Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 September 2020
We will absolutely look at replicating the approach at Grangemouth elsewhere. We established the just transition commission to guide us in making sure that, as we make the move to a net zero society, we are not leaving behind those communities that have been dependent on industries for a long time, and are not repeating the mistakes that we made in such industrial transformations of the past.
We will set out more details of the various funds that I have announced today in the budgetary process. I think that I said today that, in terms of decarbonising heat, which will help to not only create jobs but reduce fuel poverty, the commitment to funding over the course of the next parliamentary session is not £100 million but £1.5 billion. It is a massive investment that will help us to tackle climate change and provide the foundation for the green jobs recovery that I have been talking about.
I would love to do more on all those things. Right now, I would love to do what Governments across the world are doing, which is to use borrowing powers at a time when borrowing can be accessed to kick-start the recoveries and earn more wealth and revenue along the way. We have to operate within the financial constraints that exist, but we are maximising our operation as much as possible, while still crucially arguing for us to have the powers and access to resources that other independent countries the world over are able to take for granted.