Call for cheaper energy to help powerhouse plan

David Mowat added he believes it is not possible for Britain to rebalance its economy and to have a “march of the makers”, should the disparity continue to exist.

Energy-intensive industries in the UK pay around 9p for a unit of electricity while prices are 4p a unit in France and Germany, Mr Mowat told the Commons. Chancellor George Osborne used his 2011 Budget speech to outline a greater role for manufacturing and say how he wanted to see a “Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers”.

Speaking during report stage of the Energy Bill, Mr Mowat (Warrington South) said he regards man-made climate change as a “clear and present danger”.

But he said: “The concern that I have though is that we are increasingly acting in this country unilaterally in terms of what we’re doing to fix it, and indeed the emissions trading system was an attempt to have a pan-European solution to a pan-European problem and I don’t want us to turn our back on it. I speak also for 900,000 people that work in energy-intensive industries in this country and many other millions of people who work in manufacturing industries.”

Labour’s Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) called on the Government to give its “Northern Powerhouse” project meaning by backing carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Teesside. Backing the Teesside Collective’s goal of building a CCS industrial zone could mean “boom time”, he said.