'She championed NET ZERO!' | David Lammy SLAMS Shadow Energy Secretary's abandoned policies in PMQs

[00:00:00]Well, can I welcome the Shadow Energy Secretary to the dispatch box? It's always good to hear from someone who was the heart of the Treasury during the biggest fall in living standards on record.

[00:00:15]And Children's Minister in government that plunged hundreds of thousands of children into poverty, and the Energy Secretary who showed an unwavering commitment to the cause of net zero, even though she's now forgotten that.

[00:00:33]Don't believe everything you read in in the papers.

[00:00:37]The Prime Minister and the Energy Secretary have been discussing cutting bills by over £100. We've got our warm homes plan lifting millions of families out of fuel poverty and securing enough energy projects to power 23 million homes. She was the Energy Secretary who left our country exposed to to global fossil fuel markets. We're delivering clean energy security.

[00:01:05]>> Very good, Jade O'Dowd.

[00:01:06]>> Mr. Speaker, bills came down £500 under me. They've gone up £300 under these guys. And this is nonsense.

[00:01:16]His party are banning new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea, and these guys over here, they're no better because this is the same policy that the SNP championed for years. It is pointless virtue signaling and it's destroying well-paid jobs. So, can he tell the house how many jobs have been lost in Aberdeen since Labour came to power?

[00:01:39]>> Deputy Prime Minister.

[00:01:42]>> I I remember when the Energy Secretary championed net zero. She said in 2023, we cannot prosper, nor can our children flourish if we don't decarbonize energy.

[00:01:58]The Tories used to believe this three years ago. Now she's forgotten because they're desperately chasing reform and we know it.

[00:02:08]Over 700 jobs were lost during the last 10 years when they were in power.

[00:02:14]Production fell 75% over the last 25 years. We've secured over 900 billion pounds worth of investment to support more jobs by taking control with renewables and there are over 100,000 jobs in Scotland supported by clean power. We're building on that led by the great British energy headquartered in Aberdeen.

[00:02:38]>> Mr. Speaker, let me help him out. 8,000 people are losing their jobs every month in places like Aberdeen South because of Labour's policies. They say those oil and gas workers can get new green jobs, but what they don't say is those salaries pay half as much. So can he tell the house how he would feel if the government forced him to take a 50% pay cut?

[00:03:07]>> The honorable lady used to be an investment banker and she's got her facts wrong. Oil and gas is coming out of the North Sea 24/7.

[00:03:20]In the first three months of this year, 52 million barrels of oil came out. 44 million barrels equivalent of gas came out. We're not turning off the taps.

[00:03:33]It's part of a mixed economy. We'll support existing oil and gas fields throughout their lifespan making changes to exploit neighboring fields, but we do want to create more jobs and that's why we're going to continue to invest in to renewables. She knew this three years ago. She's changed her mind because she's chasing them.

[00:03:54]Perfect Junior.

[00:03:55]>> Mr. Speaker, I asked him about pay cuts and they should care. They should care because if the mayor of Manchester gets his way, I'm pretty sure half the front bench are going to be getting a pay cut pretty soon.

[00:04:10]Mr. Speaker, this is serious.

[00:04:15]The world is getting Mr. Speaker The world is getting more dangerous. Yet last week, the Prime Minister asked the Energy Secretary to help fund the defense of our country and he ghosted him.

[00:04:32]Let me repeat that. The Energy Secretary refused to meet the Prime Minister on a matter of national security.

[00:04:43]Why hasn't he been sacked?

[00:04:45]>> Prime Minister Stop reading the papers, I'd say to the honorable lady sitting there.

[00:04:52]Uh Mr. Speaker When the defense investment plan when the defense investment plan is published, it will set out, this is important it will set out how every government department is contributing to defense including the energy department.

[00:05:12]We will always put national security first. The party opposite still don't get it. Families worried about their bills going up because of a war in the Middle East, a war in the Middle East that her leader said she'd jump into feet first.

[00:05:27]Perfect Junior.

[00:05:30]>> If everything's so hunky-dory, why did half his defense team quit last week?

[00:05:36]Mr. Speaker, they won't find the money to keep our country safe. So, let's go through some of the things they can find the money for.

[00:05:45]Millions of pounds to build solar farms in the Congo, tens of millions of pounds on an experiment to dim the sun, and they are turning down 25 billion pounds in tax revenue from the North Sea to please their out-of-control energy secretary.

[00:06:05]Does he really think that any of that is more important than defending our country?

[00:06:12]>> Deputy Prime Minister >> We've said that more spending on defense is our number one priority in this spending review or the next spending review. But she she she wants to talk about resignations.

[00:06:26]Let's just remind ourselves the Tory defense secretary that resigned in the last government, remember for Stone, who was sacked for breaching national security. The Tory defense secretary, Michael Fallon, who resigned over sexual harassment. The Tory defense secretary who admitted hollowing out the armed forces for 14 years. That was Ben Wallace. We've got a Prime Minister securing jobs and investment in the G7.

[00:06:55]We've got a Chancellor raising the minimum wage. We've got an education secretary cutting costs for childcare, and we've got an energy secretary cutting energy bills by over 100 pounds.

[00:07:05]We're proud of that record.

[00:07:10]>> If everything is fine, why is he here?

[00:07:13]Let's face it. This is This is He wasn't here last week, was he?

[00:07:19]Let's face it.

[00:07:21]This is a government on life support.

[00:07:24]And what's their grand plan now?

[00:07:27]They want to Let me get this straight.

[00:07:30]They want to make the job-destroying energy secretary chancellor. They want to bring back the former transport secretary who resigned for nicking phones. They want TO REPLACE HIM WITH the former Deputy Prime Minister who resigned for dodging taxes.

[00:07:46]These are all pointless distractions.

[00:07:50]So, here's a better idea.

[00:07:52]Why don't they cut welfare, fund defense, make energy cheap, and back THE NORTH SEA?

[00:08:02]>> MR. PRIME MINISTER, it's it's thin gruel.

[00:08:07]It's very thin gruel, Mr. Speaker. I'm here like she is because I'm standing in for the Prime Minister and the leader of my party. I'm proud to serve this Prime Minister and proud of what this Labour government is delivering. More rights for working people, the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation, the biggest boost to defense spending since the Cold War, and lifting more children out of poverty in a single term than any British government in history. The party opposite can make all the noise they want. They don't want to talk about the economy because it's growing. They don't want to talk about the NHS because waiting lists are falling, and they don't want to talk about immigration because they lost control of our borders and net migration is down under us 82%.

[00:08:56]They had their chance, they blew it.

[00:08:58]We're building a stronger, fairer Britain.