Following the Government statement on Britishvolt entering into administration, Philip Dunne calls on the Government to engage with the automotive industry to re-establish a credible proposition and make use of the considerable asset at that site.
Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)
My right hon. Friend is aware that, last month, electric vehicle sales overtook diesel and were one third of all new vehicle sales in the month. There is demand for electric vehicles, and we need to ensure that there is an automotive industry here making them. We have lithium in Cornwall, and members of my Environmental Audit Committee visited the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Cherilyn Mackrory) and saw the lithium mine there. We have natural assets. We have the site that the Minister is interested in and I encourage him to visit it. We visited Blyth and met the Britishvolt management there, who pointed out that the interconnector that serves the site provides electricity from Norway that is 100% fossil fuel-free. So there is a considerable asset in that site, and I urge him to do all he can to engage with the automotive industry to re-establish a credible proposition.
The Minister for Energy and Climate (Graham Stuart)
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend on the importance of the site, and we are absolutely committed to working with potential investors to ensure that it is developed.