Meet the MP: Bradley Thomas MP

In this episode of Meet the MP, Nicola Richards sits down with Bradley Thomas, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, to talk about life in Parliament, the realities of opposition, and the issues shaping his first term.

Bradley reflects on the privilege (and frustrations) of being a new MP, from the limits of individual power in Westminster to the growing importance of constituency casework. He discusses how his background in local government and the energy sector has shaped his approach, including his work on the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee and his role supporting Claire Coutinho.

The conversation covers his campaign to regulate non-surgical cosmetic treatments, his fight to protect Bromsgrove’s green belt, and the challenges facing local high streets and public services. Bradley also shares his views on energy security, the North Sea, net zero, and why he believes the next general election will be fought around “security” in all its forms - economic, national, energy and border security.

A wide-ranging conversation on Parliament, principle, local campaigning and what it means to represent the place you call home. 

Meet the MP is an exciting new podcast from Cratus Group, hosted by Nicola Richards, Director of Cratus Group and former MP for West Bromwich East. This series offers listeners a unique opportunity to meet the fresh faces of British politics - the newly elected MPs from the 2024 General Election.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Hi, I'm Nicola Richards, former MP, Turn Director at Kratos Group, and welcome to Meet the MP, the podcast where we get to know the newest faces in Westminster. Each episode, we sit down with one of the MPs elected in the 2024 general election to explore their journey into politics, what drives them and how they're settled into life in Parliament. Today I'm joined by Bradley Thomas, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove. A Worcestershire native, Bradley describes his county as his lifelong home and has said that serving as Bromsgrove's MP is the honour of his life. Before entering Parliament, he built a career in the global energy sector, focusing on energy security and delivering affordable, reliable power. Bradley brings a focused perspective that is still relatively common amongst new MPs. He also served as leader of Rich Haven District Council and now sits on the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee as well as serving as PPS to Claire Cortino. Bradley, welcome to meet the MP. It's great to have you here.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Morning, Nicola. Pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

So you've been in Parliament now for it's coming up to two years. How have you found it?

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Oh, I mean, look, I love it. It's I mean, it genuinely is an honour and a privilege. And I know that sounds a bit like a platitude at times, but it really is. I mean, you know, I'd thought long and hard about sort of our politics, our political system, about what my values are and about the role of parliament in our society. So I I feel that I'd gone into this with my eyes wide open. And honestly, it's been largely as expected. You know, politics is a great place. I think in a world where political trust in particular is very low and arguably still eroding, politics is still a place that affects every single one of us. Parliament is an institution that affects all of our lives, whether we like it or not, even when it's very fashionable for people to be very cynical about politics. And so you have to be, going into politics, quite idealistic. I mean, I know itself that sounds quite idealistic to say it, but you have to be idealistic about the power that parliament has, that the role of an MP can have, and the role that politics has in shaping all of our lives. So, you know, I love it. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are times when it's mightily frustrating. And I think one of the one of the harsh realities that I think sometimes the broader public forget or perhaps don't appreciate is that MPs on an individual level hold very little power. It's collectively their influence, particularly in parliament, where that collective influence does become quite powerful in affecting change of all kinds that ultimately impacts the lives of everybody out there in the country. So it genuinely is a privilege, and I love it. Even on the days where it can be incredibly frustrating because you may not get answers from ministers, or it feels like it's taking a very long time to get some airtime for a very important topic that affects might be your constituents or which is in the national interest.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

I always used to say, even on the worst day, I still wanted to be there.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

For sure, 100%. Politics is a place where the highs are high and the lows are low. And you still in the round have to take a step back, pinch yourself, and remember, you know, I think it was David Cameron that might have said this that the biggest privilege of all is to be a backbench MP. And politics is also a place that's full of lots of variables. Life is full of variables, right? But politics more so than most. It's also a place full of sort of dashed hopes and missed opportunities and expectations that don't ever amount to much. And so I think every member of parliament has to go into this, being really content with being a backbench MP, because it is the biggest privilege of all, and nothing else is guaranteed.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

