Climate Change Policy

Debate between Sarah Newton and Claire Perry

Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

The right hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to know that I disagree with his scientific analysis. The link between CO₂ emissions and temperature increases is proven to an extent well beyond the proof that smoking causes lung cancer. The challenge that he rightly raises, though, is how we act in a way that is just and fair and ensures that we do not put people out of work and that we do not put bills up. The Government go through a process of making sure that our energy-intensive industries are held whole and they do not overpay for their energy. We all supported a price cap Bill to ensure that the cost of energy is held down, but ultimately, this is why when we act, we have to act in a proportionate way and make sure that whoever ends up having to pay for this—whether it is customers, taxpayers or shareholders—is paying a fair and proportionate amount.

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

Cornwall and the wider south-west have clean growth at the heart of our local and regional industrial strategy. Many innovative businesses will be delivering the solutions that we need to decarbonise, so will the Minister publish the green finance strategy when she publishes her response to the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change, because like her, I think that market forces can be forces for good?

[Claire Perry]

I will look into that. Cornwall is wonderful for many things and the adoption of clean growth as a fundamental part of a local industrial strategy is incredibly exciting. We want to see other areas doing the same.

Fuel Prices and the Cost of Living

Debate between Sarah Newton and Claire Perry

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

I am afraid that I will not at the moment.

The motion is a sham attempt to create dividing lines when we should be working together to get the country growing and out of this mess. It is cynical, muddled and inaccurate, but, as in all our debates on this issue, I welcome the chance to speak about these matters. Outside London, in many parts of rural Britain, people use their cars. Some 43% of households in London do not own or have access to a car, whereas the figure for my constituency is only 15%. That is not because it is a wealthy constituency—the average income in Devizes is well below the national average—but because in large parts of rural Britain people must have a car to go about their everyday business, to get to their job, to take their children to school and to carry out normal day-to-day activities. It is a necessity.

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

A car is also a necessity for families in Cornwall. Does my hon. Friend agree that the prices are much higher in such areas? In my constituency, the cost of diesel is almost 6p a litre higher than here in London.

[Claire Perry]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, which many Members across the House who represent rural constituencies will recognise. Devizes has one of the lowest population densities per hectare of all English constituencies. We have real problems with our road services and thanks to the very misguided policies of the Labour party our rural services were hollowed out. We lost a third of our post offices and, shockingly, all the minor injuries units in the constituency, so people have to use their car to access even the most basic services.

Like many Opposition Members, I am calling on the Chancellor to bring to fruition some of the plans that we all talked about before the election. I do not underestimate the difficulty of introducing a unilateral fair fuel stabiliser, which would be a tricky thing to do. Unlike the Opposition’s proposals, however, it would be legal, and it would be extremely welcome to many Members on both sides of the House and their constituents.