Speeches by Blake.

“A very good point made, and it links to my next question. Are the economic, social and environmental and scientific demands on the marine environment adequately balanced in the context of marine spatial planning? That is obviously a context here. Do you think that the current system has the correct balance? I will star…”

“That is an interesting example. You have hinted at this, but what would be the immediate environmental impact of a complete ban?”

“You say that there is a bit of a mixed view about why the activity is still allowed within the UK MPAs. Can you explore that a bit more for me?”

“First, a question to Mr Cunningham. There is a vigorous campaign at present to ban bottom trawling in UK marine protected areas, on the basis that there is pretty good evidence that this type of fishing is environmentally damaging. Can you explain to us what sort of damage this practice does to the UK marine environmen…”

“I have a scientific background, and my personal view is that Government quite often do not realise that science is sometimes a continuing debate. They will get one paper and say, “That is the one”, but science is an iterative process.”

“Do you think that policymakers and regulators are getting the right information to be able to make good quality decisions about species that migrate?”

“A final question, because I am aware of time. Do you think that the information that allows policymakers and regulators to make decisions is the right information and of adequate quality? Do you think the guidance that is produced provides sufficient protection for the species that migrate?”

“Are there any specific mechanisms that you think would be helpful to ensure that flexibility and adaptability?”

“As the marine environment changes, how can the UK ensure that it is providing protection to species that may be displaced or migrate to different areas than they would ordinarily live in—for example, if they migrate north to waters that become warmer?”

“This is a strange question. How will you make sure that species are not wrongly deemed as invasive because they are moving? How do you maintain protection if they are new to someone’s environment, and they are eating something that you are concerned about protecting? How do you keep up with nature to make sure that we …”

“Thank you very much.”

“Did Cornwall Insight get it massively wrong?”

“Would you improve anything?”

“It sounds like you feel that something would be lost with this suggestion, but would it be easier to run the whole mission out of your Department, working across Government and with stakeholders as necessary rather than the situation we have? It sounds as though you do not agree with that.”

“To drill down a bit more, how are you avoiding overlap and duplication among all the organisations that have oversight?”

“Several organisations and bodies are involved in overseeing the delivery of clean power by 2030, including Mission Control, NESO, the Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission, the Clean Power Mission Board, the AI Energy Council and your own Department. Who ultimately has responsibility for the oversight?”

“Okay.”

“Welcome, Secretary of State. I want to ask about something that happened today. Cornwall Insight has released a report that says that the Government will miss their 2030 clean power target by 32 GW, equivalent to tens of millions of homes’ worth of power. Do you recognise that figure and do you agree with the report’s …”

“To you all, if that is okay: are there any lessons we can learn from anywhere else, internationally, about how we can do this more effectively to make sure that we are including this in our infrastructure planning and making it cost effective at the same time? Finally, is there anything that you think we should include…”

“I am coming back to you, Mr Lockhart. If we had a more formal way to talk about nature and the environment as infrastructure, what specific role do you feel new housing developments could have?”