I totally agree. But you're not a backbench MP.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Well, I'm a backbench MP who's got sort of a role supporting the front bench. So my front bench role, if you like, is as a PPS to Claire Catino. And and uh, I mean, Claire Claire is a great person to work for. She's Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is a really hot topic, definitely come into the focus a lot more than it probably has in recent years because of, you know, all of the issues in the Middle East, because of the pressure that energy is and energy costs are putting on business, on individual households. And it's become one of the hottest and arguably most polarized political topics of all. So to be able to work with Claire and to be able to leverage my experience, you know, I spent 12 years in the oil industry. I then spent four years working for now a company that manufacture, frankly, very boring but very essential equipment around gas boilers, air conditioning, all of that stuff, stuff that heats and fuels our homes in businesses. So I've got a fair bit of experience. And to be able to sort of put that to good use feels like not just a great fit, but also a rare sort of example of MPs, I think, being able to lean into something that they know quite well. Because you often see situations where MPs, once they get a front bench position of some kind, it's often not necessarily related to their professional experience. So I feel like one of the lucky ones.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

It's wild that during some reshuffles, you'll have some current ministers or backbenchers who have got experience and could be really good in one of those roles. And every time the party seems to mess it, not I'm not talking specifically the Conservative Party, it happens in every party. They don't get those roles and they don't get to use their experience. And so it is refreshing and it's nice to know that in opposition that is working better. But I guess there's far fewer of you. And so it makes far more sense that if you are an expert in that area of policy, that your experience is put to good use, given that you don't have hundreds of colleagues there to help and share the burden.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Yeah, very much so. I mean, we're all doing multiple jobs, partly because opposition is it's a bit of a slog at times. Like so much in politics, the the work of the opposition is a bit like an iceberg. The 10% that people see that is above the waterline, where MPs are on the green benches asking questions of ministers, but there's so much work that takes place behind the scenes. So you've got the work that I and other MPs do on select committees, you've got the work that shadow ministers or PPSs are doing to sort of help formulate lines of questioning that will come up in the House of Commons. And then, of course, you've got all the stuff that the party is doing to slowly but comprehensively develop its policy slate. And this position that we're in now, I mean, when Kemi was elected as leader of the party, she said she was going to get us back to first principles, that we were going to really diligently look at what we stood for and use that as a foundation to build up a policy suite that is not just rooted in conservative values, but which addresses the challenges and the opportunities that the country faces. Because I think one of the fundamentals that we often forget is that politics and the role of an opposition is not just about questioning the government. Hopefully, it's about presenting a genuinely optimistic alternative to the incumbent government. And back to my earlier point about politics being an arena that affects everyone, and parliament being an institution that affects everyone. I mean, politics should present something that's hopeful and optimistic, especially at a time when people are feeling uh quite downbeat. So there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes that people don't see, and I think it is slowly starting to bear some fruit.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

It definitely looks from the outside as though colleagues are working closer together, there's less disruption. And I guess maybe part of that is because some of the defections and my experience of witnessing defections when we were last in government, it does a good job at pulling you all together and making you stronger as a team. It sort of reunites you. Do you think it's had that effect? Do you think that's true? 100%.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Definitely. I mean, you know, there have been those few defections um over the last few months, and I think and hope that's the end of it. I mean, the party genuinely feels very united. Obviously, I wasn't here in the last parliament, but I witnessed it from afar as a as a citizen and a voter, the chaos in terminal that definitely undermined the last Conservative government. But for me here, I mean, MPs feel united. They feel united around the cause, they're united around the leader. We're all united in our opposition to this really sort of detached and corrosive government that is, well, I mean, this government sort of credibility has been on the slide from about week three after they took office. And it feels to me that the Conservative Party right now that's emerged out of the 2024 election, which was pretty hard-hitting, we've got to admit that. The last election was one, I would argue, that Labour didn't really win, but it was very much one that the Conservative Party lost. And when you think about that really sort of that big majority that the government have got on a very small vote share, that tells me that the government's got a majority that's a mile wide, but it's an inch deep. And I think that was reflective of the frustrations and the anger that people had towards the Conservative Party last time. And so they it was kind of a protest election, I think. And sadly, people are living with the consequences of you know that Labour government that got elected. But the Conservative Party right now that emerged from that, I think is the most authentically conservative version of itself that it's been in probably about two decades. And look, I didn't know Kemi Bainok before I became an MP, but I've got to know Kemi since. And she's genuinely impressed me with how much of a conviction politician she is. She's really comfortable with who she is, what she stands for, and having those really difficult conversations with colleagues, with the country, and certainly with the government over what we need to do to sort of re-establish ourselves and have that kind of rebirth of nationhood that the country is crying out for.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

