Speeches by Maynard.

“We were in a shipyard yesterday in Govan in Glasgow and certainly there was lots of steel, mainly imported from Sweden. I am slightly nervous about blowing in the wind as defence is hot right now, so people are saying, “Let’s build defence steels”. For anybody who would like to comment, is that a wise thing to be inves…”

“Mr Grady, it has been said so far as if it was all about missing the season, as in the 2024-25 season. We are not going to have been producing—”

“Okay, but which season are we talking about? Frankly, stop me if I am wrong here, but if you have a sign-off in August, having £390 million operational by the next season will be a push. Which season are we talking about? It seems odd.”

“That is helpful because that was not clear until this moment. It still strikes me as odd. We are talking 2029-30 and so we are talking 48 months, maybe. Back in 2024, that was more like 60 months. To be saying two months out of 60 feels odd. Am I being unfair when I say that those two months can be caught up over four …”

“In autumn 2029?”

“Okay. I will park that.”

“You are getting £450 million or £590 million in August. You are saying £390 million spent on construction, including building and fitting out a plant, and also some R&D out there, but then you are saying this was all about the flu season that was kicking off in October or November. You cannot spend that sort of money i…”

“Thank you all. Mr Bolton, you chair the Steel Council. What do you see as the competitive advantage of the steel sector in the UK today? Where do you think we have particular advantages? What would you recommend for growing those advantages and making our steel sector more competitive?”

“Can you say a bit more about how those costs can be reduced? Also, in what kind of particular market sectors do you think we are most competitive?”

“We left the European single day-ahead coupling energy trading system. Would rejoining the European energy market be a help in bringing down costs?”

“Very roughly, what was the £450 million going to be spent on, in headlines?”

“Does the £390 million for construction include capex as well? It is not just the construction of the—”

“Fine. Part of it is R&D, but the £390 million, which is constructing and fitting out a facility, takes many months.”

“Okay. I am confused. The flu vaccination season starts in October or November. Is that right?”

“I thank the hon. Members for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur), for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) and for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton), because I have enjoyed working with them on the Bill. We all have our own stories. I should state my personal interest. My sister Georgie is sitting in the Gal…”

“I think the hon. Member will agree that the shutting down of the SFI with no notice on Tuesday night is an awful situation. DEFRA has been either disorganised or sneaky, but either way it diminishes the trust of our farming communities in the Government.”

“Our country’s very high electricity costs are another huge problem facing businesses in my constituency and nationally. Reintegrating our power markets with Europe’s through the single-day ahead coupling system would cost our country nothing, save costs for businesses, reduce carbon dioxide and make our power markets m…”

“I am just looking at a couple of charts from the Office for Life Sciences. On pharma exports from 2013 to 2023, we were No. 6, and we are now No. 10. Ireland had smaller exports and now has triple our exports. On foreign direct investment, we were No. 6, and we are now No. 8. We are bouncing along below £1 billion most…”

“That is not my question. If we did go back today, would it be positive, negative or make no difference to your business in the UK?”

“Therefore, “no difference” is the answer. Would it be positive or negative? You can say, “I do not want to answer the question.””