Lord Whitehead (Lab)

I thank noble Lords for their valued, valuable and very wide-ranging contributions to this debate this afternoon. I am, I think, a fairly plain and straightforward person, but I have at times in the debate failed to get to grips with exactly what it is supposed to be about. It is about the decarbonisation of the UK economy, how the emissions trading scheme is probably the most efficient way of ensuring decarbonisation in our economy, and what should and should not be in that emissions trading scheme. We have also heard in the discussion how that trading scheme might be more widely based so that its decarbonisation effect is improved. A part of that is of course the entry into the ETS of the maritime sector. For those who say that this statutory instrument is very rushed, I might have to go down a brief historical byway and mention that one can trace back this particular SI to a 2022 consultation on whether the maritime sector should be included in the ETS—a consultation under the previous Government, not this Government, I might add. The response to that consultation was a strong indication that, yes, the maritime sector should be in the emissions trading scheme. Since then, there has been a series of consultations with the maritime industry and many other people about exactly how that should be done, what part the maritime industry should play in its own decarbonisation and how it can contribute substantially to the UK overall trading emissions picture. I have to say that the UK maritime industry has done very well in its contribution so far to making that transition as effective as it can be. Taken in that context, I am a little surprised at the regret amendment that has been tabled, because essentially this is a past Government regretting their own actions. Yes, there is plenty to regret about the previous Government, but to have the previous Government regretting themselves seems to be a step further forward than was previously the case.