Speeches by Maynard.

“I do not understand, given that the country is already paying £1.6 billion, why we have to wait rather than talking any numbers now. That conversation can start now, and I do not understand why taxpayers should be picking up the bill while they just wait it out.”

“Is that a secure footing behind large tariff barriers, or are you confident that in three years it is going to be back in an open-market environment and making money? How long do you think it needs to be back in an open-market environment, not behind tariff barriers and making money? What is your take on ownership?”

“Secretary of State, we recognise and accept that this is cross-departmental. We also acknowledge what you have done on renewable obligations, in terms of moving some of that off. We also all hear that businesses are drowning under this electricity cost. What about going further and moving more of those levies off, work…”

“Would you do it that way?”

“Turning it around, do you believe that, if we were to move more of those levies over to general taxation, that is better for our economy and our country?”

“Regarding contracts for difference, will the Government now consider moving from a 100% revenue guarantee model to a partial coverage model, along the lines of what Australia now has?”

“For the 10,000 you are talking about.”

“I hope that they are coming to you, not you to them.”

“Talking about British Steel, as I understand it, and correct me if I am wrong, working capital from April last year to May this year is £484 million in. I think that that is going to increase this year. As per the supplementary estimates that are coming out next February, I think that it is going to increase again ther…”

“On that partnership on services, are there chinks of light? Are you very optimistic? Where are you on that?”

“Is that services as in all services, or are there particular services?”

“First of all, I refer members to my register of interests and my holding in BDA Partners, the M&A business I founded focused on Asia. Just following up on the Chair’s point there, what do you think are the pros and cons of setting up maybe a traffic-light system or something like that, and talking through risks so that…”

“Minister, I agree, but we also want to matter and to be able to protect ourselves. I totally agree with the aspect of being clever about it, but what does clever mean in this situation? How can we protect our economy effectively?”

“Following on from that, there is the call for input on how to protect the UK from adverse economic pressure. There is the European Union with what it calls the big bazooka, so its anti-coercion instrument. Instinctively, it has 450 million people; we have less than 70 million people. Its bazooka is quite a lot bigger t…”

“I am not necessarily looking for the specifics but the generality. Has a big fine been handed out? Has it changed behaviour? Otherwise, if I was a Chinese exporter I would be thinking, “Hey, let’s just carry on”.”

“Yes, but is it working? Last year, did we do one, 10 or 100 remedies? Did this actually bite or not?”

“How does that work? What has been the biggest punishment meted out by the Trade Remedies Authority to date? Why should any Chinese company be frightened of this?”

“What does that mean in terms of fines and sanctions? What is actually hitting? I respect everything you are saying, but are teeth being used?”

“A recent report by the French Government argued that Europe is experiencing the second wave in an unparalleled competitive shock caused by heavily subsidised Chinese imports. Your Department has access to the OECD MAGIC database, which sets out in gory detail just how unlevel this playing field is and how much China su…”

“Minister, if I may, just taking the broader picture, we have wholesale subsidisation across many industries. It is hard for us to track that information. The OECD has probably done the best job of that. That is putting British manufacturing industries, particularly, at a severe disadvantage day after day after day, and…”