Speeches by Miliband.

“Sorry, could you explain the question again?”

“I have given an answer. I do not have any more to add to the answers I gave.”

“I don’t know the answer, but I am happy to find out.”

“We always look at the balance, Chair, between the costs of building the network and where they fall, but part of my job is to be candid with you. Have we inherited a massive backlog of failing to build the network we need? Yes. We could decide to build a whole new fleet of gas-fired power stations, but that would also …”

“Both together. I want to be clear about this: there is absolute, universal agreement on this. The cost of living crisis is the biggest issue families face. We made our commitments to cut bills deliberately because we recognise that, and we are determined to do it. The reason I highlighted the role of the Chancellor in …”

“A couple of things. The current Opposition are saying we should just get rid of the renewables obligation and should not put it on to public expenditure, which of course is an absurd position because you would just be tearing up a whole set of contracts and no one would invest in the UK ever again, even if it was legal…”

“STAC can be involved in work where we see that there is a need. GBE-N has a lot of expertise on this. I see STAC more in relation to technology questions that need more of a new perspective. As to the question of Oldbury, we know it has huge potential.”

“I know, but my experience of Government is that if you set a timetable, you have to meet it, so—”

“With permission, I will make a statement about the local power plan and allocation round 7 solar and onshore wind auction results, both of which have been published today. Britain’s drive for clean energy is about helping to answer the call for a different kind of economy that works for the many, not just the wealthy a…”

“I congratulate Sunnyside academy. This Government and GB Energy are delivering a policy opposed by the Conservative party.”

“The right hon. Gentleman will know that there is a planning process for all projects. I would gently point out to him—not specifically on his project, because I want to make a more general point—that if we are going to get the benefits of cheap, clean power, we need to build the transmission infrastructure. The biggest…”

“I am afraid that the right hon. Gentleman’s first point is wrong; he is taking one quarter—summer 2024 —and comparing it with today. If we look across 2025, bills are lower than in 2024. Actually, I had hoped that he would support the £150 that we have taken off energy bills, but the Opposition oppose all the measures …”

“I thank the hon. Lady—I say this genuinely—for her advocacy on this issue ever since we came into government and before. She is a powerful advocate for community energy. I congratulate the group in South Cambridgeshire, too. Let me deal with the points she raised. On investment, I think that in anyone’s view the scale …”

“My hon. Friend did a very good job of busting those myths in his question and he is absolutely right. The truth is that you cannot, at one and the same time, complain about bills being too high and then reject the cheapest cleanest form of power, but I am afraid that that is the position of the Conservative party. Ther…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Briefly, there are three important aspects to this: first, communities can have lower bills for their community centres and local institutions; secondly, they can generate a stream of income by selling power back to the grid; thirdly, there is something wider, and perhaps more …”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her advocacy on this issue. My hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, who is the world expert on these questions—or at least the UK expert; I will not push it too far—assures me that her important question about the statutory definition, which is, I think, on code P441, is being answered in the …”

“Well, there were no questions, but I will reply none the less. Let me start with the AR7 auction, because this is very interesting and it will give the House a picture of what has actually changed. What has changed is the Conservative party, not the reality. We had the AR5 auction a couple of years ago, when the Conser…”

“Bills are too high and the cost of living crisis is the biggest issue facing the country. That is why, at the last Budget, we took decisions to raise taxes on the wealthiest, which will enable us to take an average of £150 in costs off household energy bills from April. That builds on the fact that the price cap and av…”

“My hon. Friend speaks incredibly well on this issue. It is just common sense to have nuclear as part of our energy mix. We know why it is not going to happen in Scotland under the current regime. It is because SNP politicians, for dogmatic reasons, have set their face against it. They are even embarrassed to have this …”

“There is huge potential from small modular reactors for both our energy security and jobs. I am proud that the decisions this Government have taken have enabled us to fund the UK’s first SMRs at Wylfa, supporting up to 3,000 jobs on site and thousands more across the supply chain. We want every part of the country to b…”