(Lichfield)
(Con): Well done, Prime Minister, on motivating people and
delivering that which others were saying could not be delivered
at COP26 so far, just a couple of days into a two-week programme.
May I invite him to visit Rolls-Royce, which is working on
developing a 100% sustainable fuel jet engine for aviation, and
to put his considerable weight—I do not mean that in a personal
manner; I mean as Prime Minister—behind the gigafactory proposal
for Coventry in the West Midlands Combined Authority?
The Prime Minister: I thank my hon. Friend. It was, in fact,
only a couple of weeks ago that the entire Cabinet was in Bristol
with Rolls-Royce, looking at what it is doing with
GKN and other companies on sustainable aviation.
We are also looking actively at what we can do to support a
gigafactory in the Coventry area, but obviously, there are
commercial discussions under way.
(Birmingham, Erdington)
(Lab): GKN-Melrose has announced its
intention to proceed with the closure of the Erdington plant,
which employs 519 loyal, long-serving workers in an area with the
fifth-highest level of deprivation in Britain, and to export
production to Poland, which is still burning coal on a grand
scale for years to come. Does the Prime Minister therefore
understand the dismay of the workers concerned? With the
automotive industry in transition to an electric future, does he
agree that we need a supply chain here in Britain, employing
workers here in Britain, manufacturing here in Britain, as part
of a green industrial revolution here in Britain?
The Prime Minister: Yes, I passionately agree with that.
GKN does an amazing job across the country,
particularly in delivering some of the most difficult solutions,
such as sustainable aviation. We need to ensure that we have the
ecosystem of gigafactories and electric vehicle manufacturing
capabilities, and all the supply chains here in Britain, but with
an energy cost that allows those businesses to be competitive.
That applies to steel, automotive and everybody else, and I am
afraid that, at the moment, the differential between our domestic
users’ electricity costs and industrial energy costs is too high,
and we have to fix it.
