Ban on Fracking for Shale Gas Bill
Debate between Caroline Lucas and Edward Miliband(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. In terms of trust, he will know that the Government have set up a new consultation to determine what public consent is. Does he agree that it is a monstrous waste of time and money to try to determine something that does not exist? There is no local consent for this; plenty of Government Members do not actually want it. If the Government really want to know what consent is, why do they not have a general election?
Edward Miliband
The hon. Lady makes her point well and anticipates the issues that I will come on to. Fracking will not make a difference to bills, we cannot be assured of its safety, and it is a disastrous response to the climate crisis.
Tackling Short-term and Long-term Cost of Living Increases
Debate between Caroline Lucas and Edward Miliband(1 year, 11 months ago)
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Edward Miliband
The hon. Gentleman anticipates a later part of my speech. That is the Conservative party today: it will blame anyone else and never take responsibility. The hon. Gentleman should have been supporting our measures, because in his constituency 11,353 people would get our combination of a VAT cut and the warm home discount of £600. If he votes against us tonight, he will have to explain to them why he is denying them the help they need.
Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)
The right hon. Gentleman is making a powerful speech. I wonder whether he shares my anger at the news this week that the Government have underspent their net zero budget by a staggering quarter of a billion pounds, at exactly the same time as our constituents are struggling to keep their homes warm and deal with accelerating fuel poverty.
Edward Miliband
I completely agree with the hon. Lady. At every step of the way, the Government have had the chance to act, and they have not done so.