Speeches by Chope.

“Have I misunderstood it, then? If you receive an electricity bill, and it is subject to the price cap, are you saying that the company is not allowed to put on to the bill the costs of unpaid arrears?”

“I am told that a fortnight ago a cargo of liquefied natural gas from the United States would cost about $25 million, delivered to Europe, and now that cost is about $50 million, delivered to Europe. Are you saying that the energy companies should not be buying at that price or are you going to, in a sense, insulate the…”

“Does the Minister share my concern about the revelations relating to the connection between Mandelson and the Chinese motor manufacturer BYD, which now says that the United Kingdom is the largest destination for its electric vehicles? Is he preventing the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero from disclos…”

“Is not the fundamental problem that the DVSA is a state-controlled monolith without any competition? Would it not be a good idea to privatise the DVSA and enable young people to access driving tests a lot more quickly?”

“If you announced that as industrial policy, wouldn’t that help generate the industry that is necessary? At the moment, a solar panel from China is about a fifth or a third of the price of one produced in our own country.”

“When you made your announcement yesterday about allowing all these extra solar farms, why did you not put in a requirement that they be built using British-built solar panels, rather than imported ones?”

“The sun hasn’t shone for the past month, so that is by the by.”

“But the costs of subsidising solar, wind and other renewables are being borne by the consumer. You have made a big thing of reducing bills by £150, but after that announcement was made, Ofgem said that bills would increase by £108 by 2031, just because of the need to invest more in transmission. Far from the bills comi…”

“What I am saying is that you are putting subsidies into solar, you are putting subsidies into wind—”

“Secretary of State, what is the Government’s view on hybrid heating systems? The Green Gas Taskforce has said that a system with a biomethane-fuelled boiler and a small heat pump is a cheaper alternative to stand-alone heat pumps for some 47% of homes, which have low energy efficiency. Do you agree, and what are you do…”

“I am conscious that I may be speaking to the next Prime Minister, so I shall be careful with my words.”

“I will not blame you for that.”

“You are increasing to almost total dependency on electricity, rather than utilising our gas resources. That brings me to my final question—”

“Following from the answers that the Secretary of State gave—or perhaps did not give—to my colleague, Bradley Thomas, is there any inhibition, other than his own desire, to publishing the documents to which reference has been made?”

“This is significant because, as the Secretary of State will recall, one of the United States’ concerns about Mr Mandelson’s appointment as our ambassador to the United States was his close relationship with China. There is a report in today’s paper that on a visit to China, Mandelson tried to get away from officials an…”

“Okay. You have announced the most massive expansion of solar panel investment. Of the solar panels in used in this country, 95% are imported from China. By expanding solar panels, we are increasing our dependency upon China. The same is true in relation to wind turbine blades. In answer to questions on that in the Comm…”

“According to NESO statistics, by 2030, under the clean power plan, the United Kingdom’s gas import dependency will still be 70%. What is the Government’s gas supply plan out to 2050, where will the gas be coming from, and why are we not getting it from our own North sea?”

“I am.”

“You have not said anything about how we are going to reduce our dependency on Chinese solar panels.”

“I am not going to suggest that we do not vote in support of our own motion. We know from the course of this debate that a lot more questions are being raised. In due course, with the forensic leadership shown by the Leader of the Opposition, I think we will be able to get to the bottom of these issues and get the answe…”