Middle East: Economic Update

Caroline Nokes Excerpts

Tuesday 21st April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Carla Denyer (Bristol Central) (Green)]

I am relieved that the Government are now committed to breaking—[Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. Can we proceed without an unseemly exchange across the Dispatch Box? I would like to be able to hear the question from the hon. Member for Bristol Central (Carla Denyer), and I am sure that the Chancellor might also like to hear it so that she can respond.

[Carla Denyer]

I am relieved that the Government are now committed to breaking the price link between expensive gas and cheap renewables, but given that the proposed solution is voluntary for electricity generators, how will the Chancellor ensure that the proposals that she and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero are putting forward will actually deliver substantially lower bills? If I send them to her office, will she consider the proposals from the think-tank Commonwealth for a mandated, not-optional, fixed-price model to ensure that billpayers are not left at the mercy of the volatile international fossil fuel market?

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I plan to let this statement run only until 2 o’clock. Many Members are still standing, so short questions and perhaps short answers would be very helpful in allowing me to get in as many as possible.

[Andrew Pakes (Peterborough) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Chancellor is right: this was not our war, but its impacts are being felt by businesses and families in my constituency. What is almost as shocking as the recent price hike is how exposed our country is because of a decade of under-investment by the Conservative party in nuclear, onshore wind and updating our power networks. Can the Chancellor reassure me that while we keep a razor-sharp focus on the cost of living for families, we will also do our utmost to speed up the development and renewal of our energy networks, so that we can power this country from our own sources and not just rely on imports?