Speeches by Baldwin.

“In recent weeks in West Worcestershire, I have met local police and the police and crime commissioner; the police and crime commissioner is being abolished, and the police are being reorganised. I have met the local health commissioners; they are being reorganised, and Healthwatch is being abolished. I have met distric…”

“Will the Leader of the House confirm that, given that the other place is sitting next week, there is nothing to stop him tabling a business statement to enable this House to sit next week? Given the enormity of the events happening in the Government next week, does he not think that would be a good idea?”

“How inflationary is it going to be, if all the European countries are increasing their defence budgets simultaneously? You have said there is enough industrial capacity in shipbuilding, so you have been able to just come up with an optimal drumbeat, but if all the countries are simultaneously increasing their defence s…”

“Are there any sectors where there is inadequate industrial capacity and therefore all the extra demand will be inflationary for your budget?”

“I have a couple of questions on the frigates. Minister, I wrote to you about the 50% steel tariffs that came in on 1 July, up from 25%. There was not a big change in the quotas for the sort of things that go into the defence sector. We heard evidence from Make UK that this would have a real cost impact. What has been p…”

“So no skeletons then.”

“I am hearing a “maybe” in there, in terms of the inflationary demand of everyone buying simultaneously, but I guess that it is very difficult to predict. Ms Blackmore, you have dealt with the “very difficult to predict” by putting in contingency. This is your opportunity to tell the Committee about any other skeletons …”

“Sitting through this very interesting session with both of you here has been very valuable. It struck me that it has now been more than eight years since I was in the role of Minister for Defence Procurement. A lot has changed, but a lot remains the same. In terms of the strategic shifts, obviously we are going from a …”

“For the big-ticket items, which are obviously the submarines, how much has the cost pressure come from the non-negotiable and non-changing bits of the defence equipment plan?”

“On shipbuilding, how much industrial capacity is there that would be non-inflationary?”

“Your budget has not gone up to reflect that, so what have you built into the future projection that will take into account the risks of inflation?”

“It does not sound like a big enough buffer. If you have experienced 70% inflation, versus the whole economy experiencing 34% inflation in the last eight years, that does not sound like an enormous buffer to me. Ms Blackmore, are the numbers at the end of the defence investment plan reflecting inflation, or are they jus…”

“I singled out steel tariffs because steel is the only one where the Government themselves have imposed the cost increase. I want to turn to shipbuilding and the pipeline of ships. There is always this tension in the shipbuilding programme between whether you delay and slow down, or whether that is counterproductive in …”

“But you will experience higher costs as a result of the tariffs.”

“Twice the rate—so it could be as much as 70% more expensive to buy the same things that we were buying in 2018.”

“I think the Chief Secretary may need to leave now, so I have saved my questions for the defence side of things.”

“I want to ask the Minister about the auction price that the Energy Secretary set today for offshore wind, which I understand is £120 per megawatt-hour. That sounds very high to me.”

“It would mean we would have to import less from countries outside the UK because we would have our own supply. I do not want to intrude on arguments within the governing party, but I will call out the fact that it does not make sense to leave our own gas in the ground. The policies I have been outlining are precisely t…”

“I will not give way, given how tight we are for time. I hope Members will welcome the fact that the Conservatives have a clear and credible plan to cut energy bills, reduce regulation and lower taxes. We have a cheap power plan that will cut household energy bills by £200 a year and cut electricity bills for businesses…”

“I am very tight for time, but if the hon. Gentleman insists.”