Trident Renewal

Debate between Michael Fallon and Angus Brendan MacNeil

Tuesday 20th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

My hon. Friend is of course right to say that we must assess future risks and the capabilities that we will have to deal with them. All I can say to him is that every successive Government who have looked at the future threat have, in the end, decided to continue to renew our continuous at-sea deterrent. In a world that is becoming more dangerous, there are no alternatives that offer the level of protection and security that this country needs.

Let me be clear, particularly to the Scottish National party, about what we are planning to replace and when. Subject to a maingate decision in 2016, we are planning to replace the current Vanguard submarines—not the Trident missile or the warheads. We are planning to replace the submarines in the late 2020s, by which time our Vanguard submarines will be 35 years old.

[Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)]

The Secretary of State has spoken about the need to take defence and security seriously and the necessity of nuclear weapons to achieving that. Is he saying that nations that do not have nuclear weapons are not taking their defence and security seriously?

[Michael Fallon]

No, I am not. I am saying that countries such as ours that have nuclear weapons cannot simply uninvent them; a responsibility comes with those nuclear weapons, and I will come on to explain how we should discharge it.

Let me be clear about the decision that we are going to take in 2016. With the approval of Parliament, the previous Government began the design phase of that decision. In May 2011, we announced the assessment phase, and since then we have reported progress to Parliament annually—most recently, as the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) pointed out, just before Christmas. We are now more than halfway through that five-year, £3.3 billion assessment phase, the main purpose of which is to refine the design and mature the costs ahead of the maingate decision. After all, this is the largest British submarine project in a generation and one of the most complex ever undertaken by British industry. Of that £3.3 billion of assessment costs, I can confirm that so far we have invested around £1.2 billion as part of the assessment phase. The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), will be giving further details of those costs when he winds up the debate.

I want to be clear with the House: no submarines are being built before the maingate decision in 2016. However, as with any major programme of this complexity, it is essential and more cost-effective to order now certain items that would delay the programme if we were to wait until the maingate decision. Such items include propulsion components, generators, main engines, condensers and electrical distribution components.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Fallon and Angus Brendan MacNeil

Thursday 16th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

We certainly worry about those who are struggling with bills, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said. We have announced a number of measures to encourage competition and easier switching between suppliers.

[Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)]

Renewable energy developers in my island constituency would be helped if, instead of generators being charged to export electricity and consumers being charged to import it, the reality of a domestic island market for production for local consumption was recognised. Will the Minister and his Department look at that possibility to help ease energy bills on the islands?

[Michael Fallon]

I am happy to look at that specific proposal. The hon. Gentleman will know that the Department has already been looking hard at the Western Isles project in general.

Energy Bill

Debate between Michael Fallon and Angus Brendan MacNeil

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way on the issue of fuel poverty. My constituency is hit by transmission charging because the renewable energy has to go quite a long way down the line. The unit price of electricity for domestic consumers is more expensive for the same reason. Could we not argue that renewable energy that is generated in the Outer Hebrides can be considered to be serving the domestic market, and thereby eliminate some of those costs?

[Michael Fallon]

I think I understand that proposal, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman has welcomed the changes that are being made to the strike prices for renewable energy, which should certainly benefit the islands in the north of Scotland. However, I am happy to look specifically at that point.

[Mr MacNeil]

I do welcome the fact that the difference of islands has been recognised, but I am disappointed that the difference between islands has not. The situation in the Western Isles, the Outer Hebrides, is different from that in Orkney and Shetland due to the existing infrastructure situation.

[Michael Fallon]

I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman is not wholly satisfied. I thought that the change would be welcome, but I will look again at his specific point about transmission lines.

By fixing the strategy for the long term, the Lords amendments will ensure that our commitment to reducing fuel poverty, far from being reduced, will remain high on our agenda throughout the delivery of our ambitious programme for energy efficiency and the energy sector in the UK.

Amendments (a) to (f) to Lords amendment 87, tabled by the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson), would, among other things, put a specific fuel poverty target in the Bill. There is also amendment (g) to Lords amendment 87, tabled by the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) and her colleagues. I think we all agree that there should be an ambitious fuel poverty target, but it is also our responsibility to strike the right balance between what is put in primary legislation, what is subsequently laid out in regulations and what we put into our strategy. We propose setting the target through secondary legislation, which strikes a better balance between the certainty of a legislative target and the need for flexibility in the future.

We know from the independent review by Professor Hills that the way in which we understand the problem can change over time. The issue that we face under current legislation is that there is a specific target that, although well intentioned, does not make sense in the context of how we have come to understand the problem of fuel poverty. For example, a focus on eradication as an end goal is not appropriate for our new definition, but we know that we can make a real and lasting difference to people’s circumstances by improving the energy efficiency of their homes. That is why we have proposed that that should be the basis of the new target.