Speeches by Downie.

“We have heard about—you mentioned it there—the divisiveness of the process and some of the delays inside the industry. Two questions are linked. Are there lessons for the Department about how they go about future consultation processes? Do you think there has been any damage done inside the industry through the lack of…”

“You would not agree that the evidence base, from your knowledge, has changed that much since the decision was taken.”

“Chris, was the feeling about the process that there was no clear objective in mind? No one said, “This is what we are trying to achieve and let’s work towards it.” Am I being unfair?”

“It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton), who is both gracious with his time and entertaining to listen to. I thank him for that. I begin by thanking all armed forces personnel who are protecting our country at the moment. Importantly, this debate is taking place in Armed Forces…”

“I was slightly concerned that I was going to have to disagree with the right hon. Gentleman at this early stage, but I absolutely agree with him. Any politician who wraps themselves in a flag, without there being any substance to their reason for doing so, is not worthy of leading any constituency or party—and certainl…”

“The hon. Gentleman always picks out the issues that really matter to our people. The Ministry of Defence’s Op Courage does exactly the kind of work that he is talking about. I am sure that Members from across the House see correspondence on that in their constituency mailbag all the time. We must make sure that we are …”

“That is not something I want to be drawn on in the Chamber. I have not seen the news report, and I believe that the answer to that question would have to come from the Government. As well as making sure that we are speaking to the public about the things that matter to them, we must broaden out the conversation. When w…”

“Verity, what impact would a change in policy to either reverse or accelerate the decline in domestic oil and gas production have in the UK, or in UK manufacturing?”

“I share the Chair’s scepticism about level playing fields and different wordings for how we support or choose not to support. How do we decide what area to focus on and help them with, and what does that level playing field look like? Which playing field is level?”

“One last brief question. We have a difficulty sometimes in these sectors where energy is reserved to the UK Government, but we have skills policy devolved to the Scottish Government. [Interruption.] That is often my reaction as well. What engagement are you having with the Scottish Government? We heard from the previou…”

“Yes. My concern is always the loss of opportunities for people in my constituency, frankly, because they will move people from England rather than—”

“What do we need to do to support those kinds of things—that kind of diversity?”

“As part of transition, should we be looking to make those businesses 100% export? Are there ways and how can we try to support that, if there is a long-term decline in UK oil and gas?”

“If, say, there is a 20, 30, or 40-year decline in UK oil and gas and therefore less of a domestic market, how do you try to make sure that those businesses are supported? Does it become: those are market forces?”

“Verity, did you have anything to add to that?”

“I have a number of oil and gas supply chain businesses in my constituency but most of them are export services. What benefit does the UK get from having a domestic oil and gas industry if these businesses spend a lot of time exporting anyway, Elizabeth?”

“If these businesses are exporting anyway, what is the effect of a reduction in domestic UK oil and gas services?”

“What would be needed in order to give them some vision of what the plan is?”

“My other colleagues have questions on decommissioning coming up.”

“I am about to run out of time. Claire, what is your view of signals that the Government could send or would be sending by either moving to the OGPM or not, or by legislating for a licensing ban or not? Would you have any concerns for you and your workers about the signals that might send?”