UK Energy Costs

Baroness May of Maidenhead Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Keir Starmer]

I take it from that intervention that the hon. and learned Gentleman does not quarrel with me that the ban on onshore wind since 2015 has been a policy disaster, along with the opposition to solar power.

[Mrs Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con)]

rose—

[Keir Starmer]

I will of course take the former Prime Minister’s intervention.

[Mrs May]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is talking about lack of preparation for the United Kingdom’s energy security. If Labour is so worried about that, why did it not build any new nuclear capacity?

[Keir Starmer]

I am grateful for that intervention and I will deal with it in full, because it is a very important point. Nuclear is vital to our future, and a new generation of power plants should have been built by now. Yesterday, the Prime Minister desperately tried to blame Labour, and that intervention goes to that point. I remember the exchange across the Dispatch Box in 2006 when Prime Minister Blair said that he was pro-nuclear, and the Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, did not know where to look. If Members have not seen the clip, they should have a look. The uncomfortable truth for Members opposite is that the last Labour Government gave the go-ahead for new nuclear sites in 2009. In the 13 long years since then, not one has been completed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on acting so swiftly to bring forward a package of support for people with their energy bills. There is no doubt, as every Member of this House knows, that that is a matter of real concern for people in my constituency and every other constituency, who have been worried about how they will heat their homes, and businesses that have been worried about how they can continue to operate.

I also welcome the fact that my right hon. Friend has coupled action on energy bills with action on energy security. The vicious further invasion of Ukraine by Russia has indeed shown the necessity of our having our own energy security, although it makes sense anyway. We have made important progress on that over recent years; I refer, of course, to the investment in Hinkley Point C, and I again welcome the commitment that my right hon. Friend and the Government have made to continuing that support for nuclear energy. As I pointed out in my intervention—

[Alan Brown]

Will the right hon. Lady give way?

[Mrs May]

Just wait a second—or perhaps more than one second. As I pointed out in my intervention on the right hon. Leader of the Opposition, and as was emphasised by the excellent intervention by my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), in 13 years of Government, whatever the then leader of the Labour party might have said, they did not build any new nuclear capability.

[Alan Brown]

Hinkley Point C will be at least four years late, possibly five. It is nearly 50% over budget and EDF has an eye-watering 35-year contract for a strike rate at £92.50 per MW, compared with roughly £40 per MW for just 15 years in onshore and offshore wind. The right hon. Lady should have scrapped Hinkley Point C when she had the chance, should she not?

[Mrs May]

It is high time that Scottish nationalists came up with some practical solutions to these issues, rather than rejecting everything the Government suggests.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

We are all trying to find energy security, so I say to the former Prime Minister and to the Government Front Bench that we should be prioritising tidal. There is an excellent Royal Society report from last year that indicates that we can get 11.5 GW. I ask the Government to enhance the ringfenced pot from £20 million to £50 million; they will get the baseload they need, and they will not need nuclear energy.

[Mrs May]

This is rather strange point in my political career, because I agree with the right hon. Gentleman on the importance of tidal. When I was Prime Minister I looked very closely, over a significant period of time, at proposals for the Severn estuary in particular. Unfortunately, at that time the price that would have had to be guaranteed in relation to the cost to the consumer was too high. Of course, looking at it today, it could be a very different picture.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister outlined a number of steps the Government are taking, and I look forward to seeing the full details of those. However, I suggest there are some other measures that would both address energy prices and energy security while capitalising on our high-growth tech sectors, and help us to meet our domestic and international climate change obligations. There are measures that will save people money that will also help to save the planet.

The UK has already shown that we do not have to choose between low emissions and economic growth. We can have both. To achieve net zero we will need to remove the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. My right hon. Friend announced a net zero review; perhaps when he sums up this debate the Secretary of State could indicate how that net zero review will fit in with the net zero strategy that the Government published in advance of COP26, and which many are already working on.

While my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has acted swiftly and correctly to help people over these difficult times, it makes sense to accelerate our transition to a low-carbon energy system. That can be done by speeding up the roll-out of low-cost, home-grown renewable technologies.

[Kevin Brennan]

The former Prime Minister says that the Government have acted correctly, but the Government’s case is that energy prices are going up because of the war in Ukraine. Therefore, those profits are being earned because of the war in Ukraine. Why is it right to prioritise war profiteering and instead have a stealth tax on households?

[Mrs May]

What is right is to provide support for households who are worried about their energy bills, and that is exactly what the Government are doing.

Of course, if we are going to increase our use of renewables, it is important that the price people pay for their electricity reflects the cost of that production and not the cost of gas. I welcome the fact that my right hon. Friend—

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

rose—

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

rose—

[Mrs May]

I am going to make some progress. I am pleased that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has indicated that she will take action in relation to that particular matter, but getting full benefit from that does mean upgrading the UK’s power grid infrastructure. Alongside that, we need to improve the energy efficiency of homes, which would not only reduce demand for energy, saving people money, but is an element that would help to save the planet. We need to consider rolling out a significant home insulation programme.

[Chris Bryant]

rose—

[Mrs May]

I will give way first to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham), and then to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant).

[Richard Graham]

My right hon. Friend’s Government did indeed look very closely at the prospect of a tidal lagoon off Swansea bay. It is quite correct, as she says, that at the time it was too expensive—although the price now looks relatively attractive. Does she agree that the real opportunity now, which the current Chancellor was very supportive of when he was at BEIS, is for marine energy to come from tidal stream? The new renewable auction is supporting that, but there is much more that can be done, especially if we can affect the planning regulations around the pipeline of opportunity. Does she agree that there is more this Government could do on that?

[Mrs May]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I welcome every opportunity to increase the diversity of our supply of energy, and looking at these new opportunities is absolutely a way to do that.

[Chris Bryant]

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for giving way. I completely support the tidal lagoon in Swansea and hope that is now a real possibility for us—I hope the Prime Minister would accept that—and I agree with the right hon. Lady about insulation. I think I understood the Prime Minister to say earlier that there would be protection for public services for just six months. Many local authorities, hospitals and schools are facing dramatically increased bills already. Are they not going to need more support than just six months?

[Mrs May]

I think the public sector will be very pleased to hear that the Government have taken their concerns on board and are providing support for them.

There is another step that the Government need to take: they should look at building regulations. We are still building homes with gas boilers. Does it not make sense to change the regulations? Those gas homes will have to be retrofitted in just a few years’ time, so surely it is more cost-effective to take action now.

[Alberto Costa]

I am very—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman has had one intervention. What I am bothered about is that there are a lot of people who want to get in. I do not want to stifle the debate, but I do want to make sure that everybody gets a voice.

[Mrs May]

I apologise, Mr Speaker, for being generous in taking interventions.

The Government are also key to driving greater private sector investment in low-carbon solutions, for instance by de-risking investment in early-stage technologies—we have already heard about some early-stage technologies—and emerging sectors such as hydrogen production. Greater investor certainty cuts the cost of new technology, drives innovation, creates jobs and boosts economic growth. The Government’s unequivocal support for this agenda would be a positive signal not just for our green tech industry, but for the ambition of the UK economy more broadly.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

rose—

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

rose—

[Mrs May]

I am just about to finish.

People need help with their bills today, and that is what the Government are providing. But Britain led the world through the industrial revolution. If we grasp the opportunity now, we can lead the world in a cleaner, greener form of growth.

[Mr Speaker]

We now come to the leader of the SNP, Ian Blackford.