Water flows through our breathtaking countryside, boosting our tourism and leisure industries.

    The public were not aware at the time of the last general election, this country was facing water rationing within ten years.  There was not enough water to meet the growing demands of our population. As David just said, no new reservoirs had been built in 30 years.

    Water infrastructure was outdated and crumbling. Leaking pipes wasted valuable water supplies. Record levels of sewage polluted our waterways.

    In just one year, we’ve introduced tough new measures to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. Including ringfencing customers’ money so it can only be spent on what it was intended for: upgrading and improving water infrastructure.

    Our Water Special Measures Bill became law in February, giving the regulators new powers to hold water companies to account.

    And Sir Jon Cunliffe, the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, will soon complete the biggest review of the water sector in a generation to ensure we have a robust regulatory framework to clean up our waterways, build the infrastructure we need for a reliable water supply, and restore public confidence in this vital economic sector.

    He will publish his full findings next week, and the Government response will follow quickly afterwards.

    This strong action has laid the groundwork for the sector to move forward.

    Today is the start of a new partnership between the water sector and government.

    Turning the page on the past to begin a new chapter of growth and opportunity.

    The water sector is a priority for economic growth.

    We’ve worked together and secured £104 billion pounds of private sector investment in the water sector over the next five years.

    That’s the biggest private sector investment into our water sector in its entire history, and the second biggest investment in any part of the economy over the lifetime of this parliament – and getting this investment right matters.

    It will build and upgrade infrastructure in every region of the country – cutting sewage in half by 2030 and cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.

    So, parents don’t have to worry about letting their children splash about in the water. So, we can experience the majesty of national treasures like Lake Windermere. Or enjoy a moment of calm by going for a swim in nature.

    It will fund nine new reservoirs and nine large-scale water transfer schemes, and reduce leaks from water pipes.

    So families – like those in Guildford –   don’t have to rely on bottled water when their water supply is disrupted. So businesses don’t lose profits when they’re forced to shut because the taps have run dry. So farmers can keep growing food in the face of increasingly unstable and unpredictable weather patterns.

    This vast investment will fuel economic growth.

    Over the next 5 years, it will create 30 thousand good, well-paid jobs in every corner of the country.

    Jobs that are rooted in the communities they serve.

    Money to upgrade roads, schools and hospitals. Encouraging businesses to invest in the area. Attracting more visitors to support rural tourism.

    This investment will make sure we can build 1.5 million homes this Parliament, construct major infrastructure projects to support the green energy transition, and power new industries such as data centres that can unlock the UK’s AI potential.

    This is what we mean when we talk about the Government’s Plan for Change.

    We must work together to make sure that £104 billion is spent in the best way to secure the improvements we want to see, and in the timescales we want to see them.

    Earlier this year, my colleague the Water Minister Emma Hardy and I toured the country to see how this investment will be spent.

    Around Cambridge, one of the UK’s fastest growing economies, investment in water infrastructure will support 4500 new homes, community facilities such as schools and leisure centres, and office and laboratory space in the city centre.

    On the River Avon, Wessex Water are investing £35 million pounds to expand the Saltford Water Recycling Plant, increasing their wastewater treatment capacity by 40% to meet rising demand, and creating local jobs near Bath.

    And in Hampshire, work’s begun on the Havant Thicket Reservoir, the first reservoir to be built in the South East since the 1970s and when it’s full, this will supply water to around 160,000 people and, during construction, it will generate more than £10 million a year to the South East economy,  with construction jobs and apprenticeships.

    We need to get spades in the ground in every region.

    I’ve set up a Water Delivery Taskforce to bring together Government, regulators, and water industry representatives, to ensure water companies complete their planned investments on time and on budget – providing value for money for customers.

    The Taskforce will make sure we have the water, wastewater and drainage needed for the new developments and infrastructure that will drive long-term economic growth.

    Energy and Utility Skills estimate 43,000 people will be needed to take up jobs in the water industry over the next five years.

