Sammy Wilson
Main Page: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)Energy Policy and Living Standards
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Douglas Carswell
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right and makes a very valid point. For a number of reasons—not least because of technology and innovation in the United States and the shale gas revolution—the cost of fossil fuel is being driven down. Unfortunately, we have a Government whose officials banked on the cost of fossil fuels being relatively high, so we are now locked into a position where people will have to pay higher costs for years, despite the potential for a great reduction. It is extraordinary that a Government who once pretended to believe in the free market are presiding over that. It is quite remarkable. We should be benefiting from the lower oil costs, but we are unable to because we have a Department that is committed to price-fixing.
Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)
Does the hon. Gentleman accept that not only have the Government pushed up the price of electricity because of this infatuation with wind turbines, but that that in itself has led to distribution costs going up because the grid has to be reinforced, and that the carbon tax that is now imposed on the fuel used by the cheapest types of power stations is adding to people’s bills as well? The whole policy is directed towards high energy prices, which have reduced people’s standard of living and have furthermore chased industry out of the United Kingdom.
Douglas Carswell
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely spot on. It is irrational and uneconomic on so many levels. The irony is that the Government talk about windmills and wind turbines, using the language of sustainability, but the truth is that without the subsidy, it simply would not be sustainable. Unlike solar, it simply will not make economic sense to generate electricity through 13th and 14th-century windmill technology.