Speeches by McCarthy.

“I am happy to join the hon. Member in congratulating his local council. I visited the Local Government Association the week before last, I think, with the local net zero delivery group, on which we have representation from all areas of local government. I am keen to learn from the best and translate that into action fo…”

“We know that there is strong public support, and we are keen to engage more at a local level with groups like Bracknell Forest Community Climate Action. That is why we have set up the local net zero delivery group to work with councils and mayors, and why we will produce a public participation strategy later this year.…”

“The Climate Change Committee report made clear the progress we have made in the past 12 months on overturning the terrible legacy of the Conservatives, who turned their back on climate action. We know that clean power is the route to energy security, lower bills and good jobs. It is a shame that the Tories and Reform a…”

“Perhaps if the right hon. Member had been here yesterday, she would have been able to engage with the Secretary of State on this. The science is absolutely clear: every avoided fraction of a degree of warming makes a difference to the severity of climate impacts. That is why the Prime Minister went to the global leader…”

“Yes, of course we look at the cumulative impact of these developments. Having been in the Department, the right hon. Gentleman will know that we have an excellent team of scientists led by Professor Paul Monks, who I want to pay tribute to because he is standing down later this year. I am sure the right hon. Gentleman …”

“As someone who grew up in Luton, I am not sure I am allowed to say that I love Watford, because there is an age-old rivalry there—but yes, we know that acting now with our clean energy superpower mission, scaling up renewables, reinforcing the grid and reducing our reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets will mean a c…”

“Yesterday, the Secretary of State made an incredibly important statement to this House outlining the crises we face when it comes to climate change and the decline of nature. Tackling this starts with being honest about the science and what the experts are telling us. We know that we can only have climate security for …”

“I appreciate my hon. Friend’s concerns. This is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but I am happy to talk to colleagues as they bring forward their land use framework. Nature-based solutions to climate change are important, so we very much engage with our colleagues in DEFRA on these i…”

“We have nuclear production in this country—[Interruption.] We have nuclear power as part of the mix. Obviously, the investment we have just announced does not come into effect for a while, but we have that as part of the mix. We have said that there will be 95% clean power with gas as a back-up if needed. We are not pu…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Contracts for Difference (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.3) Regulations 2025. The regulations were laid before the House on 2 June this year. At the Global Offshore Wind conference this month, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero reaffirmed ou…”

“I am not aware of that announcement, not least because I am not the Energy Minister—he is in the Chamber, making a statement about the oil refinery. But we are doing all we can to bring down consumer bills, and I think we deserve some credit for our efforts. To conclude, meeting the Government’s commitment to the clean…”

“It is a whole factor. There is solar, onshore wind, offshore wind, and increasingly storage. We have nuclear as part of the mix now, and we have said—”

“The shadow Minister went through his list of questions rather quickly. I will try to respond to some of his comments and answer a few of the questions, but apologies if I did not catch them all—I was trying to scribble away. We intend for the AR7 window to open on 7 August, and we will publish a final Government respon…”

“It’s Sir Desmond!”

“I could not agree more, and that is what the clean industry bonus is: it is designed to help foster those jobs through the manufacturing and supply chain. I am going up to my hon. Friend’s part of the world on Wednesday to see all that is happening in the bay when it comes to developing the energy resources of the Mers…”

“I will not be tempted too far down that path, other than to say that it is very much on our radar. We know that renewables are the cheaper option, but that needs to be reflected in the prices that people are charged. Today, we announced measures in our industrial strategy to bring down energy prices for industry as par…”

“I can certainly reassure my hon. Friend. I have received quite a lot of correspondence on that, which MPs have passed on from their constituents. I have answered written questions—which are in the public domain—and replied to queries on both those points. I will try to express as clearly and vehemently as I can that we…”

“It is a pleasure, as always, to see you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) on leading the debate and on showing respect for the notion behind the petition, because that is not always the case when people come and present views. I hope the petitioners feel that she h…”

“That sounds like a great project. We are absolutely committed to recognising the role that community energy groups, like the Chipping Community Land Trust, can play in ensuring that communities directly benefit from the energy transition. The trust was awarded £100,000 through the former rural community energy fund, an…”

“If rural communities are to benefit from the clean energy transition, it is important that they play a role in hoping to host the infrastructure. When the Great British Energy Bill went through Parliament, there was much discussion about ensuring that communities that host the new infrastructure do not lose out. I can …”