Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Adams Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly look closely at the hon. Lady’s private Member’s Bill, because this is a real lifesaver. The availability of CPR equipment, whether in village halls, pubs, schools or sports clubs, can save many, many lives. That is why there was £1 million in the Budget for buying defibrillators for public spaces and schools and for training. I am sure that many schools will want to take advantage of this.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

The Prime Minister will be aware that the new owners of Eggborough power station in my constituency are consulting on the closure of a station that provides 4% of the country’s electricity. This comes on top of the announcement that Ferrybridge power station, adjacent to my constituency, is to close, as well as Longannet in Scotland. Drax power station is taking legal action against the Government over changes to the tax regime. These power stations are being taxed out of existence, and we are potentially walking into power capacity issues next year. Will he meet me to discuss a way forward for the station and the industry and for the hundreds of people in my constituency whose jobs are under threat?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. I have discussed this issue with him before. I believe we have sufficient capacity in our energy market, but I have regular meetings with Ofgem and Energy Ministers to make sure that is still the case. We have this difficult situation of wanting to see, over time, a phasing out of unabated coal, which needs to happen if we are to meet our carbon emissions targets, and when it comes to replacing coal in these power stations with renewable technologies, of needing to make it affordable. We have to make a judgment about how much we are prepared to add to consumers’ bills, because, in the end, this has to be paid for.