You know, if you're a member of the Conservative Party, then that's good to see. But also just for the sake of democracy, we need a strong opposition. You need you need a leader who is going to hold the government to account and ask tough questions. And so at a time when politics is so fragmented, it was really important that the Conservative Party got its act together pretty quickly to be able to function as a proper opposition. You mentioned at the start that to get anything done in politics, you need to work cross-party and you only hold limited power as a backbench MP, as an opposition backbench MP, even more so. Have you done much of that cross-party work and what's that look like?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah. You'll understand what it's like from your own experience. Over time, get to know MPs of all colours. And, you know, the as much as it's, again, fashionable to bash politicians, there are some politicians who constantly make the headlines because of the positions that they hold, you know, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, etc. Every political party is full of MPs who are there because they genuinely believe in the values that their party stands for or that they stand for. And I think most of them do want to do good work. Of course, we're all bound by our allegiance to our own parties. And so a lot of the good work that people do doesn't make the headlines very often. Now, in my case, I'd championed a few things. One example of a cross-party thing that I've started to have traction on is a campaign I've been leading on trying to get regulation around non-surgical aesthetic treatment. So this is sort of high street Botox and lip fillers and all of this stuff. Now, this came up not because I've had any done. I can't imagine I'm probably their main target market. But one of my constituents came to see me maybe six months after I was elected, and she said, Look, I'm a CQC registered nurse, I do Botox, but it's a wild west out there. There are practitioners who are unqualified, injecting stuff into people. It's a healthcare crisis and it's in plain sight. I went away, did a lot of research on this, and thought, you know, despite me being a conservative and believing that government should get off people's backs and get on their side and have as little regulation as possible, even I could see that this is an area that has grown almost out of nowhere, that requires some kind of some kind of government intervention on a just from a clinical safety perspective. And I started this campaign to get a regulatory system in whereby any future practitioner who delivers Botox, lip fillers, and you know, whatever similar sort of treatments people want, they have to be registered. And whilst we haven't got the scheme sort of up and running yet, I've held several debates on this, I've raised questions in the House of Commons, I've had a commitment from ministers that they're going to introduce something, and there's been a consultation. So I feel we're making progress. That wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for MPs from other parties, but particularly the Labour Party as the governing party, rowing in behind that and saying, Do you know what? This isn't a party political issue, this is a national issue of hopefully common consensus, we should just do the right thing. I think there is so much more of that goes on in politics than people ever see. And that's really down to the commitment of backbenchers who are generally quite dedicated to doing the right thing and hopefully trying to improve lives for their constituents and for the country.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

It's always really interesting because I can't imagine when you got elected, you thought that was going to be the campaign that you would run. And that happens whether it's because you've met a constituent or something happens in the world or in the country after you get elected that you feel really strongly about. What did you want to do when you got elected? What was your what was there a local issue? Was there was it your experience in the energy sector that you thought was going to influence your work? What was it that you sort of wanted to do?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

