09:46 Margaret Beckett (Derby South) (Lab)

I actually agree with that. The projects that I have talked about today represent a huge opportunity, because the joy of master planning and things such as the development corporation and the freeport is that we as public stakeholders can interact with business and the market. We can lay out the kinds of jobs and sectors that we would like to see, and ensure that those jobs are better paid than those that already exist. Rather than having logistics sheds on the side of the M1, we can get jobs in clean tech and green energy and ensure that there are better opportunities for people in our communities.

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10:15 Ruth Edwards (Rushcliffe) (Con)

HS2 has great potential. It would add £28 billion to the region’s economy every year. It would increase east-west—a well as north-south—connectivity, which is vital. Today, we talked about how connectivity and trains are important, but it is about more than trains. It is about massive redevelopment at Toton. It is about improving local transport connectivity across the region. It would send a clear signal from Government that we are investing in the east midlands, that the east midlands is not the poor cousin of the west midlands, that it will not be left behind and that we are committed to making sure that the east midlands shares in the levelling-up agenda. I hope the Minister can give us some assurance that that will be the case. I certainly hope that he will take the message back from the debate to his colleagues in the Department for Transport and I also hope that we can hear something about his support for the east midlands freeport, which is something that he knows Members on both sides have been working hard to support. We have an excellent bid now—one that capitalises on our net zero potential, our connectivity and creating highly skilled jobs and training across the region, which is much needed.

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10:24 Nadia Whittome (Labour)

Coming out of the pandemic, we need well-paid, secure jobs that help produce the kind of society that we want to live in. It is not enough just to develop our economy; we need to decarbonise it as well. There are no jobs on a dead planet and we must invest with the future in mind, not just the present.

Will the Government put the money where their mouth is when it comes to tackling climate change and levelling up? Can the Minister provide a figure on Government investment in green economic development in the east midlands over the last five years? Can he provide details of conversations he has had with representatives of renewable and green industries about economic investment in the east midlands? Will he agree to meet me and representatives from local green industries to discuss capital investment in our region and opportunities for support from the Government?

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10:30 Darren Henry (Broxtowe) (Con)

I would like to see the east midlands become the focal point for green energy and development in the UK. The Government have already gone some way towards doing that, by setting a clear ambition to support 2 million green jobs by 2030 through the green jobs taskforce. In order to ensure that the east midlands prospers post covid, the Government must break the long-term cycle of under-investment and provide a long-term commitment to invest in the east midlands economy.

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10:35 Brendan Clarke-Smith (Bassetlaw) (Con)

On that subject, I would like to talk about the STEP project in Bassetlaw, which we are very keen on. It would be a major boost to the area. In the last couple of days we have seen the old West Burton A coal-fired power plant fired up again. That shows the importance of having flexible and varied supplies of energy, but we see a real opportunity to look at the next generation of energy production and green energy—for example, with fusion, as my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Jane Hunt) mentioned.

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