Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill Committee: New Clause 3

What happened: On 23 February 2026, MPs voted on New Clause 3 during the Committee stage of the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill. The new clause, tabled by opposition parties, sought to add extra conditions or restrictions on the government's ability to provide financial assistance to businesses. It was defeated by 280 votes to 77.

Why it matters: The Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill's central purpose is to raise the cap on government financial assistance available under section 8(1) of an existing law -- from £12 billion to £20 billion -- and to expand the scope of export finance and insurance the government can offer. New Clause 3 would have attached additional conditions to that assistance, limiting the government's flexibility in how it deploys this substantially increased pot of public money. Its defeat means the government retains its preferred, less restricted approach to disbursing industrial and export support.

The politics: The vote split sharply along government-versus-opposition lines. Labour MPs, including those elected under the Labour and Co-operative banner, voted unanimously against the new clause, providing the bulk of the 280 Noes. Support for the clause came from a broad but numerically modest opposition coalition -- the Liberal Democrats supplied 53 of the 77 Ayes, joined by the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the DUP, and a small number of independents and Reform UK members. There were no Labour rebels. The result mirrors a related division on the same day (Amendment 1), which was also defeated, suggesting the opposition's attempts to reshape the Bill throughout its Committee stage were consistently repelled.