Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Michael Shanks and Joy Morrissey(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)
Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. We need to ensure that the technology that we import to increase grid capacity is secure. US officials recently found kill switches in Chinese-made components for solar farms. The Conservatives have been clear about the security risks that China poses in our energy supply chain, so will the Secretary of State confirm whether he discussed that issue in his recent meeting with Chinese officials? If not, why not?
Michael Shanks
On a day when we are announcing new nuclear schemes, I am almost tempted to ask: which party brought Chinese investment into the heart of our nuclear infrastructure? The Conservative party. In every decision taken about the energy sector and more widely, if there are questions about national security, they are taken forward in the usual way. We invest hugely in ensuring that all our critical national infrastructure is safe and secure from cyber-threats and other threats. That work continues and is a top priority for the Government. We are building the clean power system that delivers energy security, and the Conservatives are opposing it.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Michael Shanks and Joy Morrissey(6 months ago)
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Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)
Community engagement and funding are important. With large-scale solar farms planned for agricultural land, does the Secretary of State think that there are any circumstances in which local communities might know better than him?
Michael Shanks
Communities are, and will always be, able to speak about the plans for their local area, and to contribute to consultations and planning applications—we will not change anything about that. However, it is important to say that nationally important infrastructure will need to be built somewhere if we are to have the clean power future and energy security that everybody in this country needs. I gently say to the hon. Lady that, even in the most extreme statistics, less than 1% of land in this country would be used to build for solar. Either the Conservatives are in favour of keeping us on the rollercoaster of volatile fossil fuels, or they are in favour of building clean power. Her party used to be in favour of net zero, but now it seems to be running away from it at speed.