David Mowat
Main Page: David Mowat (Conservative - Warrington South)
Mr Speaker
Order. May I remind the House that topical questions are supposed to be significantly shorter, and the same goes for the replies? We will then be able to get more colleagues in.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
Over the past few months, there has been a significant increase in the level of electricity imports, mostly cheap nuclear from France, through the interconnector. Indeed, over the past 24 hours we have imported more electricity by a factor of two than we have produced from offshore and onshore wind. That is a big policy failure and is costing us thousands of jobs. How can we address it?
Charles Hendry
I disagree with my hon. Friend, as the interconnector is an essential part of our energy security. We have seen a new interconnector introduced to Holland and a new connection is coming through to Ireland. We are exploring other aspects of the matter, too. We think that it is a fundamental part of energy security and delivering low-carbon electricity at the cheapest cost to consumers.