Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill

Ayoub Khan Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

New clause 7 is simple but strategic. It would require the Secretary of State to use the powers under the Bill to prioritise entering into at least one revenue certainty contract with a power-to-liquid SAF producer, where doing so will allow a project to reach final investment decision by the end of 2026. I am not asking for handouts. I am asking for the Government to show the leadership needed to de-risk the first mover, just as other countries are doing across Europe and North America. Without that certainty, no bank will lend and no project will proceed. New clause 7 would send a clear message that the UK is open for clean aviation, self-reliance and energy security.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. He is making some very persuasive points. I support the intentions of the Bill and pushing for these fuels is absolutely the right thing to do, but does he agree that we must also keep a focus on the wider opportunities—for example, in hydrogen, battery electric systems and next generation e-fuels—if the UK is to be a leader in this technology?

[Iqbal Mohamed]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and I wholeheartedly agree. We in the UK have the capabilities to be a leader in these technologies and we must take a collective approach on green energy for both environmental and economic gains. We need certainty for private capital to flow in and the delivery of long-term taxpayer returns.

Amendment 12 looks at the SAF mandate itself. It requires a review within 12 months of the sub-target for power-to-liquid fuel to assess whether it is ambitious enough and whether it reflects the urgency of the climate challenge and the pace of international competition. This is not about setting targets in haste; it is about ensuring our targets are based on evidence, consultation and real-world feasibility. The amendment explicitly requires engagements with power-to-liquid producers, airlines, experts and wider stakeholders, and it requires that a report be laid before Parliament.

Let me be clear: I do not stand alone in calling for this. More than 130 organisations, from airlines and clean energy firms to researchers and investors, have called on the Government to prioritise PTL through the Bill. They have called for urgent engagement, timely regulation and a clear pathway to a commercial-scale plant in the UK by 2026. We already know the EU is moving faster, alongside Canada and the United States, with more ambition on PTL. If we fall behind, we will become importers of clean fuel, not exporters of clean technology and we will miss the industrial opportunity staring us in the face. Time is of the essence, and we must all work together to get this right.

HS2 Reset

Ayoub Khan Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

I can assure my hon. Friend that the estimated cost of the bat structure is £95 million in 2019 prices. I agree that we cannot have an environmental mitigations regime that allows this sort of thing to happen. The Government have put forward significant reforms in this space, and we will continue to monitor the need for further changes, so that we can deliver infrastructure in a better way.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

I thank the Secretary of State for giving a candid and transparent statement to this House. On Birmingham—I am the only Birmingham MP present, which surprises me—it is disappointing that there will be delay and additional costs, but every cloud has a silver lining. My constituency has one of the highest levels of unemployment at 17%—four times the national average. In addition, we have seen the closure of a number of local stations; it would improve the network if they were reopened. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can get my constituents into jobs, and the possibility of opening three stations: Handsworth Wood, Soho Road and City Health Campus?

Road Maintenance

Ayoub Khan Excerpts

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jerome Mayhew]

I would absolutely agree that managed decline is not the right way to fix these problems, but I refute the accusation that the Conservative Government managed decline—[Interruption.] Well, let us look at the data.

The hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) made reference to the RAC pothole index, which is a very useful piece of information that tracks how much more likely a driver is to suffer a breakdown as a result of a pothole. This data goes back to 2006, when Labour was in power. You may not be wholly surprised, Madam Deputy Speaker, to learn that under the previous Labour Government, a driver was more than twice as likely to suffer a breakdown as a result of a pothole than under the subsequent Conservative Government, corrected for seasonal weather effects and improving longer-term vehicle reliability. Those on the Government Benches say that the Conservative Government managed decline, but, in fact, exactly the opposite is true. Breakdowns caused by potholes peaked under Labour in 2009, and have more than halved as a result of the investment of the coalition and Conservative Governments.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

Birmingham city council, which is the largest council in Europe, covers some of the vast number of roads and arterial routes coming in and out of the city with Spaghetti junction. Labour has controlled the council for around a decade, and roads are simply going from bad to worse. Part of the problem is the desensitisation of the residents, who feel there is just no point complaining about a pothole—officers come out but do not repair them. What mechanisms need to be put in place so that we can address the potholes that exist and are getting worse?

[Jerome Mayhew]

The best mechanism would be to vote for a Conservative local authority on 1 May. If we look at the data rather than the slogans, 68 miles of roads on average are repaired each year under Conservative councils, while just 14 miles are repaired under Labour councils. I say it again: if people want potholes fixed, they should vote Conservative on 1 May.