Tata Group Gigafactory Investment

Eleanor Laing Excerpts

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the Government’s decision and the announcement by Tata, which highlights the UK’s tech potential—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. I beg the right hon. Gentleman’s forgiveness. I was being distracted by another right hon. Gentleman, who ought to know better, and I therefore did not call the Minister to answer. I do apologise.

[Ms Ghani]

I think maybe we got a bit noisy as we were trying to fully digest the slightly delusional response of the Opposition Front Bencher, the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds), to this statement. Our job as representatives of the automotive sector is to praise, protect and promote, not to play politics, especially with investment this substantial.

Tata’s investment is so substantial. It is 40% of the gigawatts that we need, and fundamentally we need to have 100% by 2030. With Tata and Envision, we are two thirds of the way there. Obviously we want more, but we are not going to be complacent. We should not compare ourselves with the rest of Europe when their needs will be substantially different from ours, but let us take a moment to reflect on what is happening internationally. This is a global race to achieve net zero. Tata has decided to come here to the UK because it has faith in UK workers, UK technology and UK innovation. It has confidence in the UK supply chain, but fundamentally it has confidence in the UK Government’s policy when it comes to advanced manufacturing and the automotive sector.

The hon. Gentleman spoke about the automotive transformation fund, which is a £1 billion fund to support exactly this sort of initiative, but let us just reflect on the bonanza—I am not sure that is the right term—that the Opposition are offering. It is £28 billion in their plan, which is a lot of money for the taxpayer to front up for an un-costed plan that, as far as I am aware, is not endorsed by anyone in the advanced manufacturing sector and what they want to achieve. As we are getting close to our summer holiday, the £28 billion of un-costed promises that the Opposition are making are a bit like lines in the sand. We can look down at them, but the tide of reality will come in.

The Opposition’s proposals mean nothing to industry or to job creation. They are created within the Westminster bubble. [Interruption.] If the Opposition do not believe me, they should listen to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the umbrella organisation for the automotive sector. It has talked about the substance in the UK supply chain, which will be a part of this initiative going forward. Unlike anywhere else in Europe, we have a fantastic supply chain with graphene, silicon carbide wafers—I am learning so much—power electronics, batteries and powertrains. It is a substantial boost to our supply chains in the UK. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I am working not only on our critical minerals strategy but on our supply strategy, to make sure we are using UK innovation and UK goods across all our supply chains, and in particular in the automotive sector. I urge him to have some humility and to reverse, and to praise, promote and protect the sector, and definitely not to play politics with it; that is a very weak thing to do.

There are challenges dealing with the rules of origin. As the hon. Gentleman knows, not only the Prime Minister but the Secretary of State are in intensive talks with the European Union. This is an issue not just for the UK; it is also about cars made in the EU being transported into the UK. It is a two-way system. I urge everybody in the House who has contacts with European counterparts to ensure that they make it very clear that this will be damaging for European car manufacturers as well.

Let me turn to the zero-emission vehicle mandate. I have taken many a delegation to the Department for Transport, which is responsible for this bit of policy, and I am keen to back business. The consultation has concluded and results will come through, and we will continue to work with the DFT. My position has always been to back the automotive sector. The hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde does not seem to appreciate how substantial the investment is. We should be focused on the £4 billion, the 4,000 jobs and the resilience in the supply chain—the 2,500 small firms across most of our constituencies that will be getting some support because of this fantastic confidence in the UK car and automotive sector, and fundamentally in UK policy when it comes to advanced manufacturing.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

And now I call Dominic Raab.

[Dominic Raab]

I warmly welcome the Government’s announcement and Tata’s decision, which highlights the tech potential of the UK. Does the Minister agree that our longer-term strategy, as I think she was setting out, is that we will not be able to engage in a bidding war on subsidies with the US, China and the EU, and that our comparative advantage will be shoring up the supply chain in the context of EV batteries, which means lithium deposits in the south-west and our emerging refinement capacity in Teesside?

--- Later in debate ---

[Ms Ghani]

It is great that we have a major commitment to one of the biggest gigafactories in Europe. That will generate even more investment and more interest in building gigafactories in the UK. We will, of course, consider all proposals for sites that are brought forward by commercial partners who see value in building gigafactories in the UK. This commitment shores up what we have, takes us towards where we need to be in 2030, and will help us meet our need for batteries, but it will also attract new investment. This is a massive vote of confidence in the UK economy and the UK’s policies on the automotive sector.

May I wish everyone a wonderful summer break, and thank all staff, especially the staff in the Tea Room, who enable us to get through our very long days?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Indeed. I thank the Minister on behalf of everybody who works in this building. I thank her for taking questions.