Middle East: Economic Update

Daisy Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Daisy Cooper (St Albans) (LD)]

I thank the Chancellor for advance sight of her statement. Our thoughts are with our brave armed forces at this time.

I agree that the last Government’s failure to invest in energy was a failure to protect our country. Today we face the stark reality that we cannot guarantee our national security, our energy security or our food security. When the Liberal Democrats were in government, we launched the auction for onshore wind and established the Green Investment Bank, helping to drive down costs and quadruple renewable energy. The Conservatives’ decision to scrap the Green Investment Bank has left our energy system more exposed, and should be worn as a badge of shame.

To shore up our energy security and to tackle the energy crisis, we Liberal Democrats have consistently argued for a three-pronged approach: first, to reduce energy demand by incentivising households and businesses to invest in energy efficiency, without the tax penalties built into the business rates system or prohibitive up-front costs; secondly, to fix the broken energy market that is unfairly inflating prices, especially for small businesses on our high streets; and thirdly, to provide targeted support for the most vulnerable and for those with the highest energy needs. I urge the Chancellor to consider our proposals to create an energy security bank that can offer low-interest loans for energy-saving improvements for households and small businesses, to reverse the cuts to home insulation programmes, and to exempt business investment in energy efficiency from business rates calculations.

Although the action from the Competition and Markets Authority is welcome, it is not enough. Small businesses have been blocked from the best energy deals for years—well before Donald Trump started bombing Iran—yet there has still been no CMA investigation into suppliers blocking access to those fair deals. I ask the Chancellor again: will she please instruct the CMA to do that investigation without delay?

On targeted support, families are fearful. Will the Chancellor consider zero-rating VAT on heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas and introducing a price cap mechanism for off-grid fuels? Will she commit to halving energy bills over the next decade by reforming pricing structures? If bills rise to more than £400 a year, as some are warning, will the Chancellor commit to coming back to this House and outlining a broader support package so that many struggling households do not face a crippling hit of that scale?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank the hon. Lady for her questions. Nick Clegg once said that it would take 10 years to get nuclear power up and running so there was no point in doing it, as it would come on stream only in the 2020s. Imagine if that Deputy Prime Minister had not blocked investment in nuclear energy then—we would have the benefits of it today. The Liberal Democrats had a chance when they were in government, and they did absolutely nothing. The Conservatives opposed onshore wind, which is also helping to bring down bills.

In terms of supporting investment in renewables and energy security, we have created the National Wealth Fund, which is prioritising investment in defence and energy security, including in critical minerals in Cornwall, carbon capture and storage and the roll-out of chargers for electric vehicles. We have also put £14 billion into the warm homes plan to subsidise and support people to make energy improvements in their homes in order to reduce their energy consumption and therefore their bills, alongside doubling the number of people eligible for the warm home discount. We are looking at improvement relief through the business rates consultation to ensure that if people do make improvements, including on energy efficiency, they will not then be whacked with higher business rates.

The hon. Lady said that we should cut VAT on heating oil. When the Liberal Democrats were in government, they increased VAT on everything, so it is a bit rich to say that they want to cut it now. We have asked the Competition and Markets Authority to do a review into heating oil, which I set out today, in addition to the £53 million of support we have put in.

There seems to be a slight contradiction in what the hon. Lady is saying—does she want targeted support or blanket support? I argue that the progressive, universal approach that we are taking is the right one. It means £150 off everyone’s energy bills, but also targeted support for those who need it most. We cannot repeat what happened when Liz Truss was Prime Minister—we are still paying the price for the cheque that was written then with higher interest rates, inflation and taxes than we would otherwise have had.