(Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
(SNP): In 11 short days, world leaders will gather in
Glasgow for COP26. This is our best chance, and very likely our
last chance, to confront the climate emergency faced by our
planet. That is why it was such a devastating blow that, on the
eve of COP26, the UK Government rejected the Scottish cluster bid
to gain track 1 status for carbon capture and storage. Today, The
Press and Journal, has said that there is
“no valid reason and no acceptable excuse”
for that decision, and it has called for an immediate U-turn on
that colossal mistake. We know that the decision was not made on
technical or logical grounds; this devastating decision was
purely political. Scotland’s north-east was promised that
investment in 2014, but it is a promise that has been broken time
and again. Will the Prime Minister finally live up to those
promises, or are they simply not worth the Tory election leaflets
they are written on?
The Prime Minister: We remain absolutely committed to
helping industrial clusters to decarbonise across the whole
country, of course including Scotland. I know that there was
disappointment about the Acorn bid in Aberdeen. That is why it
has been selected as a reserve cluster. There can be no more
vivid testimony to this Government’s commitment to Scotland, or
indeed to fighting climate change, than the fact that the whole
world is about to come to Scotland to look at what Scotland is
doing to help tackle climate change. I congratulate the people of
Scotland on their efforts.
: People across Scotland
are looking for answers today, and they are getting none. All
they see is yet another Tory broken promise. It is bad enough
that this UK Government are holding back carbon capture in
Scotland, but they are proving an active barrier to renewable
energy opportunities across the board. Tidal stream energy has
the potential to generate 20% of UK generation capacity—exactly
the same as nuclear. All the industry needs is a ringfenced
budget of £71 million, a drop in the ocean compared with the £23
billion that this Government are throwing at the nuclear plant at
Hinkley. But the UK Government are failing to give that support,
threatening shovel-ready projects such as MeyGen in the north of
Scotland. At the very least, Prime Minister, stand up today and
guarantee a ringfenced budget for tidal stream energy and save
that renewable industry from being lost overseas.
The Prime Minister: Actually, do you know what, Mr Speaker?
I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on raising tidal energy.
He is absolutely right. I have seen the amazing projects that are
under way. I think the House will acknowledge that we are putting
huge sums into clean, green energy generation. The right hon.
Gentleman is far too gloomy about the prospects of Acorn in
Aberdeen. I think he needs to be seized with an unaccustomed
spirit of optimism, because the Acorn project still has strong
potential, and that is why it has been selected as a reserve
cluster. He should keep hope alive rather than spreading gloom in
the way that he does.
