Saudi East-West Oil Pipeline

Debate between Joe Morris and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 15th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

I will endeavour to answer all the hon. Gentleman’s questions, but if there are any that I do not answer, I will follow up on them in writing.

Let me begin with the discussions that the Government have been having with the Saudi authorities. The Foreign Secretary spoke to the Saudi Foreign Minister on Sunday, and we will keep talking to the Saudi Arabian authorities to understand exactly what the impact of this might be and what the Saudi Arabian Government’s plans are. As the hon. Gentleman will know, we have a diverse and resilient supply of energy in this country, and we continue to stand by that. We are not, at this moment, concerned about the impact on supply for the UK.

The hon. Gentleman asked about heating oil. I think he will know, because we have had conversations about this, that the Government have already provided £53 million for local authorities to assist the people who were particularly hard hit in March, when the cost of heating oil increased significantly. As we go into autumn and the winter, we will, of course, look at what further support might be necessary, but in some local authority areas, the money is not yet anywhere near exhausted, and I encourage local authorities to use the funding that is available to them to support those using heating oil.

The hon. Gentleman made an important point about our reliance on foreign sources of oil and gas. Opposition Members fail to grasp the fact—although they used to grasp it when they were in government—that we need to move away as quickly as possible from the rollercoaster of fossil fuels, and to produce energy in this country, so that we can control the security and the supply.

The hon. Gentleman will know that we have committed £15 billion to the warm homes plan, and have been pushing for more of that funding to reach communities. We are already delivering that through the warm homes local grant and the warm homes social housing fund, and in the coming weeks we will introducing more schemes, enabling people throughout the country to take advantage of that plan.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

May I echo the comments of the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) about heating oil, and express my concern for rural communities in my constituency? Does this not demonstrate the urgency of—as the Minister said—moving away from unstable oil from unstable parts of the world, and the need to double down on domestic production of renewables, not just to generate energy, but to increase our renewables production capacity? Will the Minister join me on a visit to Humshaugh Net Zero to see community energy projects in my constituency that already have widespread public support and are doing more to generate energy in Northumberland?

[Martin McCluskey]

I should be happy to join my hon. Friend on a visit to his constituency in the future. He is right to say that we need to double down on clean power. We need to ensure that we have our own renewable sources of energy, and can control both the price and the supply. This event has shown us once again why that is the right course to pursue for the country’s energy security and for our national security.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Joe Morris and Martin McCluskey

Tuesday 7th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

This is nonsense. That was set up by an arm’s length organisation set up by the previous Government. It is not something that the Government are funding. In so far as that refers to more affordable energy, we are obviously working at pace to make sure energy is affordable right across the United Kingdom, including whatever support we can offer in Northern Ireland.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

12. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of community-owned renewable energy on energy security.

Heating Oil Support

Debate between Joe Morris and Martin McCluskey

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin McCluskey]

We are providing action quickly, while the previous Government waited nearly 200 days to provide action. The funding will be available from 1 April, as I said. The Minister for Local Government has today written to local authorities to inform them of the additional funding that will be available to them, but, as the right hon. Member will know, the funds are administered by local government. We are providing clear guidance to people and to local authorities that those funds should be available to people using heating oil and LPG.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

I represent about 13,500 households that are off the grid. I welcome the recognition of the scale of the problem in these communities and getting them proper support. I urge the Minister to ensure that regulation for the heating oil sector is brought forward as quickly and effectively as possible, so that constituents are not ripped off far into the future, and to continue to monitor the situation as it progresses so that further action may be taken if required.

[Martin McCluskey]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all his work to stand up not just for his constituents, but for rural communities more generally. The CMA is investigating heating oil and will come forward with proposals, which we will study to determine whether we need to regulate in this area. But it is clear from what we have heard across the House this evening and in other reports that this market is not working in the way it should.