Speeches by Downie.

“And why?”

“You have answered some of the questions I was about to ask, but I want to go back to something Gordon was talking about earlier when it comes to avoiding a rocket-and-feather effect. In my own patch in Dunfermline, we see that prices are already 4p to 5p a litre higher than even a few miles down the road. Would it not …”

“Alan or Elizabeth, do you have anything to add? Elizabeth, maybe you want to expand on some of the points you made earlier about refineries.”

“That does not really help if there are two retailers that are essentially controlling the prices in an area.”

“No, just on the cost, sorry. Would increasing oil and gas now reduce the price of energy, or would you continue to sell, understandably, on the international market?”

“Where are those models?”

“It is not a criticism. It is something that is really important. We need to be clear when our constituents ask us that question so we can say, credibly, that that is the case, notwithstanding the points you made earlier. That was really helpful. Thank you.”

“David, I just have a very quick question to you, not to test the Chair’s patience any further. Given the issues Polly raised about how much of a conflict or war we are already in, can you imagine a scenario or would it be helpful as part of that planning to have a scenario where, as you said, in certain circumstances n…”

“Where are those models?”

“No, just on the cost, sorry. Would increasing oil and gas now reduce the price of energy, or would you continue to sell, understandably, on the international market?”

“I absolutely accept that.”

“I absolutely accept that.”

“You have just picked up the next point, actually. Maybe I will ask Dan and Ana to pick that up. I am thinking about what co-operation we need to have with allies, whether it is Norway or the Netherlands, and who pays for this. Dan, you say you have done a lot of work in this area generally, but are there things you wan…”

“David, just to move back to something you mentioned earlier, notwithstanding the comments you made about the importance of security from oil and gas, there is something I get asked by constituents a lot, and I would like to make sure I can give them a very clear answer. If we increased oil and gas extraction now, would…”

“Just on CBAM, I had a meeting this week with farmers who were similarly concerned about that. Have you had cross-industry or cross-sectoral discussions around CBAM to engage with the Treasury on that issue more broadly?”

“Does the Minister agree one reason we need to see lower energy bills in Scotland—and that has been blocked—is the SNP’s ideological objection to nuclear power? I recently received a written answer from the Minister for Energy regarding a study by GB Energy to assess Scotland’s full potential for nuclear power. Will the…”

“The hon. Gentleman talks about the North sea industry and ideology. What were his views when his Government were in coalition with the Green party, which wilfully wanted to destroy those jobs immediately overnight because of ideology? Did he support that Government coalition?”

“T6. Last week I met pupils from Pittencrieff primary school, Dollar academy and Queen Anne high school in my constituency to talk about how to keep them safe online. They were very much in favour of some restrictions to make sure that they were safe on social media but were very cautious of age-based bans. Will the Sec…”

“Do you think those controls or the process by which that is decided up to this point has been strong enough to prevent technology from elsewhere perhaps being in our energy system without us being fully aware of the implications of that? Or do you think that it needs to be tightened further for these kinds of projects …”

“In relation to that, and to go back to where we started in the beginning, when we are talking about the new technology that is being used, how are we making sure that we are protecting supply chains and materials that are used? I am particularly thinking of any technological aspects and components that are manufactured…”