Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

I thought it was the battle of Blenheim. Regardless of what Browning's good news was, however, there most assuredly is good news on the Teesside scene, and also the national scene and economy. On the national scene—I am glad the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) is in his place because as a Scottish Member of Parliament this will be of great interest to him—Total SA has announced a £2.5 billion development investment in the North sea west of the Shetlands. This will be a strategic development of two new gas fields—Laggan and Tormor—lying in 600 metres of water in the harshest environment in the United Kingdom, and the fields will be developed using the latest technology. The fields contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet of gas, plus some condensates, equating to about 230 million barrels of oil equivalent. This will create 117 jobs a year in the Shetlands over the lifetime of the project, and some 2,200 jobs in Scotland. The fields will be able to provide the nation with 20 per cent. of its gas when they come on stream, and the fields themselves represent some 17 per cent. of the nation's gas reserves. As the Prime Minister said in today's Question Time, the investment has been helped by the Chancellor's decision to provide up to £160 million-worth of tax relief for each gas field that qualifies for the support. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said, the Government recognise the importance of the United Kingdom oil and gas industry to our economy and the dependable foundation it provides for the nation's energy security. The goods news, however, has gone further than from Ghent to Aix. Yesterday, Total announced that it has passed to Corus a letter of award for the gas pipelines that will link the gas fields with the mainland. The contract will be worth nearly £200 million. It will involve building 350 km of pipelines, safeguard 250 jobs at the Corus Hartlepool mill and add a further 100 jobs for up to a year. The order was won against strong global competition, but it shall be the Corus world-class, large diameter Hartlepool pipe facility that will manufacture the pipes, thus securing jobs, and creating new ones, on Teesside. Also, £200 million of orders shall be added, and there is the £60 million Tees valley industrial programme, put together by the Government in recognition of the need to accelerate industrial transition and seize new opportunities in low-carbon and advanced manufacturing in the area. It is estimated that the two-year Tees valley industrial programme will create 3,000 new jobs in the short to medium term and sustain over 10,000 jobs in the long term. The Tees valley industrial programme builds on One North East's existing £130 million investment in business, support and skills in the Tees valley to run from 2009 to 2012. In the last 10 days, One North East and its partners have unveiled the first of a number of investments via the £60 million programme to support engineering apprenticeships in the Tees valley, help workers with business start-up opportunities and help businesses in the Tees valley to be more energy-efficient. These investments alone amount to about £10 million. The mothballing of the Teesside cast products blast furnace is a sad blow to Teesside, an industrial cradle that has seen over many years the obliteration of its shipbuilding and module yards, and the destruction of the coal industry in neighbouring Durham—and now a further diminution in steel production. However, as Corus Steel Tubes in Hartlepool testifies, the industry is not entirely extinct. The more the steel market returns, with the help of the £200 million contract from Total, the more likely it is that the blast furnace will be de-mothballed. I am always averse to waving documents in the Chamber, but I yield to an American habit that has developed over the years. I would like to show hon. Members a magazine—[Interruption.] You shake your head, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so my little moment of glory is—