It's lots of things. I think we're all shaped by all of the conditioning that influences us as we go through life. So in my case, as from Worcestershire, from a rural area, fortunate enough to be selected and elected to represent a seat in my home county. And the big issue locally, there's quite a few, but as there are for all MPs, but a big one at the minute, particularly under this government, is around protection of the Greenbelt. So in my case, Bromsgrove is 89% Greenbelt. The government have said that they're increasing our housing target. And I've been running a long and persistent campaign on this, a petition in the House of Commons signed by 5,000 local people. So that's about, you know, 7 or 8% of my electorate have signed that, which is quite compelling. I'm regularly raising questions with ministers over this, holding public meetings. But I'm conscious that's a long-term campaign to encourage the government to do the right thing, to look at the burden that they're unduly placing on my constituency. And then from sort of a more national perspective, I mean, certainly energy and net zero was a big one because I could see, I think, the unfair and undue burden that net zero obligations have been placing on businesses and citizens across the country. And so I felt that I wanted to give a voice to that, and I've been fortunate enough to do that. In fact, one of my most sort of prominent hits, if you like, from the content I put on social media has been me sparring with Ed Miliband over this topic when I'm sort of doing my scrutiny work on the select committee. But the other side to it, I mean, going back to what you were asking, a constituent came to see me, she raised this thing, and I decided to champion it. I think one of the things you have to remember as an MP is that whilst you don't hold very many direct leaders of power, you are hugely influential. So remembering that as an MP, you've got this platform that very few people in the country have to speak without impingement in the House of Commons to raise topics that are of concern. In good raised in good faith, by the way. It's quite right that you know in parliament you can't you have to be parliamentary with your language and whatnot, but you've got this very unique position. And sometimes I think you have an obligation to use that. And that again, that's where that sort of almost twe-sounding thing that it's the biggest privilege of all to be a back bench MP is true, because you know it's only whilst you occupy the office that you have the privilege and the position to do that. And it's similar with casework. I've had a few constituents get in touch over things in the past that might be, if you like, a little bit beyond the immediate jurisdiction of an MP, but I've taken things up on their behalf, written to private companies and said, look, come on, do the right thing here. And we've managed to get wins for constituents. That has only been possible because of the power of a Paul Cullis on the top of a piece of paper. And so sometimes I think it's that moral obligation of the position that you hold, using that to do some kind of good and give a voice to certain issues.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

And you were in local government before you were elected to parliament. How has that shaped your experience of politics and what was the jump like for you?

SPEAKER_00 17:25

It's undoubtedly shaped my approach to politics. I'd been a district councillor for 10 years, leader of my district council for five years. I mean, I'm I wasn't a councillor in my constituency that I represent as an MP, but I was next door. And so I've got a very strong, I think, very strong understanding of local issues and how different tiers of government interact to deliver solutions to people's problems. I think, again, I think this is one of the it's kind of a symptom of the current sort of political setup, and particularly with social media playing the role that it does, that we increasingly ask more and more of MPs. So you think as an MP, you're a member of this legislature that is parliament, you sit in the House of Commons, your job is to, it's lots of things. It's to scrutinize legislation, it's to hold government to account, it's to provide this voice to people. But a large chunk of what you do is casework, and casework is increasingly local. That might be people who've got issues with the council that they can't resolve. And so I think by default, increasing numbers of people do turn to their MP to try and get stuff done. And in many cases, in almost every case, they're perfectly reasonable. But in many cases, people will say to you, I've come to you because I can't get answers from the council or from this body or this agency. Will you help me? So to a point, there's this contradiction where MPs are in a national legislature, but they've also got to be local champions at the same time. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it increasingly puts pressure on MPs. And it means that it's it means you're pulled in a lot of different directions all of the time. And I think that casework load for MPs is certainly growing more and more as time goes on. I do think there is something in our system we could do probably do a better job in some ways of at schools, of civic education around the different structures of government, because councils are responsible for the vast majority of local services that people interact with. But increasingly people do turn to their MP. And in many cases, as I say, it's sort of a like a contact of last resort.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

And it depends how your council works too, as to how much of that you get. In my case, I had council officers sometimes telling constituents to ask me a question about the council because they'd get the quicker answer. That is not that was not normal, and I don't think it happens there anymore. They've been on a journey since then. But it depends. I mean, if you've got different tiers of local government, I imagine that constituents don't always understand that. I I didn't have that experience, but but definitely there was constituents didn't never really thought through this is a matter for local government, not my MP. They expect MPs to be involved in all of it. You are and your office does end up an extension of those local services.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yeah, I mean, I think some of that is is very much true and fair. That does happen. Take my constituents, for example, they're quite informed, they're quite educated. They it is often that sort of point of last resort, or because they don't know where to turn. And again, if you've ever studied management and things like that, you remember the old Eisenhower sort of matrix where something can be urgent and important, but sometimes other things have to take precedence. So if there's something that's going on and you're sort of receiving a lot of casework, that means you quite often have to triage things. And it can be quite difficult at times to provide a very speedy response to everyone. And part of an MP's job is being very, very good, um, very switched on when it comes to prioritization to ensure that you can deal with the person who's about to be made homeless who needs an urgent intervention, and contrast that with a policy question that is important, but which may as a result have to wait for a day or two.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Do you feel like the quantity of correspondence is what you expected? Do you spend more time on it than you thought you would? Is it what you I think every after every election it seems that MPs suggest they that there's even more, there's even more casework and more content. And the flip side of it is you your job is to be visible and to be well known and for people to recognise you. And as a consequence of that, you then have more correspondence. It's sort of a catch 22, isn't it? You need that because you need people to know who you are. Oh, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Absolutely. And by being a visible local MP to a part we feed with a growth in correspondence. Yeah, the volume of casework, it ebbs and flows. I mean, I've certainly found there's been a spike in the last six months or so, in large part because of things like the decisions that the governments have taken, where people are writing and they're quite disgruntled. And that's quite legitimate because an MP's job is to hold the government to account. And so hearing what's on constituents' minds is important. You can't do a job without that. But I think the level of casework is probably broadly what I expected, but it does ebb and flow. And in fact, as events are happening, particularly if they're on a weekend or something, you see a breaking news alert and think, right, I'm I'm going to get a load of emails about this over the next 24, 48 hours, you become very quickly attuned to, especially after a year or two red correspondence from your constituents, the kind of things that matter to them, you become very quickly aware of what issues are going to cause a spike in correspondence over the coming few days.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

