Michael Shanks

Voted NO on: Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading

Michael Shanks voted NO on 'Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading' (68-242, defeated)

Voted NO on: Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading

Michael Shanks voted NO on 'Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading' (68-242, defeated)

Voted NO on: King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)

Michael Shanks voted NO on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Energy Security

I will make a bit of progress. Where the House diverges is on how we respond to that shock. For Members on the Labour Benches, the overriding lesson from both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the present crisis in the middle east is that every day we spend exposed to fossil fuels, which we can never control, is another day of insecurity. It is another day of being buffeted by conflicts that we had no part in starting, and of working people opening their energy bills and finding the cost of someo

Spoke in debate: Energy Security

Parliamentary appearance by Michael Shanks

Voted NO on: King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)

Michael Shanks voted NO on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Energy Security

I will come to jobs in the North sea in just a moment—a section of my speech is about that, given its importance. I have to say that I am absolutely incredulous: I can almost understand it from the Tories—thinking that a moment of windfall profits was the moment to cut taxes on oil and gas companies—but now we have a partnership of the SNP and the Tories who believe that now is the moment not to help people with their energy bills but to cut taxes for the biggest companies. That is an interestin

Energy Security

I do not have time; I am sorry. That system is already taking shape, whether through nuclear engineers in Ynys Môn following in their parents’ footsteps, apprentices learning to weld in the Aberdeen energy transition zone or wind turbine blades being forged in Hull—tens of thousands of jobs, record investment, real communities, real wages and a real future. The North sea made Britain an energy nation; the Bill ensures that it will remain one. Sometimes, in the noise of this place, we lose sight

Energy Security

We are consulting on the future of gas storage. I have made it my policy to meet every MP who wants to meet me, and I have always had—[Interruption.] The shadow Minister says, “Even him?” I have always had very good conversations with the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart). He is in the wrong party—they all hate him. [Laughter.] Now is not the time to look away from the biggest long-term threat we face: climate change. It is a threat that we can no longer ignore, so we

Energy Security

I say that the Scottish National party’s plan for independence for energy was the flimsiest of flimsy documents. It had no plan for how independence would bring down bills, because the truth of the matter is that independence would tear apart any argument on energy security and drive up bills for people right across Scotland. That is why people rejected it in the referendum 10 years ago. The Tories and their former friends and colleagues now sitting on the Reform Benches want to solve a dependen

Energy Security

It is a privilege to close this debate on the Gracious Speech. It has been a pleasure to sit here all afternoon and listen to all the contributions in what turned out to be a far more wide-ranging debate than one just on energy policy, and I thank all Members for that. I will respond to a few specific points raised in the debate in due course, although I will single out a few contributions from Members on the Labour Benches at the outset. My hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) w

Voted NO on: Privilege

Michael Shanks voted NO on 'Privilege' (223-335, defeated)

Voted NO on: Privilege

Michael Shanks voted NO on 'Privilege' (223-335, defeated)

Spoke in debate: Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

Parliamentary appearance by Michael Shanks

Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

I was going to come to the trading of statistics later in my speech, but let me do it now, because there is a fundamental point around the disingenuous trading of statistics on land use. My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes) made a valiant effort at trying to correct that, but let me give Members some sense of this. At the end of 2024, ground-mounted solar panels covered an estimated 0.1% of the total land area of the UK. Even if we achieve the ambitious targets that we have

Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

I will come on to that point.

Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

I will not be drawn on golf course membership, because I do not know how many of my constituents are members of golf courses; I can imagine how many Conservative Members are. I come back to the point about land use, because we absolutely recognise the importance of having a framework for how we use land across the country. That is why the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published the first-ever land use framework in March— I recommend a read of it. It is a vision for all of En

Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

I am not going to give way to the hon. Lady again because I want to come to floating solar, which the hon. and gallant Member for Spelthorne eloquently made the case for. I completely agree that it is a hugely exciting technology that we should be expanding, and I also agree that there are none of the trade-offs that there often are in other deployments and that there are huge benefits. He and I have both visited the project at the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near his constituency. It is a fant

Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

I will not be able to go into the detail of everyone’s points, but the hon. Member is wrong about the land use framework. Perhaps he should read it again, because it details quite clearly the different land uses across the country. There is always tension about land use—of course there is. That has been true throughout history, and that is why we are strategically planning it. We are clear that the planning system recognises best use. Every application is considered on its merits; I am not going

Ground-mounted Solar Panels: Alternatives

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I congratulate the hon. and gallant Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) on securing it, particularly because I unfortunately missed his Adjournment debate, which I heard was one of the most enthusiastic Adjournment debates we have ever had on this topic. I was delighted to hear him repeat much of that same speech, because I did of course read it in Hansard. The map joke was there in the Adjournment debate, and it was there again today. We appreciated it