    That’s good, skilled, well paid jobs such as bioresources technicians, hydraulics specialists, engineers, construction workers, and surveyors.

    It’s imperative we have the skilled workforce in place.

    Because without it, all this investment will not be possible.

    That’s why we’re here today. To work together to ensure the industry and supply chain have the capacity to meet our shared ambitions for a successful, growing water sector underpinning a successful, growing economy.

    This demands a whole Government approach.

    Torsten Bell, the Minister for Pensions, and Baroness Jacqui Smith, Minister for Skills, will both be here today, will give more details on how we plan to do this via our employment and skills programmes.

    And I’m delighted that later today I’ll sign our ‘Water Skills Pledge’ with Alison McGovern, the Minister for Employment – affirming our commitment to ensuring the water sector has the skills and workforce it needs to succeed.

    We will work together to show people that a career in the water industry and its supply chain is something they can be proud of for a lifetime.

    Something that gives you new skills, exciting challenges and can set you up for life – wherever in this country you live.

    These are jobs that make a difference. Making sure people have a reliable, clean water supply, protecting our food security, cleaning up our waterways – and stimulating economic growth in every part of the country to raise living standards and wages and improve people’s lives.

    This is a fresh start, a moment to build new partnerships and set the direction for the water sector of the future.

    We are working together to bring about the change that people in this country voted for last year. It’s an exciting time for the water industry, and I’m proud to stand alongside you as we chart the journey forwards to success.

    Thank you.

  • Ed Miliband – 2025 Speech at Global Offshore Wind Conference

    Ed Miliband – 2025 Speech at Global Offshore Wind Conference

    The speech made by Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, at the ExCel Centre in London on 17 June 2025.

    Thank you, Jane [Cooper]. I just want to say how brilliant it is to be here today, it’s a real privilege. I read my old speech from a year ago, about 15 days before the general election, and it holds up reasonably well to history.

    I felt an incredible sense of excitement back then about having a chance to be Secretary of State, and today I feel an incredible sense of privilege. One of the reasons I feel that sense of privilege is because of all of you, because of the incredibly inspiring things you are doing for energy security, for jobs, around the country, and to tackle the climate crisis.

    I also want to pay tribute to Jane, you are doing an absolutely brilliant job championing this industry – you and the RenewableUK team are truly outstanding.

    Can I say at the same time we are delighted to have secured our superstar signing Dan McGrail as interim CEO of Great British Energy – it’s fantastic to have him and Juergen Maier both here, as well as my colleague Michael Shanks, Minister for Energy who many of you will have met and is doing an absolutely brilliant job, and it’s a privilege to work alongside.

    As I walked into the conference today and saw the banner ‘Mission: Possible’, I felt a real sense of excitement.

    Because when I look around the exhibition hall and this room, I feel that overwhelming sense of possibility, as the slogan suggests.

    Huge economic and industrial opportunities for Britain, huge chances to transform our country. Challenges of course, but as I say I am incredibly proud of this industry, and for 5 years we have worked together on a shared agenda.

    For energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate.

    I think it is an inspiring and exciting vision of a new era of clean energy abundance for Britain, getting off the rollercoaster of fossil fuels – and we’re reminded by geo-political events all the time how important that is.

    And at the Spending Review last week we committed to the most significant programme of investment in homegrown clean energy in the UK’s history.

    On Tuesday, we announced the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation, creating jobs in Suffolk, Nottinghamshire and across the UK.

    On Thursday, investment in kickstarting carbon capture in Aberdeenshire and the Humber.

    On Friday, half a billion pounds of funding for Britain’s first hydrogen network to help drive industrial renewal.

    And today we go further with a genuinely transformative package of investment in offshore wind supply chains and jobs.

    I truly believe we are witnessing the coming of age of Britain’s green industrial revolution as we build this new era.

    I think it demonstrates above all what an active and strategic government working in the closest partnership with industry can achieve.