And have you had much correspondence on Peter Mandelson, for example? Is that the sort of thing that constituents have?

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah, that's right. Things like that. So, you know, I've had a stream of correspondence about that where people are very aggrieved at the incompetency of the government and they're vocalizing that. There will be correspondence on local issues too, as things might happen if there's a decision that the council takes that's in the news. Sometimes that will uh come into the inbox. I mean, over the weekend with we're recording this on the 20th of April, if I can say that. And over the weekend with the latest revelations about the Peter Mandelson sort of vetting debacle, I've had quite a few bits of correspondence about that. And that's probably because it's been very widely broadcast that today in the House of Commons Keir Starmer is going to come and give a statement, and constituents want me to know what they're feeling. And that certainly informs the level of questioning that um, or the type of questioning that I'll be hoping to put to the Prime Minister this afternoon, along with probably dozens of other MPs.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Where do you think this is going?

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Where do you think I think the Prime Minister's position is untenable as a result of this? The whole theme here is that Keir Starmer's made this massive virtue for years of being a man who is all over the detail of everything. He's meant to be this forensic interrogator, nothing gets past him. He's meant to be really sharp and can outwit other barristers in the courtroom, yet he appears to be the most incurious man ever to have held the office of Prime Minister and has and has asked very little or very few questions relating to this. And it always seems to be someone else's fault. So I think he's facing, I think the writing is on the wall. It's probably just a question of when. And today is one of those moments for him where it's you know undoubtedly a make or break situation. It's just a question of when and how and what that mechanism looks like. But politics is one of these places where, as a politician of any kind, let's be honest, our political capital is probably at its peak on day one. So Prime Minister is the most powerful that he or she is on the day they're elected. And as the government makes mistakes, power flows and authority flows away from them. Kistama's not going to have very much authority left in the tank to deplete, I think.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

I feel like we should add a disclaimer that you're going to say this is a conservative MP. Um, but it is it's crazy to watch a scandal like this unfold after having experienced the last government and removing myself from my views and the views I held back then. I wonder if Keir Starmer regrets jumping on every issue in the way that he did. It helped him win the election, there's no doubt. But it did mean that the Labour Party needed to be squeaky clean in the way they fought the election and everything they did since, because they held us to account on everything that went wrong. And obviously that is the job of the official opposition, and they did a very good job of it. It was really, really difficult. Um, part of it was keep bringing if keep bringing someone to the chamber to make statements as information is unfolding, you're going to make them trip up. Um, and that's essentially what happened with Boris. Not at all. That's not me saying any of it was okay, but that is what happened. He was caught out on everything, on every word. And it just blows my mind that's not something they've learned because they did such a good job at picking us apart over it. Um and they have not got their act together after 14 years from uh trying to take my views out of it. It's just crazy to watch.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

