Critical Minerals Strategy

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising skills and for continually championing industry in Cornwall and skills with me for some time. The existing skills of the people of Cornwall are clearly one of the reasons why these industries will be so successful in Cornwall, but the Government also recognise that more investment in skills is required to ensure that so many viable projects in Cornwall can be successful. I assure her that the Department for Business and Trade is working with the Department for Work and Pensions on this issue. We are determined to ensure that all the people of Cornwall have the opportunity to participate in these industries.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will the Minister tell the House what is so special about the year 2035? It is the year by which the Government say they will achieve expenditure of 3.5% of GDP on defence—compared with the 4.5% to 5% we used to spend in the cold war years of the 1980s—and it is now the year by which that the Government say no more than 60% of any critical mineral will come from a single country. Do the Government not feel that the deterioration of international relationships is such that we ought to be thinking about a rather closer timescale than 10 years from now?

[Chris McDonald]

I do not know about the right hon. Gentleman, but when I am setting objectives, I like them to be specific, measurable and achievable. We have worked carefully with industry on the 2035 target, and projects such as those I mentioned in Cornwall clearly have mobilisation periods. He may be right to point out the synergy between the 2035 date of our critical minerals strategy and of our defence strategy, given that they are so closely linked.