    So I want to talk today about the clarity of mission we’re seeking to provide, the way we’re breaking down the barriers to success – barriers you talked a lot with us about when in opposition – the role of catalytic public investment – which is partly about the announcement I’m making today – and then a bit about what I would ask from you as an industry.

    First, I know it has been a tough time for the industry.

    Offshore wind is not immune from the global economic challenges we have seen in the last few years, many of which remain present today.

    My response and my responsibility is to ensure that you have the clarity and certainty you need to make future investment decisions, because I know the biggest enemy of investment is uncertainty.

    We want Britain to be a safe haven for investment.

    That is why from day one we have offered a clear sense of direction, with our goals to deliver clean power by 2030 and accelerate to net zero across the economy.

    Just 6 months after we came to office we published our 2030 Clean Power Action Plan.

    Setting out for the first time the different pathways for deployment of different technologies.

    Offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, nuclear, batteries, hydrogen, CCUS.

    To give developers and investors clarity about the direction of travel.

    When we came to office we also took decisions around AR6 to make it a record-breaking auction.

    But we have also listened hard to the industry about how we can improve the auction process – particularly for fixed and floating offshore wind.

    And we will shortly confirm key decisions for the AR7 auction. I want to say to you very clearly, as far as that decision is concerned and all other decisions, my overriding priority is to give you confidence and certainty because I know these are essential ingredients for you to make the long-term investments we need.

    Second, for years clean energy projects have been held back by barriers and blockages.

    You told us we needed to deal with them.

    So over the last 11 months, that’s what we have gone about doing.

    On planning, we lifted the onshore wind ban within 72 hours of coming to office.

    We’ve introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill – the biggest reform of planning in a generation.

    And we’ve sped up planning decisions, including consenting enough clean energy to power the equivalent of almost 2 million homes.

    On grid, we’ve ended the first come first served connections queue which wasn’t serving our country well, prioritising the power projects we need.

    And we’ve brought forward plans to ensure communities benefit from hosting clean energy infrastructure.

    We’re also working with Defra on improving environmental consenting.

    On radar, we’ve worked with the Ministry of Defence to resolve funding issues that have plagued this sector for years.

    On skills, we’ve backed industry’s skills passport for oil and gas workers.

    And set up the Office for Clean Energy Jobs to ensure we have the skilled workforce we need and to do that planning with our colleagues at the Department for Education.

    In addressing these long-standing issues, we are trying to break down those barriers, which again get in the way of your investment and try to make progress step by step and demonstrating each day what a mission driven government means.

    My observation from the first 11 months in office is having this as one of the Prime Minister’s 5 missions makes all the difference in driving through Whitehall and working with others.

    Third, alongside clarity, certainty and breaking down the barriers we are delivering catalytic public investment to secure jobs and supply chains as part of our long-term industrial strategy.

    This is the right choice for Britain because we want those jobs, it’s also the right choice for our energy security and resilience – and the right long-term way I believe to deal with some of the pressures the industry faces.

    I think it’s fair to say we know that for too long governments have not focused enough on ensuring our success in offshore wind generation leads to the jobs our country needs.

    This government is different.

    There is a global race for these jobs, and we are determined to create them in Britain.

    You told us public investment could unlock funding from the private sector – and you’re right.

    With Great British Energy that is what we are committed to do.

    And today we are announcing a truly historic partnership between public and private investors.

    Hundreds of millions of public funding from Great British Energy crowding in many hundreds of millions more from the offshore wind industry and The Crown Estate.

    Enabling us to today announce a total of £1 billion of supply chain funding to bring offshore wind jobs to Britain.

    It’s designed, this fund, to turbocharge the brilliant work of the sector’s Industrial Growth Plan to invest in ports and factories, so we make turbine towers, blades, foundations and cables here in the UK.

    Helping to drive the clean energy rollout at home and capture a growing export market abroad – including seizing the opportunities of being an early mover in floating offshore wind.

