Speeches by Gardiner.

“Energy resilience comes from a secure supply of clean and cheap energy. The major cause of the financial crises that the world has experienced over the last 40 years is the insecurity of supply of the fossil fuel markets, with Ukraine being just the latest case. As for cheap, the last Government in answer to a parliame…”

“We have seen the Kargil incursion, the Chittisinghpura attack, the hijacking of Air India Flight 814, the attack on Gandhinagar, the attack on the Lok Sabah itself, the attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai and the suicide bomb attack at Pulwama that killed 44 people, and now 26 tourists have been murdered at Pahalgam. Tha…”

“I think this is the first time I have had the pleasure of speaking under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond; I am very pleased to have you in the Chair. I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) on securing this important debate. It is said that if you remember the ’60s, you were not really there—…”

“The trade unions and others have made a case for £335 million a year to be invested in skills and training to ensure that workers are not unpaid on their training days, among other things. What conversations can the Minister have with colleagues to ensure that that happens?”

“The taxation regime is critical to the ability of companies to make profits in the North sea. We have the lowest base rate of tax on oil and gas production companies in the world, and it is only because we have the windfall tax that we take the rate up to the average. The Minister needs to look at the investment that w…”

“The hon. Lady speaks about the way in which other countries have ended their windfall tax, but does she accept that the basic rate of tax that was being applied by the previous Government to the oil and gas industry in the North sea was the lowest in the world, and that it is only with the windfall tax that it comes up…”

“Does the shadow Minister believe that investors do not know that it is a declining field?”

“I appreciate the hon. Lady’s remarks. Does she agree that one way in which Britain could help ensure that the transition is not only just, but orderly and managed, would be to do what countries such as Denmark have done—join the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance?”

“Before you do that, can you explain why the European report said that the potential growth in SAF, for all the things that you just said, would meet only the increase in demand, and therefore emissions would be the same as they are currently?”

“What policies from Government are needed to achieve that, and what recommendations should this Committee make to ensure that it happens?”

“But your target is for a 27% drop in emissions from livestock, not a 27% drop in meat consumption or livestock. It is the emissions from the sector.”

“Exactly, and what we are talking about here is your advice to Parliament and to Government on how to achieve the balanced pathway targets. You have talked about scaling up SAF, but if you do scale up SAF, what impact is that going to have on the other very difficult sector for you: land use and agriculture? What are th…”

“No, but it is here: “land use, land use change, and forestry”.”

““Absolutely” was good enough for me.”

“How much more would it cost if we did not transition?”

“Well, you raised the carbon border adjustment mechanism, not me.”

“The problem with the CBAM, though, is that unless you put that money back into the developing countries, you are in effect putting a tariff on them and becoming protectionist, so the other countries will never be able to afford to decarbonise in the way we want. So CBAM is a double-edged sword, isn’t it?”

“The more you go towards intensification and corral the livestock together, the more you increase the need for steroids, hormones and other interventions, but that is perhaps another conversation. Finally, if we are going to prioritise livestock reduction, should we prioritise it in particular areas of the country, look…”

“I would like to pursue this further with you, but I think I need to move on because the Chair is looking at me sideways—maybe we can talk about it afterwards. You talked about farmers, and you have said that a 27% reduction in cattle or sheep is needed by 2040. That is fairly blunt, but it is because of the methane emi…”

“You spoke about the mechanisms that are going to be required for the peatland restoration and additional woodland. That is certainly required to meet your balanced pathway, because a huge amount of that is in peatland and forestry. Together, they probably even exceed livestock emissions reductions, such as methane redu…”