Newspaper Column 25th September - Net Zero

The big news last week was the Prime Minister’s announcements on a new path to Net Zero.

Reaching Net Zero and becoming more environmentally friendly and sustainable is a key goal for the Government, but since we started that journey, which we have been doing very well on, previously unforeseen circumstances have meant that the Government has had to consider how it can best deliver this result, while bearing the overall impact on the public to mind.

Things such as the COVID pandemic and the Russian war on Ukraine have caused massive increases in the cost of living, which in turn mean that currently some of the measures previously set out, such as around the rollout of electric vehicles and discontinuation of petrol vehicles, and modifications to properties to promote energy efficiency, were becoming increasingly difficult to deliver from an affordability perspective for the public, particularly given the tighter timescales we were following.

The debate about climate change is stuck between two extremes: those who want to deny climate change or abandon Net Zero altogether because the costs are too high, and those who want to go further and faster with no regard to the cost to people’s lives or how much our country has already achieved compared to others. We need to change this debate – and forge a credible path to reach Net Zero by 2050 that brings people with us and is properly transparent about the choices involved.

It is to the Prime Minister’s credit that he has recognised this, been pragmatic, and set about adopting a more sensible, proportionate, and realistic approach to meeting Net Zero that eases the burdens on working people.

This includes:

· Easing the transition to electric vehicles from 2030 to 2035, in line with other similar countries

· Giving families far more time to transition to heat pumps – and exempting altogether households where this simply doesn’t make sense, while significantly increasing grants to upgrade boilers

· Scrapping onerous energy efficiency requirements – and not forcing people to make alterations

· NO rules on carpooling, seven different bins, more expensive meat and NO new taxes on flying

· Supporting new oil and gas in the North Sea so we are less reliant on foreign imports

At the same time as this, the Government is also:

· Speeding up connections to an expanded national grid infrastructure.

· Providing £150million in new funding for green research and development.

· Continuing funding for Sizewell C and support for small modular nuclear reactors.

We can do this because over the last decade, we have over-delivered on our targets (the fastest reduction in emissions in the G7, down almost 50 per cent compared to 1990), technological advances which have reduced costs (such as offshore wind

costs down by 70 per cent more than we projected in 2016), and higher than forecast adoption of clean technologies like electric vehicles.

Part of my role in Parliament is as a member of the cross party Environmental Audit Select Committee. It is only right that major decisions such as this are given proper scrutiny, and we have already held a meeting, and as a result will be writing to the Prime Minister, welcoming some aspects of the announcement, but seeking further detailed clarification on his assertion that all targets can still be met, including how. We will also ask for a Minister to attend a session of our committee, to ensure scrutiny, which would normally have happened at the dispatch box.

The journey to Net Zero is an important one for us all, but I am pleased that the Prime Minister has recognised the importance of delivering this in a realistic and achievable way, and look forward to continuing to ensure the Government delivers on this commitment in the future.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Newspaper Column 19th September 2023 - The Cornish Mining Conference

Last week I wrote about some of my work in Westminster on your behalf as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Critical Minerals, a group of Members of Parliament who work together from across the political spectrum, as well as with the industry, to highlight the UK's need for a secure, sustainable supply of critical minerals to deliver the nation's industrial strategy.

This mission was brought home locally to me last week, when I had a chance to speak, both as Chair of the APPG and also as the local Member of Parliament, at the 2023 Cornish Mining Conference, which this year was held at Falmouth.

It was a privilege to be asked to speak about what the Government is doing to help bring about this new age of Cornish mining, and the opportunities it will bring for all of us. I spoke about the work the government is doing to ensure our energy security, on how we use our energy at home, how we best utilise our natural capital, our mineral wealth, and how we best harness the talent of the Cornish people and grow our economy here in Cornwall, creating quality career paths for our children and future generations, while also ensuring biodiversity and sustainability for the environment at the same time.

With all of the exciting developments around Cornwall’s resurgent mining industry that I have recently written about, last week’s conference was an exciting time, with the mining industry sending global representatives to Falmouth to hear about everything that is going on in Cornwall.

With the world’s insatiable demand for technology metals such as lithium, copper, tin, tungsten, cobalt as well as minerals to increase food production and provide housing and infrastructure for an ever-growing population, the mining industry really is booming.

Held over several days, the Cornish Mining Conference highlighted the opportunities to responsibly extract the abundance of metals and minerals in the UK, recap on the work undertaken so far and illustrate the potential investment opportunities that lie ahead, with many fascinating presentations from the various attendees that demonstrated the importance of the growth and resurgence of the mining industry in Cornwall to the UK’s economy.

Cornwall is set to benefit for generations to come from new jobs, and economic growth utilising the assets we have right here – our landscape, and the determination of the Cornish people, and along with that, I will continue to do all I can to work with the Government to ensure the mining industry in Cornwall continues to get the recognition, support and resources it needs to be a world leader in these new and exciting technologies.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Newspaper Column 11th September 2023 - Cornwall's tech economy

Since Parliament returned last week I have been in discussion with colleagues, including our Prime Minister, about the potential Cornwall has to innovate and lead with new technologies, both nationally and internationally.