    And this is just the start, with Great British Energy bringing together a wider group of public and private investors to build our offshore wind supply chains and I am incredibly excited about the work that Juergen and Dan are doing at GBE.

    Today I can also confirm we have released the results of the first Clean Industry Bonus round.

    Again here, you told us that the private sector would step up, if we showed the importance of building supply chains here in the UK, and again you were right.

    We were delighted by the response of developers to this scheme.

    Showing that when government leads with ambition, industry is ready to match it.

    We calculate that every pound of public money could unlock up to £17 of private investment.

    The Clean Industry Bonus unleashing the potential of billions of private investment in factories and ports from the North East to East Anglia to Scotland.

    When we talk about catalytic investment, this is what we mean.

    Public investment crowding in, not crowding out, the private capital we need.

    And giving you the confidence to build a long-term industrial base for Britain.

    So look, these are some of the steps we’re taking. Government doesn’t get everything right, but what we are seeking to do is deliver on the promises we made to you in opposition about how we can work together – a true partnership.

    Now often the industry asks me, how can we help you to deliver this mission? Let me just give you a few thoughts on that.

    On jobs, you have a crucial role in reversing decades of failure to invest in our industrial communities and creating a new generation of good jobs at decent wages.

    You have shown your commitment to building supply chains in Britain.

    And my ask of you is to ensure you deliver the 95,000 jobs this industry says it could support in the UK by the end of the decade.

    On trade unions, there is important work on union recognition in some renewables companies.

    But I want to be clear: this government considers trade unions as an essential part of a modern workplace and economy.

    So I ask you to recognise the huge value of partnering with trade unions in all parts of the industry.

    And finally, I would say this:

    I am one of your biggest champions because I know that this mission is the route to building a more secure energy system that can bring down bills for good.

    As we consider the multiple pathways to clean power, my mandate to Chris Stark as head of our 2030 Mission Control, is to deliver at least cost to billpayers and taxpayers and the most economic benefit to the country.

    So in AR7, AR8, AR9 and beyond, value for money for billpayers is our priority, recognising that while the market needs to make a return, we also need to deliver a fair price for consumers.

    Once again, this must be a partnership between us.

    We are doing everything we can, as I have set out, to help the industry continue its strong record in bringing down costs.

    And I urge you to continue to drive forward with innovation and competition to deliver for the country.

    Let me end with this before we get into questions.

    I think over the last 11 months we have shown that Britain is back in the race for the jobs and industries of the future.

    And above all we have shown one thing fundamentally, which is we are serious about delivering. When we said it, we meant it. When we said becoming a clean energy superpower would become one of the Prime Minister’s 5 missions, we meant it. I have my regular meetings with the Prime Minister about this issue and he is incredibly inspired by what you are delivering.

    What we’re seeking to do is have a plan to deliver.

    Clear and consistent leadership.

    Breaking down the barriers.

    Catalytic public investment.

    A true partnership between government, trade unions and industry.

    We believe this is how we build the age of clean energy abundance.

    This is how we boost our energy independence and bring down bills for families and businesses.

    This is how we seize the economic and industrial opportunity of our time.

    And this is how we face up to the greatest long-term challenge we face as a country and as a world, the climate crisis.

    My final thought is this: of course, the industry faces challenges that I am aware of. Nobody believed this was going to be easy, the kind of transformation we are talking about in our economy and in our energy system.

    The thing I feel above all, after 11 months in this role, is more of a sense of optimism about what we can achieve together, more of a sense of optimism that this is the right path for energy security, more of a sense of optimism that this can be the jobs driver of the 21st century for our country.

    Going round the country, there’s nothing more inspiring than seeing those jobs being created and the opportunity for young people doing apprenticeships and being part of this industry.

    I am more certain than ever this is the right path to tackle the biggest long-term threat to humanity, the climate crisis.

    Thank you so much for what you do for our country, thank you so much for your partnership with government.

    And I look forward to continuing to work together to do great things in the months and years ahead.

    Thank you.

