Speeches by Chope.

“I rise to speak only because I was not able to complete my intervention; as you rightly said, Madam Deputy Speaker, it was getting very long. The point I want to make in my short contribution to this debate is that it is because of the lack of flexibility in the negative procedure that we find ourselves having to discu…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way again. Will she also include within her inquiries, and her thoughts about ambition, some more control over the negative procedure? The hon. Member for Watford (Matt Turmaine), who introduced the Bill today, asserted that anybody who was against an order passed under the ne…”

“Point of order.”

“On the last point, in the press today, I think, we are told that electric vehicles are the most likely to break down. Those are the facts. Are you not concerned that there is a danger that we are going to get into a propaganda war, and what the people are really wanting is the facts? People will want to have the facts,…”

“On the last point, in the press today, I think, we are told that electric vehicles are the most likely to break down. Those are the facts. Are you not concerned that there is a danger that we are going to get into a propaganda war, and what the people are really wanting is the facts? People will want to have the facts,…”

“Point of order.”

“The fact about electric vehicles being more likely to break down is not disinformation. That is fact.”

“The fact about electric vehicles being more likely to break down is not disinformation. That is fact.”

“Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Would it be possible for you to explain why that is not a matter for the Chair? Surely if MPs are going to be deemed by the Metropolitan police to have greater culpability than other citizens, that must be a matter for the Chair and for Mr Speaker. Why should it be …”

“Why is it not possible to estimate that now? You are talking about a 2019 estimate; why can’t that be updated?”

“Can we turn to the benefits? The original idea was that consumers and businesses would, by 2034, benefit to the extent of £19.5 billion as a result of the smart meter roll-out. Is that still the right figure?”

“But in the meantime, irrespective of their income, people are paying extra—a policy levy—on their household bills, aren’t they, and businesses likewise?”

“You are describing a national benefit, but the cost of that is being borne by individual consumers, many of whom are complaining about the extent of the policy costs on their bills every month. Why is the national benefit, which you have been describing, not being borne by the national taxpayer?”

“You are talking like a snake oil salesman, if I can say so. Why can’t you just answer the questions?”

“There may be individual households that do not wish to have a smart meter, which is fine, but as they are not going to get any benefit, why should they pay the cost?”

“So who is paying for these unrealistic targets, which you are complaining about and want rectified? If they are unrealistic targets, and they are costing every household on average £50—”

“Sorry, I misheard. If they are costing every household on average £15 a year on a smart meter roll-out, that is unnecessarily high, isn’t it? Why isn’t the cost of the smart meter roll-out being borne by the industry, rather than being transferred to the consumer?”

“About £50 of everybody’s energy bill is going on smart meter roll-out? That seems a heck of a lot of money.”

“But who is paying for the cost of the smart meter roll-out?”

“That wasn’t quite my question, was it? My question was, what are the costs this year of the smart meter roll-out?”