Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery and Blyth Valley MP Ian Levy speak in House of Commons debate on Britishvolt collapse

Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery introduced the debate after the firm, which had hoped to build a £3.8bn gigafactory in Northumberland, went into administration last week.

The Labour MP took aim at the government’s conditional promise of £100m investment in January 2022 and rejection of Britishvolt’s request to provide £30m earlier than planned in November.

He said: “It seems to me that £30m for a company that says the money will allow it to stay in business and create 8,000 jobs in a region that has been held back for so long, keeping it afloat, is a worthwhile investment.

“That £30m is a mere drop in the ocean of the money lost so carelessly during the pandemic, which went into the coffers of those with close ties to senior members of the government, but when it might be spent on benefiting held-back towns in the North East, it is held under very tight wraps.”

He said that ‘levelling-up’ money for the area would have been better used to support the start-up, and added: “The British government basically abdicated responsibility, and jumped off the ship like a rat.

“That caused investors to be extremely unhappy, and probably put them off in the short and the medium term.”

Conservative MP for Blyth Valley, Ian Levy, responded in the debate. He said: “Unlike the honourable gentleman, I accept that it was right for the government to set milestones that had to be met in order to receive taxpayers’ money.

“It is regrettable that Britishvolt could not fulfil its business plan, which would have triggered a staged release of public funds, but giving a business £100m of taxpayers’ money without conditions would have been completely indefensible, no matter how much we all want the plan to succeed.”

Reports emerged yesterday that Australian firm Recharge Industries are offering to take over Britishvolt and other interest is rumoured.

Minister for industry and investment security Nusrat Ghani MP said: “We are very committed to the site and I can assure the honourable member for Wansbeck that this government is determined to make that site work for Blyth and for the whole of the United Kingdom.”