  • Victoria Atkins – 2025 Speech on Thames Water

    Victoria Atkins – 2025 Speech on Thames Water

    The speech made by Victoria Atkins, the Shadow Environment Minister, in the House of Commons on 3 June 2025.

    Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question. May I begin by correcting the Secretary of State? When he refers to private sector investment, he is in fact referring to the bill increases that each and every one of us will pay—£31 a year—so when he talks about private sector investment, he means bill payers’ investment.

    Some 16 million residents and bill payers will have been concerned by this morning’s news that the private equity firm KKR has pulled out of its rescue deal with Thames Water. According to a source close to KKR, one of the reasons it pulled out was its concern about negative rhetoric directed at Thames Water and the rest of the industry in recent weeks by the Secretary of State and other Ministers. In other words, the Secretary of State and his Ministers have talked themselves out of this rescue deal. I am bound to say, if only they could do the same thing with the Chagos islands deal.

    On which date did the Secretary of State discover that KKR was thinking of pulling out of this deal, and what involvement did he have in the phone calls over the weekend between KKR and No. 10 spads to try to rescue it? I ask because in recent weeks there have been briefings to the press that he is considering temporary renationalisation. The Treasury has apparently instructed him that he will need to find up to £4 billion from the budget of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to cover the cost of this manoeuvre. Let me put that in context: the entire farming budget for this year is roughly £2.5 billion.

    Can the Secretary of State therefore explain the options to which he has just referred, and do they include a plan for temporary renationalisation? From which budget would a temporary renationalisation come: DEFRA or central funds? That question is particularly relevant in view of the upcoming spending review, on which there has been detailed briefing, including the suggestion that the DEFRA budget is to be slashed.

    The Secretary of State referred to the Cunliffe report, which we will of course look at very carefully, but can he confirm—this recalls yesterday’s shambolic defence review announcement—that there is no funding for this latest review, and that it will do nothing to resolve the immediate issue of Thames Water’s solvency, which he has mishandled, just as he has mishandled the family farm tax, the fishing industry and the sustainable farming incentive?

    Steve Reed

    I am grateful to the shadow Secretary of State for making it clear to the House that she does not understand the principles of private sector investment, and neither is it particularly clever to stand at the Opposition Dispatch Box and make up figures to attack.

    This Government stand ready for all eventualities, but I will make no apology for tackling the poor behaviour of water companies and water company executives that took place under the previous Government and that we are correcting. We even heard stories, which have been confirmed to me by water companies, of previous Conservative Secretaries of State shouting and screaming at water company bosses but not actually changing the law to do anything about the bonuses that they were able to pay themselves. This Government are taking action, working with customers, water companies and investors to ensure that we have a successful water sector that works for the environment, customers and investors in a way that it completely failed to do under the previous Conservative Government.

  • Steve Reed – 2025 Speech on Thames Water

    Steve Reed – 2025 Speech on Thames Water

    The speech made by Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the House of Commons on 3 June 2025.

    I thank the right hon. Lady for securing this urgent question. I want to begin by making clear that Thames Water remains stable, and the Government are carefully monitoring the situation. Customers can be assured that there will be no disruption to water supply.

    Thames Water is a commercial entity currently engaged in an equity raise, and KKR pulled out of that process earlier today. As Thames Water has said, the company will continue to work with its creditors as part of the equity raise to improve its financial position. There remains a market-led solution on the table, and we expect the company and its directors to continue the process that is under way and fix the financial resilience of the company in the interests of its customers. I want to be clear that the Government are prepared for all eventualities across our regulated industries and stand ready to intervene through the use of a special administration regime, should this be required to ensure the continued provision of vital public services.