Leading in this way is not new for Cornwall. In the halcyon days of the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Cornwall were the silicon valley of its time. Driven by the tremendous wealth and economic investment unlocked by our mining industries, names such as Richard Trevithick, Sir Humphry Davy and Michael Loam were synonymous with technological innovation, born in Cornwall and exported around the world, along with so many sons and daughter of Cornwall to go with it.

Hundreds of years later, as go through the 21st Century, Cornwall again has the potential to be at the cutting edge of our nation’s technological future and energy security. We have the skill development capacity, evolving digital infrastructure, and clear political enthusiasm to lead. Along with my fellow Cornwall MP colleagues, I am making the case for us to be at the front of the queue when investors are considering where to build the data centres, renewable energy infrastructure and refreshing green initiatives that are going to power our future and connect the United Kingdom with the rest of the world.

Already, Cornwall is a national digital interchange with sub sea cables running hundreds of miles to the United States, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ireland, France and Germany, something that began with Porthcurno acting as the genesis of worldwide telecommunication with the submarine cables able to transmit messages around the world in place from the 1870’s, and in the same way that our successful mining history drove our past international trading relationships.

As the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Critical Minerals, a group of cross party MPs who work together in this area, I see first hand the opportunities young people in Truro and Falmouth will be able to enjoy over the course of the next few years, and it is vital the Government continues to provide opportunities for local people to come the engineers and wider labour force for these exciting emerging sectors, such as lithium extraction and processing and geothermal energy.

The Prime Minister wrote to me last week and confirmed the support it is giving to tech businesses, including the Digital Growth Grant, Shared Prosperity Fund and Local Digital Skills Partnerships, and I am determined to ensure we get our fair share of this in Cornwall, to allow us to continue to innovate and lead the way in all of the above areas and more.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

 

Newspaper Column 5th September 2023 - New technologies, renewable energies, and achieving net zero

After a busy Summer Recess spent out and about around our constituency, this week I am back in Parliament. One of the things on my mind, as with many of my fellow MPs, is about how we as a nation make it to net zero, the government commitment to ensure the UK reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 1990 levels by 2050. If met, this would mean the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the UK would be equal to or less than the emissions removed by the UK from the environment.

This is an area in which I have done extensive work since my election, as a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee, a cross party group of MPs whose role is to consider the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets.

There are many organisations telling us how we can make it to net zero.

The things they list the UK and others must do will vary, but they will all be about the update of particular technology. Debates tend to centre on which list is the right one. On the political spectrum, the debate has often been whether we should be doing this at all. What few focus on is how we can really incentivise change.

Green technology or other measure to reduce our energy use is often unaffordable and rather stressful. “You know where you are with a boiler. Heat pumps, not.” “How do they work?” “Do they work?” “Wouldn’t be a good idea to wait until this was a more established and certainly cheaper technology before you made the change?” It is assumed that kick-starting the manufacture of such products by subsiding them will lead to reduced costs, but only real scale will do this affectively. Those business and individuals who have taken the leap are sometimes struggling to adapt. For example many are factoring in hours of turnaround time when someone takes one of their electric fleet to another site, in order to recharge for the return journey. At what point will people feel real confidence about their ability to recharge their electric vehicle, when they need to, and fast?

It is assumed that once you have legally binding targets agreed, or deadlines when certain technology will no longer be on offer, the job is done. This is nonsense.

If we want to stick to the environmental roadmap that has been set out, we need to recognise just what it will take; huge innovation and products and services that the public will absolutely love. Not just because they are good for the environment, but because they make their lives easier, and reduce their costs. Take renewable energy. It is cheaper. However, that is not reflected on your utility bills. But it could be. Where there are potential exiting benefits to the consumer, as your government, we must work faster to make them a reality.

We need to recognise there needs to be better ideas and products to help drive the massive infrastructure investments needed. How can we support the creativity required? The carve out to ensure tidal power could be developed before it became competitive was the right thing to do.

We need to be clearer about the benefits to the UK economy of this work. So many ideas and inventions have the UK as their cradle, but our manufactures never get to make or market the resulting products. Our failure to capitalise as a nation is well known. We must address this, not just for our own economic growth but to ensure we are still the cradle of ideas in the future.

And we have to learn from why previous initiatives failed to take off. One example was the Green Investment Bank used to struggle to get Local Authorities like Cornwall Council to improve its streetlighting or housing stock, even though they could demonstrate the financial return in a short period of time.

In Truro and Falmouth we have some amazing companies who are creating products, service and financing which does really to the job we need it to. From Kensa, who fit heat pumps both right here in Cornwall and across the UK, to Cornish Lithium, who recently received £24million investment to kickstart their work with this vital mineral. We must champion them and the work they are already doing.

The task for politicians like me is not to fight about whether we should be making this transition or listening to the hard pushed, stressed out public who haven’t the resources to deliver it. The task for us it to enable solutions people will want to adopt. Then sell them to the world. Parliament heads back this week following Summer Recess and ensuring that the Government gets this crucial part of our work right is something I will be meeting with the Prime Minister about very early on.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with