Offshore Wind
Jeevun Sandher Excerpts(2 days, 3 hours ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I call Dr Jeevun Sandher—I hope it has been worth the wait.
Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. Affordability is the biggest issue facing our country and climate change is the biggest issue facing our planet. That is why today’s announcement is such, such good news: wind power 40% cheaper than natural gas. Bizarrely, Reform called that lunacy. The shadow Secretary of State used to agree with us and she used to support the Climate Change Act 2008, but now she agrees with Reform. Does the Secretary of State believe that the shadow Secretary of State may be planning to join the best and the brightest of her former colleagues and become defector No. 21?
Ed Miliband
It was worth waiting for. I will let the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho) speculate on her own future and whether she is going to join another political party. In all seriousness, I do think it is sad. The truth is that we used to pride ourselves as a country on competing, between political parties, to succeed when it came to building our clean energy future. It is deeply regrettable. There are many sensible voices on the Conservative side who shake their heads when I talk to them about the direction their party has taken. Fundamentally, my hon. Friend is right: this is central to tackling the affordability crisis, central to tackling the climate crisis in our country, and central to giving us energy security.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jeevun Sandher Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Michael Shanks
First, on a positive note in the new year, I believe the hon. Gentleman had some good news over Christmas—I congratulate him on it. He is quite wrong, though, on his question. I should set out, as I did in my oral statement on the Lindsey oil refinery, that this was an insolvency process and it was therefore for the official receiver to conclude the sales process, which it has done. It has taken the highest bid that was on the table. P66 will now take forward the future of that site in a sustainable way and I will continue to work with it on that question. The Government do not retain decommissioning liabilities; they were part of the deal and P66 will take them along with the site.
Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)
Happy new year, Mr Speaker.
We are facing an affordability crisis in this country, and indeed across high-income nations, because of our dependence on fossil fuels. That is why energy prices here have risen by 40% since 2021. Our constituents feel that this is damaging our country and, more importantly, it is damaging the faith that people across this nation have in our democracy to deliver for them. Can the Minister set out how our transition to fossil fuels will help to resolve the affordability crisis and restore faith in this place?
Michael Shanks
That is an important question on two fronts. My hon. Friend rightly mentioned that the transition away from fossil fuels is hugely important for our energy security and for future generations. We in this place have a huge responsibility to safeguard the future of our planet for the generations still to come. His second point was, rightly, that we need to make the case for why this is important now. It is about how we get away from the volatility of fossil fuel prices, which so many of our constituents are still paying the price for, and how we industrialise communities right across the country. Tens of thousands of jobs have been created through the renewables that are already in place and we want to see hundreds of thousands of jobs by building much more of this infrastructure in the UK; that is how we get an economic advantage as well as energy security.
Energy
Jeevun Sandher Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)
Clearly, this country faces an affordability crisis. People cannot afford their energy bills or their housing bills, and that means more than just not being able to pay the bills—it means that they are losing faith in us in this place, because democracy is no longer delivering for them. We Labour Members want cleaner and cheaper energy, to ensure that people can afford their bills and do have faith in us, but there is another reason. The decisions we make now in this place will live on for decades—for generation after generation. The carbon we emit between now and 2050 will live, not just with us, but with our great-grandchildren and their grandchildren. It is so important that we get this right at this moment.
The motion tabled by the Conservative party backs expanding North sea oil and gas. That would not make our energy cheaper, and perhaps more importantly, it would not make us more secure. The Conservatives talk about a cheap power plan. They were in power for 14 years. We had the most expensive energy bills in the G7, with the highest inflation, because they left us dependent on natural gas—and what do we see today? Exactly the same plan all over again. Natural gas is setting our energy price for 98% of the time. It drove 80% of the increase in the wholesale cost, with 50% of the wholesale cost driving the increase in energy prices. How on earth can the Opposition today want us to relive and repeat those mistakes over and over again?
Let us talk about North sea oil and gas in particular. Taking all of it out, as the Opposition are proposing, would leave five years-worth of supply—and then what will we do? What will we invest in then? We will be dependent on natural gas over and over again. That is exactly why we invest in the future. Moreover, the North sea gas bill is twice as expensive as those in the middle east, so it does not even make economic sense.