    The situation facing Thames is taking place within a wider context. Only last year, we saw record levels of pollution in our rivers, lakes and seas. It is clear that our water system is broken. We have already passed legislation so that the regulator can ban the undeserved multimillion-pound bonuses that so outraged the public, and we have further strengthened accountability through the introduction of up to two years in prison for polluting water bosses who break the law. We have increased the regulator’s resources and launched a record 81 criminal investigations into water companies, and we have followed the “polluter pays” principle, meaning that companies that are successfully prosecuted will pay for the cost of that prosecution so that further prosecutions can follow. We have worked with the water companies to secure £104 billion of private sector investment to rebuild our broken water infrastructure. That means new sewage pipes, fewer leaking pipes, and new reservoirs across the country, as we work to end the sewage scandal that we inherited from the previous Government.

    I launched the Independent Water Commission, under Sir Jon Cunliffe, so that it could outline recommendations for a once-in-a generation opportunity to transform our water industry and ensure that it delivers the service that the public deserve and our environment needs, and today Sir Jon published an interim report setting out the commission’s preliminary conclusions. The Government will respond in full to the commission’s final report in due course, and will outline further steps to benefit customers, attract investment and clean up our waterways.

    Whether we are talking about Thames Water or about other companies serving other parts of the country, the era of profiting from pollution is over. This Government will clean up our waterways for good.

  • Harriet Cross – 2025 Speech on Fishing Quota Negotiations

    Harriet Cross – 2025 Speech on Fishing Quota Negotiations

    The speech made by Harriet Cross, the Conservative MP for Gordon and Buchan, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons, on 26 March 2025.

    I thank the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) for securing the debate. I rise to speak on behalf of the fishing communities in both my Gordon and Buchan constituency and wider north-east Scotland, who play such a crucial role in the UK’s fishing sector but are facing unprecedented challenges following, among other things, the most recent quota negotiations.

    The total allowable catch quota negotiations have been another example of the UK losing when Labour Governments negotiate. Analysis by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs itself shows that, as a result of the most recent negotiations, UK quota fell by 5% for 2025, representing a 38,000 tonne decrease and a £9 million reduction in the value of fishing opportunities. In total, the UK secured approximately 747,000 tonnes of quota, valued at about £950 million—a decrease from 2024 in both tonnage and value.

    Let us not forget that behind every percentage point of the reduction are real people—fishermen and women, their families and our coastal communities—who now face difficult decisions about their future. That is before we even start to consider “paper fish”, or quota allocations that cannot realistically be caught—that is to say, their benefit exists only on paper. That might happen, for example, when a country is allocated quota for species that are not present in sufficient quantities in its water, when quota is allocated for species that the fleet does not have the correct gear or capability to catch, or when the quota exists administratively but does not translate to actual fishing opportunities. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and other fisheries organisations have highlighted the distorting effect of paper fish when discussing quota negotiations, because it means that actual usable quota is less than what appears in official statistics. Some quotas look great on paper, but provide no benefit to the fleet.

    DEFRA has published two reports—one on economic outcomes and the second on sustainability—considering the UK’s fishing opportunities for this year. We should remember that sustainability under the Fisheries Act 2020 has three pillars—environmental, social and economic —and that no one pillar takes precedence over the others. In Scotland, about 70% of key commercial stocks are fished sustainably. Yes, there is still room for improvement, but it is important to recognise that progress has been made in the last 30 years. For example, in 1991, the same indicator showed that sustainability levels were only at 35%. The industry has driven that progress alongside fisheries scientists and managers, because no one has a greater vested interest in healthy seas and fish stocks than our fishermen and those who depend on them for their livelihoods.

    There is still much work to do for the UK’s fishing industry to benefit fully following Brexit and our departure from the broken, inequitable common fisheries policy. Under the adjustment period in the trade and co-operation agreement, the EU still has unrestricted access to the UK exclusive economic zone. That benefits the EU far more than the UK and, unsurprisingly, the EU wishes for that position to continue. As other Members have mentioned, we just have to look at how things have developed in recent weeks to get a true understanding of the EU’s approach to fishery negotiations. Some EU member states are now saying that, unless the UK gives way to exactly what the EU wants on fishing, it will be excluded from the EU’s defence fund. It is almost unbelievable that anyone would risk the safety, security and defence of Europe and its allies on such a pretence.

