Energy Bill
Debate between Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan and Earl of Caithness
Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan
My Lords, my previous remarks might have been interpreted as being antagonistic to small generators but I am not. What we are talking about here is a reform of the market that will encourage investment, but investment can only be encouraged if there is the prospect of stability. We are yet to receive from the Government a clear indication that there will be stability in this area.
I am not certain that praying in aid the German experience is necessarily that relevant seeing as Germany is having to accommodate the withdrawal from nuclear generation on a considerable scale and will be happy to get generating supplements or replacements from any source that it can. To a certain extent, that might be the same for the United Kingdom if coal is to be exited from our energy mix in a significant way. If that is the intention, and I believe that it is, we must have facilities available to mop up, or fill in the gaps, of what remains.
These amendments provide a clear and explicit set of measures. But they are only amendments and were the Minister able today to give us the degree of certainty required, I imagine that they would be withdrawn. However, what Mr Fallon said elsewhere probably was based on the optimism that has existed throughout the activities of the Department of Energy and Climate Change these many months—that every deal is just days away. Yet the days become weeks and the weeks become months. We do not have much more time. Therefore, it is essential that the Minister gives us a far more positive assurance than she was able to give last week. If she can do that, these amendments will melt like snow off a dyke, as we say in Scotland. However, if they do not, they will come back to haunt the Minister, because there will be a clear indication of what could have happened had there been a greater sense of urgency in the Department of Energy and Climate Change than had been anticipated by Michael Fallon before he went eastward.
The Earl of Caithness (Con)
My Lords, there can be no doubt that there is a unanimous view within the Chamber that we want independent operators and more competition. Of course, the difficulty for the Government is getting the balance right. We talked about the trilemma last week: finding the right balance of affordability, supply and decarbonisation of energy that we all want.
However, I disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, when he spoke of Clause 44 being hedged around with “may”s and not “must”s. It always amuses me that when one is in opposition “may” should always be “must”, but the moment that one gets into government, one is advised that “must” should always be “may”. Therefore, I do not think that having “may” in Clause 44 will put off investors or financiers in any way.
My noble friend Lord Deben said that if we get this right, it will be a win-win situation. I think that my noble friend on the Front Bench is aware that it will be a win-win situation, but I do not think that the amendments actually help. They tilt the balance too far. In Amendment 62, the idea is to allow a party to a CFD to be able,
“to borrow money commercially for its business purposes at adequate levels, reasonable cost and over a reasonable period”.
As a businessman, I would love the Government to give me that guarantee for my business. It would be exactly what I wanted, because if I were not happy I could go to judicial review against the Government for not forcing financiers and investment people to give me the terms that I considered right.
That is a point of detail on the amendment, but my general point is that we are all agreed that we want competition, and I think that the Government have just about got it right in the Bill. However, I would like a firmer commitment from my noble friend the Minister that this will actually work in practice.
Scotland Bill
Debate between Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan and Earl of Caithness(12 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan
Does the noble Earl anticipate there being a polling station on Rockall and the like? We are dealing with matters of rather greater significance than these flights of geographical fancy.
The Earl of Caithness
In fact, I do not anticipate people living there. But what is important are the oil exploration rights around Rockall, which have huge implications. What I want to ask my noble and learned friend is what takes preference. Is it Her Majesty’s instructions to raise a union flag and it is taken for the union, or is it an Act of Parliament which gives administrative rights so that the island of Rockall is part of Scotland? That ought to be decided. I would say to the noble Lord, Lord O’Neill, that these are the sorts of issues that we need to be clear about when it comes to the referendum. If oil is found within the waters of Rockall, let us have a clear mandate as to who owns it and who is going to have responsibility for those areas, and indeed defend them against attack, perhaps by terrorists, if the oil is developed.
My last amendment in this group is to Amendment 94C, another amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock. It concerns the second question about the fiscal autonomy of Scotland, for which I know he did not get much support. I want to ask my noble and learned friend what the situation would be should Scotland vote to become a separate country from the United Kingdom. My amendment provides that Scotland should no longer be allowed to use the British pound sterling. I do not see how Scotland could use the same currency as England if it did not have a common Government. That has been the problem with the euro. My noble friend Lord Forsyth has argued strongly that we should not join the euro. Attempts have been made by many politicians, including the present Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to get us to become part of the euro and much more integrated. However, the decision not to become part of the euro has clearly been vindicated. In the event of Scotland becoming a separate country and not having the same Government, it would be quite detrimental both to the remainder of the United Kingdom and to Scotland to have the same currency. It has not worked in the past and it will not work in the future. I would like my noble and learned friend to confirm that Scotland would not be allowed to use the British pound sterling.
That would not be something sensational for Scotland to do because in the days of King David I, somewhere between 1140 and 1150, the weights and measures and the currency of Scotland were based by Act of Parliament in Caithness. It was decreed that there should be a common and even weight for the pondus Cathaniae, so it would be quite simple for Scotland to go back to that.