Harriet Cross
Projections show that if we fully utilised the oil and gas in the North sea we could cover half our energy needs up to 2050, so there is a lot more in there than five years-worth, but even if it were true that there was only five years-worth, why would we be increasing our imports to cover it? Why would we not be using what we have, given that we will be a net importer for years to come in any event? Why are we closing down the North sea if, as the hon. Gentleman suggests, it will all be gone in any case? It makes no sense.
Dr Sandher
The gasfields that the hon. Lady is talking about are geologically unstable, and it is not even clear whether we can get them out. Only 20% of the reserves of the gasfields that we knew of in 1997 are left—and when we get to 2050, what will we do then? That is precisely why this Government are investing in clean, home-grown energy that is cheaper and more secure for the future, and we know that is the case because the Conservatives used to believe it too. You used to believe in net zero. You used to believe in the Climate Change Act. Look at how much you have changed. It is a deep shame.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. I have not changed; I am still here.
Dr Sandher
I do apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Our plan, which used to be shared across the House, is precisely to invest in cleaner, cheaper energy for all, because we know that wind and solar are 60% cheaper than natural gas. We know that because, after the capital costs, wind and solar are free. As for the network costs, we need to balance them in any case, and renew our grid. That too was an approach that we shared across the House, and it is a shame to see where we are.
Beyond investing in clean energy, which is cheaper, we are also investing in home insulation so that people use less energy at home and bills are lower for families, and they do have faith in us in this place. On top of that, we are redistributing the costs through the warm home discount and the standing charge. I am so glad that the living standards coalition put that forward.
Gareth Snell
National Energy Action estimates that Stoke-on-Trent is No. 1 in the country for fuel poverty. According to its analysis, even if we reduce energy bills, as we will do, most of the energy will simply disappear through leaky windows, draughty doors and uninsulated homes. Does my hon. Friend accept, agree and acknowledge that there must be a twin-track approach, and that not only must we bring down the overall cost of energy, but houses must use less energy so that we are cleaner, greener and cheaper?
Dr Sandher
The House will be shocked to hear that I do agree. This is about getting bills down for families, which is so important. When homes are insulated, that reduces energy demand as well, which means that our transition is easier and cheaper. When we build and insulate homes, that is not just good for bills, it is not just good for people, but it is good for jobs as well—good non-graduate jobs, of which there are too few in our move to a post-industrial economy.
Most important of all, however, is getting carbon down for good. The decisions that we make now, and the carbon that we emit, will live with us for ever. Either we, in this place and across the country, will make these innovations and live up to our duty to this generation and those in the future—either we will stop emitting carbon, which will mean cheaper and cleaner energy, and our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be thankful to us—or we will not. This is the moment for us to rise to. This is why we are investing in that cheaper, cleaner energy—yes, so that it gets bills down for good, but also to ensure that we live up to the promise we make to the generations to come.
Warm Home Discount
Jeevun Sandher Excerpts(10 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Miatta Fahnbulleh
One hundred per cent. We need a long-term plan, so that every part of the system can respond to that. Our warm homes plan will try to set a long-term trajectory, so that we can marshal every part of the system necessary to deliver hundreds of thousands of upgrades, year in, year out.
Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)
May I welcome the Minister’s announcement around the expansion of the warm home discount scheme? About 160,000 homes in my region will get £150 more help with their energy bills, but, clearly, the root cause of higher prices is higher natural gas prices, which have doubled since the election in July 2024. We know that natural gas is 50% to 75% more expensive than wind and solar, because the sun and the wind are free, and natural gas is not. Can the Minister assure me that we will get into clean energy by 2030, so that we can get our energy bills down for good?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I thank my hon. Friend for making the point so well. He is absolutely right that this is the route by which we can deliver cheaper energy. I can assure him that we are committed to driving this for the reasons that he said. This is the way that we break the stranglehold that we are in. This is the way that we get off this rollercoaster of price rises and price falls that is impacting households across the country. The commitment is there, and we are running with that commitment.