    Fishing and defence—indeed, national and international security—should not be conflated. Our national security is vital, our energy security is vital and our food security, in which fishing plays a major part, is vital, and each should be dealt with in its own right. We cannot allow our fishing communities to be caught up in this EU posturing. The UK Government must state unambiguously that giving up their rights to our waters and natural resources would represent a long-term loss of a national asset critical for food security and production of climate-smart food. I invite the Minister to do so in this debate.

    I urge the Minister to commit to securing a better deal for UK fishing in the revised TCA—one that genuinely rebalances quota towards zonal attachment principles—and protect our fishing grounds. Will the Government ensure that small-scale and coastal fishing operations have proper representation in future negotiations? The Conservative party committed to that in our manifesto, along with seeking additional opportunities for these vital parts of our fishing fleet.

  • Jim Shannon – 2025 Speech on Fishing Quota Negotiations

    Jim Shannon – 2025 Speech on Fishing Quota Negotiations

    The speech made by Jim Shannon, the DUP MP for Strangford, in the House of Commons on 26 March 2025.

    It is a pleasure to speak in this debate and to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I commend the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) for setting the scene so well. Fishing is important to me, as the representative of the village of Portavogie. The hon. Member for South Down (Chris Hazzard) takes his money but does not take his seat in this House, so I also have to speak for the fishing sector in Kilkeel and Ardglass. I am quite happy to do that; I do it regularly to represent the collective viewpoint of the sector and to ensure that we have a voice in this House.

    I liaise with the fishing bodies in Northern Ireland. The feeling, as things stand, is that they are happy with the quota negotiations at the moment, provided that the Government continue to deliver to the sector in Northern Ireland the quota allocations that they have indicated they will deliver, and that they do not take a backward step and grant the EU more than it has currently, at the expense of our fishing industry.

    The message from my fishermen—from the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation and the Irish Fish Producers Organisation—is simple. The Minister has met them and he knows that. I hope that he will come over sometime shortly to meet our fishermen, and I look forward to that. I know they have a very high opinion of him; they see him as one who stands firm, and they hope that the Government will stand firm and not—to use a pun—row back on where we are at the moment.

    The Northern Ireland industry’s priority for the negotiations is not necessarily quota; it is access to the Republic of Ireland’s 6 to 12 nautical mile zone, which we lost through Brexit. My questions to the Minister will be along those lines. In the original withdrawal agreement, France was granted access to UK waters—specifically, English waters on the south coast—on the basis of grandfather rights. There is therefore, I believe, a precedent for offering access to limited named vessels in the negotiations. The principle of promoting access for UK vessels to EU waters has mixed receptions from those who want their scallopers—and we have many of them in Northern Ireland—to have access to French waters, and those who would like to see EU vessels, with the exception of EU-owned flagships, out of UK waters.

    It is my belief, as I said, that the top priority for the Northern Ireland fleet in the upcoming negotiations is to have access restored to those parts of their traditional fishing grounds, which they had grandfather rights to, that lie in the 6 to 12 nautical mile zone of Irish waters. Given that precedent was set when the UK granted access to its territorial waters to a limited number of named EU vessels, will the Minister confirm that he will press for Northern Ireland’s vessels to have the same privilege as those granted by the previous Government to the French? That is the first of my three questions.

    My second question comes from the—I will use an Ulster Scots word—shenanigans being played out between the UK and the EU. The UK has banned bottom trawling in some areas of UK waters that are important to the French trawling fleet. I understand the reason for that and I support it. The ban applies to both the UK and all other countries. By way of retaliation—the French are well known for their retaliation; if we give them a kick, they kick us back almost twice as hard—the French have linked fishing rights to the Security Action for Europe initiative. There is always a clause or add-on to anything that the French do—I could make some further comments, but I will not. There are claims that the EU is trying to play politics with the livelihoods of UK fishermen by attempting to link defence contracts to fishing rights, so will the Minister take this opportunity to renew his commitment to treating food security as national security, and will he commit to pushing back against any attempt to use our fishing communities as pawns in wider political games? I know the Minister: he is an honest politician and an honest Minister. His fight will be for our fishermen, and I wish him well in that.

