Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Foord Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)]

1. What steps he is taking to help the transition away from fossil fuels.

[The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)]

Happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to colleagues across the House. I have temporarily lost hearing in one of my ears so if I am shouting or do not hear every detail of the questions, I apologise in advance.

This Government are determined to strengthen our energy security by moving away from volatile fossil fuels and delivering a clean power system. We have switched off the last coal power station in the UK and have consented enough clean power to power the equivalent of 7.5 million homes. That is how we will tackle the climate crisis, strengthen our energy security and create good jobs across the country.

[Richard Foord]

The International Renewable Energy Agency reports that in 2024, China installed five times more renewable power than Europe and eight times more renewable power than the United States. In the same year, more than two thirds of our liquid natural gas in the UK came from the United States. In the difficult geopolitical situation we find ourselves in, how are the Government making the UK more self-sufficient for our energy supply?

[Michael Shanks]

It is a hugely important question. In an increasingly uncertain world, our energy security becomes more and more important, and that is why we are determined not only that we build a clean power system to tackle the most existential crisis that the planet faces—the climate crisis—but that we have home-grown power here in the UK that we control; that is hugely important. Every step we are taking to invest in renewable energy and a new generation of nuclear helps us to do that, but it is also, of course, the economic opportunity of the century, which delivers our energy security and jobs at the same time.