Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Ed Miliband and Chi Onwurah(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)
The price cap increase announced last week as a result of the war in Iran was deeply concerning news for families in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Tackling the cost of living crisis is the Government’s top priority, which is why we have acted to take £150 of costs off bills in the coming years and expanded the warm home discount, and why we are accelerating the warm homes plan. We will do everything we can to help protect her constituents in the face of this fossil fuel price spike.
Dame Chi Onwurah
In the local elections, Reform told my constituents, who are worried about rising fuel bills, that drilling new wells in the North sea would bring down energy prices. Will the Secretary of State explain how long it would take for the oil to flow if we permitted drilling new wells tomorrow, who would benefit the most from that oil, and how that would bring down prices at the pumps or energy bills in Newcastle? Given that, I suspect, big oil companies would benefit the most, is he surprised that 70% of Reform’s funding comes from fuel investors?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend makes a very important point, and does so in her articulate way. The big choice that we in this House face is this: is the way out of a fossil fuel crisis to double down on fossil fuels, in a way that would make no difference to bills and prices, or is the answer to drive further and faster for clean energy, as this Government are doing? We have made our choice.
Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage
Debate between Ed Miliband and Chi Onwurah(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Ed Miliband
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. I talked to the UK chair of ExxonMobil last week about this issue, and I believe that the Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon West (Sarah Jones), is going to meet him later this week. For the benefit of the House, this was not in either track 1 or track 2—it was part of the Solent cluster—but we want all the projects to go ahead and the Solent cluster has real potential and is an important part of this. The UK chair told me that this temporary pause was certainly nothing to do with the actions of this Government, but, frankly, was to do with the time it had taken the previous Government to get going on this. I undertake to the right hon. Gentleman that we will continue our dialogue with the company about these issues, including on the more technical issues that he is talking about.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
This announcement is fantastic news for the north-east and for the country. It will place us at the forefront of a critical and growing sector, it will help to re-industrialise regions that have been de-industrialised by successive Conservative Governments and it will deliver thousands of well-paid jobs—jobs that people can raise a family on. For the benefit of those with genuine concerns about the feasibility of this technology—as opposed to those playing party politics with innovation or those ideologically opposed to industry—will my right hon. Friend say a little more about the world-leading research and innovation that will carry on alongside this deployment, and particularly about the carbon storage research facility and the work that it will do?
Ed Miliband
My hon. Friend speaks with great knowledge of this subject. She is unusual in this House, in that she is an engineer by background and actually knows about these issues. She is absolutely right about this. Our world-leading scientists and engineers are a crucial part of our playing a world-leading role in this technology. I also say to those who are worried about the risk of this technology that the much, much greater risk is in not acting. The risk before us is the climate crisis that grows every day, and it is the right thing to do to get CCS moving.