Energy: Prices
Debate between Lord Harris of Haringey and Baroness Verma
Baroness Verma
My Lords, the noble Baroness is being incredibly complacent if she thinks that making a statement would not have an impact on share prices across the country. Of course, it undermines investor confidence. We need to make sure that people wishing to invest in the energy infrastructure of this country are confident that we will have a stable set of measurements. That gives confidence to investors rather than deters them from coming here. The noble Baroness asked a number of questions about what we are doing to help. We have done an awful lot to help consumers get through the difficult period. Through ECO we have put in many measures to help 230,000 of our most vulnerable households. There are cold weather payments and there will be warm house discounts to help them see out cold winters. This Government are doing a lot to ensure that those who need help will receive it.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, is the Minister telling the House that the Government believe that those people with shares in energy companies are right to be confident that Labour will win the next general election? That is the implication of what she is saying. However, I do not expect a detailed answer to that point. Will the Minister say what she thinks will be the impact on police budgets of rising energy costs and whether this will further add to the loss of local neighbourhood policing in various parts of the country?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, on the noble Lord’s first question, no, I do not expect his party to win. In fact, I am trying to point out that he and his party ought to be very careful that we do not undermine this country’s great strength in attracting inward investment. Making complacent statements that have no substance puts investors off.
Arctic Report Card
Debate between Lord Harris of Haringey and Baroness Verma(11 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Verma
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for mentioning the Green Deal, which will of course help very much in how we respond individually to a very serious issue. Greenhouse gases are the key cause of climate warming. We have invested heavily in research to ensure that, working with Defra, we have many ways of responding to the climate change which is happening around us and to ensure that other countries are working with us in that response.
Lord Harris of Haringey
In the past 60 years more than half of the ice in the Arctic has disappeared. That opens up the prospect of the north-west passage—which we all remember from our history books in childhood—becoming a reality. This has enormous strategic implications not only in the movement of goods but in extra exploration for both oil and other minerals. How do the Government see the United Kingdom’s strategic interests, and are they pursuing those through their associate membership of the Arctic Council?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, the noble Lord is right to raise that issue. Although we are not a member of the Arctic Council or an Arctic state, we have been invited in as observers and we are able to have a very constructive dialogue with those Arctic states and with other observer states as well.
Nuclear Waste
Debate between Lord Harris of Haringey and Baroness Verma
Baroness Verma
The noble Lord raises an interesting point. Countries, including France, have opted for underground nuclear disposal.
Lord Harris of Haringey
My Lords, given the time that these discussions are clearly going to take, the absence of a plan B in the answer to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, and the importance of ensuring that nuclear materials, whether waste or otherwise, are kept secure from those who might steal them, is the Minister satisfied with the resources available to the civil nuclear police to protect those nuclear materials, and is she satisfied with the arrangements whereby they can call on the assistance of Home Office forces in the event of any challenge to the security of those materials?
Baroness Verma
My Lords, to reassure the noble Lord and all noble Lords in the Chamber, I can say that safety and security are paramount to everything that we do. While we build consensus for underground disposal, it will be very important that everything kept above ground will be secure and safe. Of course, we will always be looking at security as time progresses.