Energy Prices
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Baroness Primarolo(9 years, 4 months ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Dawn Primarolo)
Order. The Secretary of State will not be giving way. The right hon. Gentleman joined the debate late. He has not been in the Chamber very long. It is a timed debate that has to end at 4.30 at the latest, and I have 13 speakers. After nearly an hour into the debate, we still have not completed the opening speeches. The Secretary of State will resume.
Energy Price Freeze
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Baroness Primarolo(10 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Gregory Barker
British Gas alone has installed more than 10,000 green deal measures for customers who have elected to install them. Some 80% of people who have had a green assessment say that they have already installed measures, are currently installing measures, or are likely to do so.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
Order. Interventions are brief. I allowed the point to be made, but that really was too long.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)
We have indeed had a good and lengthy debate. We on the Government Benches relish the opportunity to debate with the Opposition our wide-ranging actions to help with the cost of living and our ambitious plans to get a better deal for energy consumers and to secure our energy future.
We heard contributions from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Anas Sarwar), my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr Clarke), my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael), the hon. Members for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) and for Angus (Mr Weir), my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Duncan Hames), the hon. Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk), my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris), the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen), my hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Tessa Munt), the hon. Member for Lanark and Hamilton East (Mr Hood), my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) and the hon. Members for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery), for Edinburgh North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz), for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) and for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger), the right hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton (Mr Meacher) and the hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr Anderson). We heard excellent interventions from my hon. Friends the Members for Ipswich (Ben Gummer), for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Chishti) and for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams). I apologise if I do not have time to mention all the contributions.
We can sum up our mission: cheaper energy and cheaper bills. The coalition is fairly and squarely on the side of the consumer. Unlike the Labour party, we are not trying to kid the public that there is a simple, silver-bullet solution. Unlike the inertia and complacency that were that hallmark of 13 wasted years, our approach to energy is ambitious, radical, urgent, practical and, most of all, honest. We are delivering. There has been £35 billion of new investment in power generation in the past three years. The coalition is building for the future. [Interruption.] We know that the greatest help of all for consumers is to roll out ambitious energy efficiency retrofits. That is the long-term solution—something that was completely missing from the Opposition’s motion. [Interruption.] It is really interesting that they did not mention that at all. [Hon. Members: “Give way!”] We know that Labour wants to knock the green deal, run down the energy company obligation and go back to old-style—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
Order. That is enough. Members will listen to the Minister just as they listened to every other speaker. He will decide when he wants to give way.
Gregory Barker
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The fact is that Opposition Members make a lot of noise because they abhor the market, consumer choice and the fantastic SMEs that are rising to the challenge. Labour wants to go back to expensive state monopolies, close the door on innovation and close the door on SMEs, and hand it all to the big six on a plate.
Sadly, as has been demonstrated in spades in the Chamber today, Labour Members, while tapping into the genuine public concern about the cost of living—a concern we all share right across this House—have responded to that concern with political trickery, cheap soundbites, and policy that, sadly, is just a con: a price freeze con. It was very telling that despite repeated questioning neither the shadow Secretary of State nor the shadow Minister could name a single independent energy supplier that supported their price freeze con—not a single one. As Member after Member has pointed out, not only do Labour Members know they cannot guarantee to deliver such a freeze, but the long-term net impact of trying to rig the market with clumsy, 1970s-style state intervention would be to hurt—
Energy Efficiency
Debate between Lord Barker of Battle and Baroness Primarolo(13 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Gregory Barker
The right hon. Lady is absolutely right: finance is only part of the issue, as we found in Kirklees. Two things are vital. Community involvement is very important, but the other exciting thing about the green deal is that it is not just reliant on the big six energy companies, which have mixed reputations, but brings in some of our most trusted high street retailers and brands, such as Marks and Spencer and Tesco, which have strong degrees of consumer trust, and I hope that new companies, not yet formed, will also come in. It is exciting that there will be new participants, on a far greater scale than was ever imagined under the previous Government.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
Order. Please may we have brief interventions as many Members wish to speak? I appreciate that the Minister is responding promptly, which I am sure the House is grateful for, but brief interventions would help enormously.