Speeches by McDonald.

“My hon. Friend does a grand job of championing the critical minerals industry in Cornwall and the potential for floating offshore wind in her constituency. She highlights a great opportunity, where investment in energy and industry side by side can reduce the cost of capital for both parts of the supply chain and so cr…”

“I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for engaging with me on this topic in advance of the recent changes to the emissions trading scheme to include maritime emissions. It is incredibly important that domestic maritime emissions are included, so as to incentivise the investment required to decarbonise. I am aware o…”

“In fact, the Government are taking an approach across the whole United Kingdom to deliver the energy infrastructure and energy generation capacity to guarantee low-cost, home-grown, secure energy for the future, ensuring that the jobs and benefits from that are seen across the country. I would have thought that the hon…”

“My hon. Friend is right to champion the small manufacturers in her constituency, which I know well from the time that I spent working in south Wales. It is important to note the announcement from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State this morning—it will shortly be the subject of a statement to the House—about al…”

“The hon. Lady and I agree that more needs to be done to alleviate the high energy costs for small businesses. I used to run an energy-intensive small business myself, and I know how difficult that is. She is also right to point out that this is the legacy that the last Government left us. We are pushing forward to 2030…”

“The carbon pricing emissions trading scheme is set by the market, rather than the Government. The price is effective at driving investment in carbon abatement measures, but it is for individual operators to decide whether the costs of abatement in a project are effective for them.”

“The Government do not comment on or interfere with the carbon price. Ultimately, the price is set by the market to ensure that the ETS drives decarbonisation where it is cheapest. In this way, it can act most effectively as a financial incentive to decarbonise, without specifying the particular technology.”

“I am not sure if the shadow Secretary of State is conflating the various carbon taxes with the emissions trading scheme, but to be clear: the Government do not set or comment on the value of the carbon in the emissions trading scheme. That is a matter for the market. It is of course a policy on which the previous Gover…”

“My hon. Friend does a good job of standing up for workers in his constituency and, following the statement that I made in the House before Christmas, he will know very well the views of the Government on this closure. I was pleased to attend the local taskforce recently with my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath an…”

“The right hon. Member and I debated this at length in the Delegated Legislation Committee last week. On the impact of this measure on Northern Ireland, I am sure he will be pleased to welcome the fact that we are providing a 50% reduction on the carbon tax associated with the extension to domestic maritime for journeys…”

“That was an extremely sweet question, and I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the issue further and outline many of the initiatives that the Government are taking to support small businesses. Perhaps it would be best to do that on site, where I can get my favourite chocolate limes.”

“The Government were pleased to provide an exemption for the islands around Scotland for a number of reasons, but particularly because of the small populations on those islands and the non-competitive nature of the ferry services.”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy (Amendment) Regulations 2026. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 12 January 2026. I acknowledge the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, which provided a helpful review of the…”

“It is very pleasing to see a reasonable level of support across the Committee, not only for the draft regulations but for our energy-intensive industries. Perhaps I can answer the question from the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston while talking at length about ceramics, which my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-…”

“I thank all right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions to the debate. I hope to be able to respond to them. We heard, from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, the Opposition’s clear objections to the emissions trading scheme. We also heard them last week, in a statutory …”

“No, the shadow Minister does not. Well, perhaps he needs to think about it a bit longer. The shadow Minister talked about the administrative burden placed on maritime companies, which is of course something of which the Government are very conscious. He mentioned some of the information that would need to be recorded, …”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman for his service in the Royal Navy, and I am happy to withdraw that remark. Perhaps there was an oversight on his part in relation to that particular issue. I absolutely do withdraw that remark. On the shadow Minister’s comment about the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man is a Crown dependency,…”

“That is not what I am saying at all. I am saying that it was important to us that Northern Ireland was not in any way disadvantaged, which is why the 50% reduction was offered. The hon. and learned Member mentioned Rathlin island in his constituency; I remind him of the 5,000 gross tonnage limit and how that applies. T…”

“I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments. Perhaps we can go through some of the assessments of the impact of cost inflation in more detail when we meet. Our modelling shows that that could largely be eaten up by normal inflation and normal operating practices, but there are decisions there for the operators to take i…”

“I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that this measure will need the support of the Governments of all four parts of the United Kingdom.”