Speeches by Smith.

“I accept many of the arguments that the Minister has put forward. I note he acknowledged that, off the back of the evidence sessions on Tuesday, all the current technologies are ready. That is a really important point for the Committee and the whole House to reflect upon as the Bill progresses. There has been something…”

“I will make one or two brief comments on the new clauses that have been tabled by the Liberal Democrat members of the Committee. The official Opposition have some sympathy with new clause 2. It is always sensible with any new legislation to ensure, within a reasonable timeframe, that it is doing what it was meant to do…”

“I do not have a great deal to say on the provisions, other than that it is always regrettable when Northern Ireland is forgotten and has to be inserted via an amendment. On the clause, I have no problem with financial penalties for failure to comply with the law, so I am not attacking the clause per se, but what will t…”

“I apologise, Mr Western, for getting ahead of myself. I went slightly cross-eyed as I looked down at my notes, and have two amendments back to back. I stand by what I said, and maybe we can save some time later as I have already made my comments on amendment 5. We all make mistakes; we are all human. Turning to amendme…”

“I spoke to amendment 5—I apologise.”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that point; I do not think that we are misaligned on that argument. Yes, we need to move to sustainable aviation fuel, preferably at the better end of that technology. It is this very Bill that will ensure that we can, as a country, move faster towards that aim with—I have used t…”

“I am grateful to you for rescuing me, Mr Western, by grouping both amendments in the same debate. I made a mistake, so I put my hands up to that. I am grateful for the Minister’s response. I will not press the matter to a vote but, as with the earlier amendment, when projections are made I think it is incumbent on the …”

“I absolutely understand and appreciate where the hon. Gentleman is coming from with this new clause. This topic came up in the oral evidence sessions and on Second Reading. It is of great concern that the slightly lower tariffs deal done with the United States of America has clearly and materially threatened UK product…”

“I understand the argument that the hon. Gentleman is making with new clause 4, but I would argue that it is unnecessary; the whole point of the Bill is to decarbonise aviation. As the Minister said himself, and as I hope the Committee will accept, the Bill was conceived and finds its origins under the last Government, …”

“Rasping?”

“The central question is whether that review, when it comes, looks at the greenhouse gas savings while the aircraft is in use, or gives a whole-system analysis, from the production and use of the fuel to the benefits of using the by-products, post combustion, to make more fuel. That is an important clarification that we…”

“New clause 8 has considerable merit. It is always preferable where new industrial facilities are to be built—in this case for the production of sustainable aviation fuel—for those identified sites to have had former brownfield status and former industrial use. I have no argument with that element of the new clause. The…”

“I associate myself with the Minister’s thanks to everyone who has worked so hard on the Bill, particularly the civil servants; I welcomed the ability to discuss the Bill with them in a private briefing before Second Reading. I also thank the Doorkeepers, Hansard and the Clerks for ensuring that the Committee has run sm…”

“I beg to move amendment 4, in clause 12, page 7, line 12, at end insert— “(3) A direction given under subsection (1) must include a requirement for the designated counterparty to report on— (a) the impact of any revenue certainty contract on the fluctuation of the average price to consumers of an airfare over the proce…”

“At the heart of every high street are wonderful hospitality SMEs—pubs, cafés, restaurants, bars and coffee shops—yet the 2024 Budget was a hammer blow to them. With £3.4 billion of extra costs, one in 10 restaurants faces closure this year. Indeed, Labour’s Budget has already cost hospitality 69,000 jobs. For context, …”

“That answer is simply not good enough for the 63% of employees in the hospitality sector whose jobs are on the line. Yet we now read in the press that the Government appear set on forcing restaurateurs to monitor customers’ calorie consumption—another crippling blow of red tape on top of national insurance hikes, minim…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and Malling (Helen Grant) on not just securing the debate and championing her constituents so well in her speech, but bravely telling her own story as part of it, just as the hon. Member for Chatha…”

“Q Building on those last two questions, in terms of the investment landscape in the UK for technology, and for SAF in particular, we are in an emerging technological race where, for example, the mandate itself starts to wind down HEFA use quite quickly. We can see waste-derived fuels coming down, but then we have heard…”

“Q Minister, no doubt we will be able to go through much of this on Thursday and next Tuesday, but a central feature of the debate on Second Reading was the ultimate impact on airfare payers of the price mechanism in the Bill, on top of the mandate. You were very clear at the Dispatch Box that it was plus or minus £1.50…”

“Q It is always good to get an academic perspective on these matters. We can get locked into all sorts of technical discussions and lose the bigger picture. From your work in the UCL centre, is there an academic view—a big picture view—on which of the technologies that the Bill could support through the price mechanism …”