UK Energy Costs

Debate between Ian Blackford and Steve McCabe

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

rose—

[Ian Blackford]

I will take one more intervention.

[Steve McCabe]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. On the question of the cap, the Prime Minister indicated that one of her reviews will be of regulation. Does the right hon. Gentleman think it is time to take a serious look at the operations of Ofgem and how much support it is giving as a regulator to consumers, whether domestic consumers or businesses?

[Ian Blackford]

I think it is fair to say that the current regime is not fit for purpose, which is why we are in this situation today, so an urgent review of that is absolutely required.

Let me make some progress. Good, profitable businesses seeing a tsunami of cost increases, with energy costs at its core, are quite simply facing a fight for survival. It is clear that today’s plan does not go nearly far enough to mitigate the expected cost increase facing employers. The UK Government need to grasp the scale of this emergency.