Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle suspended action in the Commons after a bust-up over cabinet minister Michael Gove’s statement on the approval of the coal mine in Cumbria.
Mr Gove said approving the controversial coal mine was “the right thing to do” and insisted he was satisfied that it would be “net zero-compliant”.
But the Speaker then suspended a debate on the decision over the government’s failure to provide Mr Gove’s full statement to Labour’s shadow ministers and opposition MPs.
“There’s something missing between what I have been provided, the opposition have been provided,” said Sir Lindsay. “That is not according to the ministerial code – we don’t work like that.”
Visibly angry, he added: “The shadow secretary has not been able to read what’s been said. I am going to suspend the House … This is not the way we do good government.”
Sir Lindsay and Commons clerks argued with Mr Gove about the matter outside the chamber, The Independent understands – telling the minister that the failure to provide the statement he had read to Labour was a breach of the ministerial code.
Mr Gove was asked to photocopy what he had read out in the Commons so it could be shared with opposition MPs, sources said – but Mr Gove said that wasn’t possible because had ad-libbed some of what was said.
Sir Lindsay later thanked Hansard for typing up Mr Gove’s remarks – but said he was “dismayed” that the government had “failed to follow” the ministerial code. He said a copy of the text should be shown to the opposition at least 45 minutes before it is made.
Mr Gove told Sir Lindsay he was sorry. “I apologise to you and to the House. No discourtesy was intended, and I do appreciate the importance of maintaining the courtesies of the House, particularly with ministerial statements.”
Prior to the row, Mr Gove claimed that a coking coal mine for use by the steel industry would be “net zero compliant” and the plan to create 500 jobs would be a “significant contribution to local economy”.
The levelling up secretary pointed to the planning inspector’s judgement that the amount of coal used in UK steel making would be “broadly the same” with or without the mine – and so would have a “broadly neutral” effect on global emissions.
Mr Gove added: “Our net-zero strategy makes it clear that coal has no part to play in future power generation, which is why we’re phasing it out of our electricity supply by 2024.”
But opposition politicians, scientists, environment campaigners and even the government’s own advisors have condemned the decision to give the Woodhouse Colliery the go-ahead.
The mine is projected to increase UK greenhouse gas emissions by 0.4 million tonnes a year, the equivalent of around 200,000 cars.
Responding to Mr Gove, Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said: “What on earth is he thinking? The decision … is bad. It’s bad policy and it’s bad politics. It’s the latest in a string of absurd decisions from a government in chaos.”
The shadow minister said Mr Gove’s claim that it was safeguard energy security “is a nonsense” – saying steel producers were already phasing out of use of coal in favour of lower carbon production.
Ms Nandy said accused the Tories of “environment vandalism” and said people in Cumbria deserved “lasting, well-paid jobs that pare us through the next century”.
Former Tory minister Lord Deben, chair of the Climate Change Committee, condemned the move and said it clearly “grows global emissions and undermines UK efforts to achieve net zero”.
The approved plans for the project near Whitehaven is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tones of coal per year for the steel industry, which has been heavily dependent on Russia.
