Shale Gas Extraction
Daisy Cooper Excerpts(1 year, 7 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Mr Rees-Mogg
A number of people have said that fracking is environmentally unfriendly, but it is more friendly than importing liquefied natural gas from abroad—it has a lower carbon footprint, and that is fundamentally important. I am well aware that there have been objections to fracking, but I would also note that there have been stories, widely reported, that some of the opposition to fracking has been funded by Mr Putin’s regime.
Daisy Cooper (St Albans) (LD)
Does the Secretary of State recognise that he has now put his Government in the absurd position of wanting to impose fracking on communities that do not want it, while not allowing onshore wind turbines in communities that do want them? Onshore wind turbines are cheap and quick to erect, and normally bring about cheaper energy bills for local communities. Will the Secretary of State finally—without reference to offshore wind and everything else he is doing—please answer the question directly: will he lift the ban on onshore wind?
Mr Rees-Mogg
Community consent is important, and the hon. Lady is right to point that out.
Energy Update
Daisy Cooper Excerpts(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Daisy Cooper (St Albans) (LD)
Like many Members of this House, I am receiving desperate messages not only from individuals, but from hospitals, care homes, schools and small businesses. The energy bill for one pub in my constituency, Dylans-The Kings Arms, is due to rise from £22,000 to £124,000—a sixfold increase, or an increase of £100,000. One care home in my constituency emailed me today and said its gas bill alone will have a 15-fold increase, rising from £40,000 to £600,000. If a pub has no heating, patrons will not visit. If a care home does not have heating, vulnerable people become ill and possibly die. The Minister has already indicated that he does not know when an announcement will be made, but will he please give us an assurance that straight after this debate he will go straight to the new Prime Minister and encourage her and her new Cabinet to make an announcement this week—not just for individuals and households, but for businesses, care homes and schools?
Greg Hands
I do not think that the hon. Lady will have long to wait. I say to her that we absolutely share those concerns. All Government Ministers, at least in the Commons, are obviously constituency MPs as well, and we have these kinds of cases in our constituencies, including in my constituency. We are well aware of the big rises in energy prices being faced by many businesses at the end of their contract when taking up a new contract.