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Industry and the Environment

I am pressing the Government for a clear statement on not only their policy but the way in which they will reach an urgent decision. Conservative Members recognise that there are difficult questions and that nuclear power has to be evaluated carefully as an option. We do not say that we or the Government should make that decision today, but we believe that a clear timetable needs to be set for reaching a decision urgently because of the scale of the energy crisis. We face a significant problem of securing proper energy supplies for our economy, looking forward five or 10 years. I had hoped not for a final decision on whether the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry would go nuclear, but at least for an indication of the time scale in which such a decision would be made, so that people know where they stand. There are other proposals before the House in the Queen’s Speech debate. We shall scrutinise them carefully and not oppose them for the sake of it. We shall be constructive if we can, offer broad support for the Consumer Credit Bill and company law reform, and view the Equalities Bill positively. However, let me press the Secretary of State a little more about equality, because we are in a strange position after the reshuffle. There is in his Department a women’s Minister who was not in the original full list of appointments, but added later. Since the Government have already reached their full complement of Ministers, she receives no pay as the new Minister for Women. Indeed, the only woman in the Secretary of State’s ministerial team is not paid at all. I therefore remind him of his Department’s objectives, which are set out in the Department’s public service agreement targets. The document states:"““Objective V: Working to deliver equality and to maximise potential in the workplace.""By . . . working with other departments,””" we will"““bring about measurable improvements in gender equality across a range of indicators””." That is what the Government signed up to, but they cannot even get around to paying their Minister for Women as a Minister. The Government say that they are committed to equal pay. In their assessment of their progress on equal pay, they say that they are ““on course”” to achieve it. The Secretary of State may claim that he is on course to achieve equal pay, but he cannot even deliver equal pay in his Department for his Minister for Women. If he cannot do that, how on earth can we trust him to take seriously the commitments into which he has entered for the economy as a whole? Does not that tell us everything we need to know about the Government? They make grandiose commitments, many pledges and grand promises, but completely fail to deliver. Conservative Members stand for a flexible and successful economy in a strong society. We will fight for that as we debate and scrutinise the Queen’s Speech and beyond.