Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Josh Fenton-Glynn and Michael Shanks

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on her new role as shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, as well as on staying in the energy brief. She eloquently outlines the exact problem at the heart of the Conservative party’s policy. She said clearly that the issues in the middle east leave us exposed to an energy crisis, but her party’s plan is to increase that exposure by having even more gas in our energy mix—it is simply not credible. The Conservatives’ plan has already been ridiculed because the figures were wrong when they published it; it had a gas price not based in reality, given everything going on in the middle east. We will make pragmatic decisions on the future of the North sea, but we are also all about our energy security long into the future. They remain stuck on the very exposure that is driving up everyone’s bills.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

11. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of constructing energy infrastructure on peatland on the climate.