It's crazy to watch and it's surreal, uh, really. I think going back to that point where earlier on I said something like the government's majority is a mile wide but an inch deep. This is a Labour government that came into office, frankly, with this kind of air of moral superiority, thinking that their values were superior, that Labour values will get them through and all of that. And it's kind of been their undoing. You see them trot out ministers all of the time to defend the indefensible. But I think the one thing of all, you're probably right, I bet Keir Starmer does wish that he probably hadn't taken quite the position that he had when he was leader of the opposition, because he finds himself in a very similar situation now. And the one thing we know is that look, the public don't like liars, quite rightly, but I think they despise hypocrites even more. And those chickens will come home to roost, and today will be a very difficult moment for him.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

And as these scandals roll on, there'll be ministers and backbench MPs who take one for the team and go and do the media round and deliver lines that then later change. And that again was part of our undoing in the last government that those really dedicated, loyal MPs that were trying to do the right thing end up being screwed over because you have to trust your briefing and you have to trust what you're told, and you go out there and defend it, and then the story changes. And so it is really it's really difficult when you're in one of these situations where it's unclear what's happened and who knew what when. The longer it goes on, the worse it is for him.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Undoubtedly, it's corrosive for all of the characters that are involved, and deep down they know it. I mean, you saw stuff over the weekend where certain media outlets found it impossible to have a cabinet minister on to defend this and to outline whatever has gone on. And again, there seems to be, you know, increasing sort of lack of clarity on this, what did and didn't happen and who was responsible for what and what the process may or may not have been. And they couldn't get a senior minister out on the airwaves to represent the government. I mean, that and they had to resort to backbenches. I mean, that tells you sort of all you need to know.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

What do you think the next general election will be fought on? I mean, there's so much going on at the moment. You've talked about energy policy, the implications of the war in the Middle East, Ukraine is still going on. There is so much that could change between now and then. But come the next election, what do you think it will be about? What the big issue will be?

SPEAKER_00 29:24

I look, I think the next election will be fought on a platform all around security, security in all of its forms. It will be about economic security. I think it will be about energy security because there's a direct subset of economic security. It will be about national security because of the instability of the world and the rise of our adversaries, whether that's sort of in a in a direct sense or in a more sort of indirect sense. You think about the nature of warfare these days, it's much more in the gray zone, the undermining of democracy. It's about hacking of systems, the nature of warfare and the nature of threats has changed. And I think security of borders is a big one as well. So immigration will undoubtedly feature as part of that. So I think security as a theme across the board will be the dominating, a dominating theme going into the next election. And of course, all of those are intertwined because national security in the defense sense feeds into our stability as a nation. That drives to a point that's one of the factors in underpinning economic confidence or lack of. You then got immigration that feeds into the mix too. That has a direct impact on the spending of government, the choices where they uh where they're choosing to spend public money, whether that's on welfare or defense. That's been a prominent part of the debate. And then energy security is a foundation to so much of this. And so increasingly, I think that energy policy has to be viewed through the lens of economic impact. Energy policy and economic policy these days are so increasingly intertwined.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

What would you do differently to handle the energy crisis that the government's not doing at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Well, one of the things that we've said as a Conservative Party, and I innately believe this, given my experience in the energy sector, is we should be focusing much more heavily on fossil fuels from the North Sea. So we've said that we should be drilling more in the North Sea, particularly on the natural gas side of things, because the UK is a country that can put every single drop of gas that's extracted from the North Sea directly into our pipes. And in absence of doing that, we are otherwise dependent on gas that we would import from Norway. So a bizarre situation where Norway is able to extract gas from the North Sea and then they would sell it to us. Or if we don't do that, we're increasingly dependent on imports of liquefied natural gas from the United States. So I think the government needs to drill in the North Sea, government needs to look really, really hard at some of the carbon taxes and the levies that are placed on industry. That's industry across the board, by the way. We know that energy costs in the UK are some of the highest in the developed world, and that erodes our industrial international competitiveness. We've got a situation where it's increasingly difficult for refiners in the UK to profitably refine fuel, and that will have a direct impact in the future on their investment decisions. And I worked in that industry, so I understand the costs and the decision kind of making process. Every few years, each refinery will take a decision over how much investment they make. When they take these decisions, you're talking, you know, for a turnaround, half a billion pounds. These are big bucks decisions, and they've got to wash their face. So for as long as the UK remains an uncompetitive place to do business as a result of the fiscal policies and the choices that the government make, the government shouldn't be surprised if investment decisions are taken that see the UK deprived of investment that will drive our business competitiveness. So there's a mix of things that the government can do. I mean, we've got this cheap power plan, which involves scrapping some of the levies that we calculate would say about 20% off energy bills. That would make a big difference. But also when it comes to businesses, we've got this policy now to, which is fully costed, to scrap business rates for pubs, hospitality, retail, etc. I mean a policy like that would be really transformative in assisting the fortunes of many small and medium businesses across the country. And I think the other reality, you know, Ed Miliban talks all the time about renewables, but renewables, you know, and a diverse energy mix does have a place. Nobody has said that it doesn't, but the government seems intent on putting solar farms on grade A, grade one quality agricultural land at a time when food security is key and arguably is depleting. So there's a contradiction in government policy there. And let's remember, too, that renewables, you know, will rarely, if ever, provide close to a reliable, consistent proportion of your energy needs because the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. And the reality is every part of modern life in one form or another is dependent on fossil fuels. Even the just stop oil campaigners who go out and do these vigilante type sort of criminal activities where they splash a tin of soup up a painting and then take a photo with their iPhone. Guess what? The iPhone that they carry contains products that are derived from fossil fuels and things like that. So there's a real hypocrisy that comes from some of the campaigners who fail to acknowledge the reality of the world that we live in. Fossil fuels are part of the energy mix. They need to be part of the energy mix for some time, and they should be acknowledged by the government as a key role in helping us secure our own energy future as the government and the country navigates the transition over the coming decades.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

