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Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 22 April 2026

Debate

British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme

Contribution

My Lords, I was extremely excited about this debate today. I saw “British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme” and raced to read the Minister’s Statement. But all I see in it is simply a series of taxes that were being levied on businesses being discounted back to them, as my noble friend Lord Gove said. Why are we engaging in such a complex progress? To pick up on a point made by the Minister, she said that there was no point in exploiting our North Sea oil and gas assets because it would not shift the global price. That is like saying that we should not grow wheat in this country because it will not shift the global price. The tragedy is that we have everything in this country. We are a wealthy country—we are as wealthy as any country in the world in our natural fossil fuel resources. It beggars belief that we could actively decide, in this act of self-harm, to limit the opportunity for our nation to access these resources. What needs to change for the Government to change their mind and take advantage of what God has given us? That is what businesses really want.

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