11:13 Cherilyn Mackrory (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)

One would not be surprised to see a Cornish MP rising on these Benches when we are speaking about space. We have a lot to say in Cornwall about the space sector. Cornwall is in fact at the forefront of the UK’s developing space economy and is playing an increasingly important role in the national space programme to ensure that as many people as possible contribute to and benefit from the economic growth. Cornwall’s data, space and aerospace strategy ambitions include: mitigating and reversing environmental degradation; restoring nature and seeking to protect businesses and communities from the impact of climate change, both locally and globally; working with the Government to grow the UK space economy as a whole; and, growing the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly economy to deliver jobs and international investment, while offering an outstanding quality of life for its people.

The global space industry could triple in value to more than $1 trillion by 2040 and what’s driving that is climate change, security and telecoms. The facilities we are helping to fund at Spaceport Cornwall are already having a catalytic effect and attracting new space companies to Cornwall.”

My hon. Friends have mentioned some of the businesses and services employed by the space industry. Let me add to that list the marine protection areas that we are deploying not just around UK waters but globally, because that is done via satellite. How do we know how bad climate change is in different parts of the world? Satellites do that for us.

On our ambitions, we hope that by 2030 Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will be a leader in the national space programme, exploiting the physical, digital and intellectual assets of the area, and using satellite data to overcome local and global challenges, such as the impact of climate change, which we have heard about. By 2030, data, space and aerospace will have contributed an additional £1 billion to the economic value of Cornwall and the Isles and Scilly through increased productivity and jobs turnover, creating twice the average gross value added per capita of £45,000 or more.

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11:27 Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)

To monitor climate change, satellites will tell us how much heat is transferring out of wood in forests, so we know whether rainforests need to be reforested and whether we are facing climate change at 1.5° or 2°. That is mind-bendingly brilliant stuff, and it is now available to kids who, five or six years ago, might have been told, “Right, once you finish school, you either go work in the JJB Sports factory down the road or in a shop.” It is exciting, fantastically valuable and hugely important for things like our financial sector. Greater Manchester has a fairly sizable financial sector, which is great for us. We also have a large legal sector—I know because I used to work in it. I would love to be a space lawyer. Let’s see how the rest of the year goes; I might need to become one.

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