And so obviously, part of your job in Parliament at the moment is making that case on the select committee and working with Claire Coutino to hold the Secretary of State to account on it. What would success look like for you in this area of policy and more generally, when you think about it, what you want to achieve by the end of your first term?

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Well, look, I think success in this case, it's all about teamwork. So, you know, Claire and the whole team, very diligent, questioning Miliband ministers on the floor of the House of Commons. I supplement that quite often with my sort of double-act role on the select committee. And by maintaining pressure, but also educating the public on the corrosive impact of the government's policies, but also what they could be doing by way of an alternative, such as allowing for more drilling of gas and oil in the North Sea and putting pressure on the government to do that, that's what success looks like. Getting some U-turns from government, getting them to scale back the pace of some of the destruction that they are inflicting on the country. And we've seen these headlines in the last sort of few weeks, particularly as the current sort of energy crisis fueled by all of the conflict in the Middle East is really starting to bite. You're hearing stories where Rachel Reeves is allegedly open to sort of more drilling in the North Sea. And this seems in complete contradiction to what Miliband was. And remember, Ed Miliband is a man who tried to become Prime Minister in 2015. He's a man who's desperate to secure a legacy. Sadly, he's pursuing a legacy that is, I think, ultimately detrimental to the energy security of the UK and certainly detrimental to the prosperity and the pockets of hardworking people.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

And what would success look like for you and your constituency?

SPEAKER_00 36:40

So for me in my constituency, continuing the campaign against the government's wanton destruction of the greenbelt is a big one. So if we could get any sort of pressure eased in terms of the local housing target, that would be a success. There's a lot of work that I'm doing to help fight for fresh investment to come into Bromsgrove Town Centre, improvement of local transport links. I mean, I've also had some success in the last sort of few months on a couple of other campaigns as a result of my Greenbelt campaign, a prominent site that was looked almost destined to become a site for a new settlement. That's now been scrapped. The proposal has been scrubbed by the wannabe developer of the site. We've had a local campaign to save the post office in Bromsgrove, and that's been a major success because that's a lifeline to so many people and helps act as an anchor to get people into the town. So that's probably those two answers that I've given probably demonstrate either kind of the strategic national priority versus the local sort of delivery aspect that an MP can help try to achieve.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

Well, thank you for taking part in this episode, Pradley. Pleasure, thank you. It's great to hear about what you're up to in parliament. I said, as I said earlier, I'm a frequent visitor to your constituency and I see your posters everywhere supporting businesses. It is good. And people know who you are, which means you're doing a great job.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

And that's it. It's always nice to sort of know that you're being recognized or that you there's some kind of cut through. But the work never stops. There's always something fresh to campaign on. And it does remain a genuine honour and privilege to be the MP for Bronx Grove and the villagers.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Well, thank you very much for speaking to us today.