    Our fishing industry relies on the Government to be its mouthpiece and its strength. I know that that is the Minister’s desire and I believe that now is the time to prove to our fishing crews and fish producers that this new Government are on the side of our industry and prepared to push and, if necessary, fight their part. The industry is more than the fishing crew; so many subsidiary businesses rely on it. On behalf of those people—my people—I ask the Minister to send the clear message from our Government and this House that the fishing industry is alive and well and ready to thrive even more.

  • John Cooper – 2025 Speech on Fishing Quota Negotiations

    John Cooper – 2025 Speech on Fishing Quota Negotiations

    The speech made by John Cooper, the Conservative MP for Dumfries and Galloway, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons on 26 March 2025.

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I congratulate the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) on securing this important debate.

    I declare a sort of interest: in a previous life, I was a special adviser with the Scotland Office, and I spent the larger part of 2021 working on exports from Scotland to the EU. I have to tell the hon. Gentleman that the EU, far from being our avuncular friends in this matter, were a protectionist bloc. Many of the difficulties we faced, including the transport of live langoustines—he mentioned vivier transport—were to do with problems on the far side of the short strait. It was bloody-mindedness at best and outright protectionism at worst.

    But let us talk about chips—not the golden-fried essential component of what we Scots call the fish supper, but bargaining chips, for that is yet again what our fishing crews risk becoming. The statistics are superficially simple: the Office for National Statistics says that fishing accounted for just 0.03% of the UK’s economic output in 2021. However, that does not capture the reality that a great many of our fragile coastal communities, not only in Scotland but across the UK, are entirely dependent on jobs in fishing’s at-sea component and its allied onshore processors.

    If fishing were a trifling little homespun affair, why is the EU so interested in it? With the Business and Trade Committee, I travelled to Brussels to discuss this Government’s reset of relations. What Labour expects from this reset is opaque at best, but the EU—good protectionist that it is—has already drawn up an invoice, and top of its list is fishing. Amid warm words about security and co-operation between Britain and the EU, the French are keen to lock us out of the new £150 billion Euro defence fund, only to then show a bit of ankle on negotiations involving—quelle surprise!—fishing.

    Just as Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, with its heavy pro-union bias, takes us back to 1979 and the winter of discontent, so fishing is drifting back to 1973. Then, our prized and pristine waters were the quid pro quo for access to what was then the European Economic Community. Today, the dice are loaded in favour of the EU fleet. According to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation—I note that the hon. Member for St Ives is not a huge fan of it, but I certainly am—the EU catches around seven times more fish by value in UK waters than we land from EU waters. Britain’s status as an independent coastal state was hard won, and we must not allow our fleet to be dragged back into the ambit of the hated common fisheries policy. We cannot allow a linkage between fisheries and access to markets to be established.

    British fishing is already under a series of threats. Let us be as clear as the blue ocean about the conservation issue: fishermen are to the fore in this area, for they know that if they clear the seas of fish today, there is no tomorrow for them. Things such as spatial squeeze are real. Our seas are vast but not limitless. Boats cannot fish between floating wind turbines or trawl near those turbines’ subsea infrastructure. To say that boats can simply up nets and go elsewhere is to demonstrate a terrifying lack of knowledge about the sea. Fish and seafood are not evenly suffused; they are in some places and not in others.

    Fishing is food security, as we have heard. It is a livelihood for many—not just for those who literally risk life and limb on the storm-tossed seas, but for those onshore. Fish and chips are as emblematic of this country as the bright fishing boats at quaysides from Kirkcudbright to Kirkwall and more. They must not be frittered away at the behest of an avaricious EU.