James Wild

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) on securing this important debate. As he set out, critical minerals are essential for our transition away from fossil fuels while offering economic opportunities in areas where extraction is undertaken, such as Cornwall. I remember many family holidays to Cornwall—coming from Norfolk, we did have to get away sometimes—and enjoying visits to the Poldark tin mine, which I believe is in the constituency of the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George). Clearly, a lot of focus has been on Cornwall, but—as has been mentioned—this is an opportunity across the country. The International Energy Agency has stated that the world in 2040 is expected to need four times as many critical minerals for clean energy technologies as it does today, so as a nation, we need the right materials if we are to make that clean energy transition. We need the lithium, cobalt, and graphite for electric vehicle batteries; the silicon and tin for our electronics; and the rare earth metals for electric cars and wind turbines. While we will always rely on international supply chains, we have to maximise where the UK can produce domestically and make our supply chains more resilient. As has been said, that will also boost our energy and national security. A strong case for increasing the domestic production of minerals has been made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), as well as the hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law), who referred to the importance of skills. I hope that he would acknowledge the work that his predecessor, Steve Double, did in pushing that agenda in the last Parliament. I admire the passion that the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes) has to go more fast and furious; I wonder if his constituents will share that when they see not the promised £300 cut in energy bills, but the pylons being imposed on communities without proper consultation, particularly in my constituency and across the east of England. We are moving to a world powered by critical minerals and demand is increasing. Indeed, the UK’s 2022 critical mineral strategy, to which the hon. Member for St Ives referred, stated that global demand for electric vehicle battery minerals is projected to increase by up to 13 times over the next decade or so, exceeding the rate at which new primary and secondary sources are being developed. The UK has 18 metals and minerals on its critical raw minerals list, and another six are classified as having elevated criticality. China is the biggest producer of 12 of those minerals. Despite the significant deposits of lithium, particularly in Cornwall, and the tin, manganese and tungsten across south-west England, Cumbria, Wales and Scotland, we are almost wholly dependent on imports for our critical minerals, as has been mentioned. Many of the UK’s vital sectors rely on those minerals, which is why last year we launched a task and finish group on industry resilience, particularly focusing on aerospace, energy, automotive, chemicals and other sectors. While we were in government, we adopted a comprehensive approach to critical minerals, engaging readily with our foreign partners and allies, as well as with industry. That is why we published the first ever critical minerals strategy, which was then refreshed last year to reflect the changing global landscape and the pace of change we need to see. In partnership with the British Geological Survey, we launched the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre to help to monitor the supply chain risks and assess the importance of different minerals over time, a point made by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer). We also ramped up work through the Critical Imports Council in April, so there is a lot for this Government to build on. We know that critical minerals supply chains are complex and vulnerable to disruption, and that production is centred and highly concentrated in certain countries. In some cases, single nations are responsible for half of worldwide production, and are often vulnerable to aggressive debt regimes implemented by states with which the UK directly competes. The level of concentration is even higher for processing operations: China’s share of refining is about 35% for nickel, 50% to 70% for lithium and cobalt, and around 90% for rare earth elements. All those issues present challenges to the UK’s security of supply, so we must accelerate the growth of our domestic capabilities and back UK critical minerals producers to take advantage of opportunities along the whole length of the value chain. Cornish Lithium, in the constituency of the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth, is enjoying successes in extracting lithium from granite. Weardale Lithium is also exploring the potential for lithium extraction and geothermal energy from water. Green Lithium, which has also been referred to, has plans to build and operate the first UK merchant lithium refinery in Teesside. There are opportunities around the country. The UK is also well placed to lead on midstream processing, including refining and materials manufacturing, building on the globally competitive chemicals and metals sectors that we enjoy. That is why the previous Government invested in critical minerals programmes and explored regulatory mechanisms to promote battery and waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling. As of April, there were 50 projects at various stages of development to mine, process and recycle critical minerals domestically. The UK is a pioneer in recovering critical minerals from waste. Companies such as Altilium, which has operations in Plymouth, are working to develop battery recycling capabilities, so that the raw materials can be extracted and can re-enter the supply chain. That will become increasingly important because, by 2040, recycling is expected to account for up to 20% of battery mineral demand for electric vehicles. Critical minerals will become ever more important as we seek to bolster our energy security and domestic resilience. There is particular demand for their use in electric vehicles. As has been referred to by the hon. Member for Bournemouth East, in government, we took the decision to push back some of those targets: we moved the target for ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035, bringing us in line with the major car manufacturing countries around the world. Yet this Government have tied themselves in knots about their policy on mandates. Can the Minister provide some clarity on the Government’s policy to address the uncertainty facing supply chains, including those in the critical minerals sector?