Speeches by Cross.

“Yes, absolutely. Many flights that take off from Aberdeen are full of workers who are leaving north-east Scotland for Norway, taking their skills and taxable income with them. Norway welcomes the opportunity for investment in its energy sources. Norway drilled more than 30 new exploration wells in its North sea this ye…”

“Well, in that case, the Minister will have heard exactly the things that I hear from it, so why has he not acted on them? I asked the company I met on Friday what it thought about the North sea future plan paper. Its words to me were: “We didn’t need 170 pages, we just needed a fair fiscal regime.” That is all it wants…”

“Thank you. Dave, do you have anything to add?”

“This is not a politically charged question; this is just fact. Is it your opinion, or are you getting the feeling that because all the levers are here for the English cities, the Government know exactly what they are paying for and can plan it better, whereas for Scotland co-ordination is needed between the Westminster…”

“Looking more at the place-based side of things, Prosper has raised concerns about the competitiveness of the Scottish regions and cities if the English ones, for example, were to run ahead. Is there evidence that this is happening? If so, where, and what examples are there? How can Scotland—both Governments, or either …”

“Thank you both very much.”

“As we have heard from the Secretary of State, the draft order will seemingly simplify the infrastructure consent processes in Wales for infrastructure projects, including those related to energy, electricity, transport, waste and water, by moving from the current multinational-level agencies process to an approvals pro…”

“Let us turn to jobs. I am Aberdeenshire-based. My friends, neighbours and constituents are losing jobs daily and weekly in the oil and gas sector. Jobs to us is vital, and GB Energy was effectively sold to Aberdeen as something that was going to come and help save our jobs. Job figures that we have seen from GB Energy …”

“They are from the north-east and have been created in the north-east?”

“There are staff already in those locations.”

“I have two more brief questions. What is the rationale behind the Glasgow and Edinburgh satellite offices? Aberdeen is the HQ but is still quite small and does not exist yet. What is their role?”

“But how does 15 jobs now reflect what has happened even in the past few months up there? What is the medium and long-term solution? We were told there were going to be about 1,000 jobs. I sat in on an Energy Security and Net Zero Committee meeting last year where Juergen Maier spoke, and he reiterated the point that th…”

“Sorry, if I can just jump in. I understand that completely, but if we just jump back a few questions to what Douglas asked about the Pentland wind farm that is being invested in. That is fantastic: there will be 600 jobs in the construction phase. That is the issue: these jobs are not comparable to ones that are being …”

“Energy sovereignty and energy security are vital, and gas will play an important role in that for years to come, but our domestic production is falling because of this Government’s policies. Imports of liquefied natural gas are up by 40% this year, and domestic production is meant to get to 25% by 2030. We must support…”

“Exxon has said that the plant’s closure “reflects the challenges of operating in a policy environment that is accelerating the exit of vital industries, domestic manufacturing, and the high-value jobs they provide.” When are the Government going to take responsibility for the decisions that they are making? We see no p…”

“The Government have clearly lost control of this Budget process. While they have been flying kites, businesses across the UK have been sending up distress flares. The £40 billion of tax from them in the last Budget saw hiring down, confidence down and investments down, and we are now seeing the same again. If any busin…”

“Will the Minister give way on that point?”

“I was just wondering whether the Minister remembers what else happened in 2022, around February time, that might have impacted gas prices.”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Projections show that if we fully utilised the oil and gas in the North sea we could cover half our energy needs up to 2050, so there is a lot more in there than five years-worth, but even if it were true that there was only five years-worth, why would we be increasing our imports to cover it? Why would we not be using…”