Oral Answers to Questions

James Wild Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

Every constituency has members of the MPS who are benefiting from this. I hope the Conservative party welcomes a Labour Government acting on this injustice—there is not much sign of that, though. My hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons) makes the point about commemorating the work of miners, which is something that I feel strongly about and that we will pursue.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I am sure that any of my constituents who stand to benefit from this increase will welcome it, but how many members of the mineworkers’ pension scheme will be losing out on winter fuel payments worth up to £300 due to the decisions that this Government have taken?

[Ed Miliband]

This is actually to do with the disastrous economic legacy that was left by the Conservative party. The truth is that, even in tough times, the Labour Government are showing with their decisions on the MPS how we can make our society more just.

COP29

James Wild Excerpts

Tuesday 26th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour is absolutely right about that. This is where the opportunities are huge. For South Yorkshire, there are opportunities around hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and the jobs in insulating homes. We know that many of our industrial heartlands have been crying out for good jobs and good wages, and they have been crying out for them for a long time. This is the opportunity to make that happen.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

COP leaders agreed to triple climate finance to $300 billion a year. The Secretary of State referred to the spending review in his statement, but the Prime Minister signed up to that international commitment. The Secretary of State must know how much the UK will have to pay. Will he tell the House?

[Ed Miliband]

That is not the way it works. We set a global total and then it is for individual countries to come forward with their contribution—that is the way it works.

Contracts for Difference

James Wild Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the legacy of the last Government. To widen her point, I would say to Members across the House—we need to be candid that this is hard for us as constituency MPs—that there is a need to connect debates in this House about fuel poverty and energy bills and the decisions that are being made in our areas. Candidly, unless we build the grid, solar and onshore wind, we will never get off the rollercoaster of international gas markets. All of us face a choice. We need a public debate about this, because if we are to tackle fuel poverty and do the things that I described, building is required, and we need to make that happen.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I gently say to the Secretary of State that he promised at the general election to bring energy bills down by £300. They are now going up by 10% in October. When will my constituents see the reductions that those in his party promised—or did they not mean it?

[Ed Miliband]

I think that tonight, the hon. Gentleman will think that that was not a very smart point to make. Weeks after we came into office, the price cap went up. I have explained why the price cap went up—because of our reliance on international gas markets. The decision that he has to make is this: does he support our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower in order to bring bills down, or does he not?

Energy Security and Net Zero

James Wild Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2024 Written Corrections

[James Wild]

Plans for 90 miles of pylons from Lincolnshire to my North West Norfolk constituency and new substations are strongly opposed by local communities. Will the Secretary of State commit to a review of network technologies, and consider a presumption in favour of underground or offshore proposals?

[Edward Miliband]

I will look at all proposals, but I think the hon. Gentleman knows that underground cables cost six to 10 times more; that is why the last Government did not agree to them.

[Official Report, 18 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 206.]

Written correction submitted by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Ed Miliband):

Clean Energy Superpower Mission

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 18th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Edward Miliband]

Let me welcome my hon. Friend to her place, and congratulate her on her election; she will be a great Member of Parliament. She raises such an important issue. More than 3 million people are in fuel poverty in our country. One thing that this Government will do that the last Government did not is demand that landlords raise the standard of their accommodation to a proper energy performance certificate standard C by 2030. That will make a dent in this issue, but the House should be in no doubt about our ambition to cut that number of 3.2 million as much as possible in the five years of this Parliament.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Plans for 90 miles of pylons from Lincolnshire to my North West Norfolk constituency and new substations are strongly opposed by local communities. Will the Secretary of State commit to a review of network technologies, and consider a presumption in favour of underground or offshore proposals?

[Edward Miliband]

I will look at all proposals, but I think the hon. Gentleman knows that underground cables cost six to 10 times more; that is why the last Government did not agree to them. If part of our challenge is to cut bills for people, that is not a sustainable solution for the future. I am sympathetic to all MPs who raise issues on behalf of their constituents, but I gently say again to him that if we want to avoid a repeat of the cost of living crisis, if we want to tackle the climate crisis, and if we want energy security, we will have to build the grid in our country.