Oral Answers to Questions

Claire Coutinho Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)]

Does the Minister accept that 22 million households are seeing their bills go up to pay for this policy, which is a handout for 6 million households? Is that not like the Government’s promise to cut bills by £300 when actually, bills have gone up by £200 instead? Does he acknowledge that the best way to help families who are struggling with their bills is to cut electricity bills for everyone? Our cheap power plan would do exactly that and cut electricity bills by 20% in time for winter. Why will the Government not consider it?

[Martin McCluskey]

It is astonishing that the shadow Secretary of State should come to the House and call vital support for people over the winter a “handout”. It is support for one in six people in this country, and thousands, or millions, of our constituents will take advantage of that support this winter. It is right that we should look to target support at those most in need. I am proud that this is a Government that will provide support, with £150 off bills for 6 million people this winter.

[Claire Coutinho]

But it is not the Government that are providing support; other households are doing so through their bills. The Minister should be honest about that. Even the chief executive of Ofgem has said that axing the carbon tax would bring down electricity prices. Our cheap power plan would cut people’s electricity bills by 20% now—for everyone, not just for few. If he really cared about families struggling with their bills, he would look at it.

[Martin McCluskey]

I will not resile from the support that we are offering vulnerable households this winter. It is £150. On what the right hon. Lady says, how is any benefit provided in this country? It is provided by all of us pooling our resources to provide support to the most vulnerable. I am proud of that record. When it comes to her proposal over a carbon tax, let us look at the coalition that she has amassed against her: businesses, church leaders and others who have said that this is not a workable proposal and that it would cause more uncertainty for British businesses.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)]

At this COP, acres of the Amazon were chopped down so that the Secretary of State can lecture us about saving the planet. Can the Minister justify why his Government did not even put a single penny into the forest fund, which could have at least repaired some of the damage?

[Michael Shanks]

I think the shadow Secretary of State has a bit of a cheek talking about anyone’s action on the climate crisis when she has completely reversed her own position on it. The UK’s climate leadership is an incredibly important contribution to the world’s action on the climate crisis. That crisis is not a future threat, but a very present reality. The UK has been a part of the forest initiative; we have supported Brazil and others to make that happen. Of course, coming up to a Budget and with tight fiscal considerations, we want to make sure that every pound of British taxpayers’ money is spent. We have not ruled out any future support for such schemes. Britain’s leadership at COP and at other international forums is important for our own economic interests, but also for tackling the global climate crisis.

Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Power Station: Wylfa

Claire Coutinho Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Claire Coutinho (East Surrey) (Con)]

It is no secret that I am a fan of new nuclear in this country, so I welcome the progress on SMRs. If we are to have a strong economy and a good standard of life, we need abundant, reliable and cheap energy. Nuclear works in the winter, can run 24/7 to power artificial intelligence, and is 100% clean to boot. It uses 3,000 times less land than wind and solar energy, and the latest prices around the world show that it can be much cheaper, too.

The Conservative position is that we need a lot more nuclear. We were the party that overturned the complete failure of the previous Labour Government to start any British nuclear plants, so I say this with some feeling. I have been told that there was just one nuclear welder left in the country when we started work on Hinkley Point C. We invested in the supply chain and in skills, which had completely withered under the previous Government. Now the most important thing is to keep building.

I personally signed off on a third large nuclear plant at Wylfa because it is our best site. It could host both large-scale nuclear and small modular reactors. By ruling out large-scale at Wylfa and ditching the 24 GW target, are the Government calling time on new large-scale nuclear? That is what it looks like to the rest of the country. It would be a huge mistake—the same mistake that Labour made last time it was in power. If we want cheap energy and growth in this country, we need to build, build, build when it comes to nuclear.

The Minister talked about power generation from SMRs in the 2030s, but industry is being told that it will be 2042 at the earliest. Who is right, and is that really the best the Government can do? We have plans to make nuclear building much cheaper. In fact, to cut environmental red tape, we tabled radical amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, but the Government voted against them. The nuclear regulatory taskforce will report soon, though; will the Government consider our proposals when it does? Lastly, does the Minister agree that it is fundamentally absurd for the Green party to talk about clean power while it has a policy of dismantling Britain’s nuclear power plants?