Speeches by Wilson.

“I hope that that was a mistake and an oversight by the Government. I trust that it is not a deliberate attempt to try not to put themselves in conflict with local authorities in Northern Ireland that are controlled by Sinn Féin. If that was the reason, it is an absolute disgrace. If it was an oversight, I hope that the…”

“But if the power is being supplied and the authorities say, “We can generate the power,” you do not really ask whether it is renewable or what the implications of providing that renewable energy may have been. Are you saying that that is not a decision for you—it is simply, “Are we getting renewable energy?””

“Would you expect that it is reasonable to dig into the implications of locating in a particular area and look at those environmental issues and the impact on local communities, who will probably not benefit from the data centre, but are nevertheless impacted?”

“The Minister is right that those who engaged in the violence last night should face the full weight of the law, because legally, morally and politically they were wrong. However, if the law is going to apply to those who protested, it should also apply to those who have broken into our country illegally, broken our imm…”

“Before I come to my main question, can I just ask this, out of pure personal ignorance on the matter? You have outlined the benefits of data centres in terms of productivity. I think the figure of £8 billion invested could give £35 billion-worth of productivity gains and so on. Given the controversy about whether they …”

“On the environmental sustainability of the centres, how are environmental sustainability practices embedded in the planning and operation of data centres? Can you give examples of where and how it has been done?”

“You outlined, as far as the building and operation of the data centres, how you try to build in sustainability. Can I just take you to the point before you reach that decision? This is provoked by a visit I had during the recess. Obviously, Governments and authorities are keen to locate these data centres for all the r…”

“But data centres tell us that 50% of their energy at present is from renewable sources, which is not guaranteed, simply because the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. This raises one of the issues of sustainability. What back-up systems are used? For example, would data centres rely on diesel …”

“The Minister is right that those who engaged in the violence last night should face the full weight of the law, because legally, morally and politically they were wrong. However, if the law is going to apply to those who protested, it should also apply to those who have broken into our country illegally, broken our imm…”

“Finally, in an attempt to reduce energy consumption in the longer run and be more sustainable, what is the potential for data storage clean-ups? A lot of data may be held that is no longer of any use. Is there big potential to reduce the power consumption of data centres, and is there any incentive to do so?”

“Data storage.”

“But given the increasing reliance on renewable power that data centres boast about, would it be common to have those kinds of back-up methods? How sustainable is that?”

“Regardless of what has provoked this change of heart, we can all welcome the Government now recognising the harms caused to children and families by social media. The evidence is very clear. I believe that most children will support the legislation. On Friday, I chaired a debate—a lively debate—at Roddensvale special s…”

“There has been considerable debate about trends in temperatures and so on, and about past temperatures that have impacted on the United Kingdom, going back even to the Roman period, when as far north as Scotland, it was warm enough to grow grapes and make wine. Today’s levels are not unprecedented historically. You men…”

“Even the class 1 and 2 weather stations did not show the same that year. They are the ones that are going to give you the more accurate information. I think class 1 is the one that is used as a base. They did not show the same extent. It was in the other 80%—the class 3, 4 and 5 stations—that most of those higher tempe…”

“You mentioned the 40° one in July 2022. Of course, there has been considerable debate about what caused that. It was measured at an RAF station as three Typhoon jets were taking off. Many people said that the spike was caused not by natural temperatures but indeed by what was happening on the site. Indeed, there have b…”

“Northern Ireland has skills, technology and infrastructure to contribute to the defence industry across the United Kingdom, but the Sinn Féin Economy Minister does not want defence jobs. Will the Minister assure us that the attitude of Sinn Féin will not be a deterrent to those vital jobs coming to Northern Ireland?”

“I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Hezbollah has made south Lebanon into an armed camp and a massive arms dump in which it stores rockets and drones that have been used to attack Israeli towns and cities, kill civilians, cause billions of pounds worth of damage, and displace a…”

“In an earlier answer, the Minister for Energy mentioned the money being spent on carbon capture, but has he considered the impact of his net zero policies on carbon release? Last week, I visited a site in the Sperrins where 250,000 metric tonnes of peat are to be stripped from the hillside in order to put in the infras…”

“Our sympathies go out to the family, who must have been horrified by what they saw on the police footage. How have we reached a stage in this country where, when the police go to an incident, they arrest a dying man because they are afraid of being accused of racism by his murderer? This is affecting the police right a…”