Speeches by Collinge.

“This panel is all about resilience and security of energy supply. Last week, we spoke to a delegation of Ukrainian parliamentarians who unfortunately have huge experience in what happens when you do not have a resilient energy system. They were telling us about how they diversified their energy mix, including particula…”

“We know that we will be using North sea oil and gas for some time to come. I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement about short-term and medium-term measures to address the crisis in the middle east and the inevitable impact on our energy costs, as well as her quick action on heating oil. The motion is, however, about n…”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely correct. The central premise of the motion simply does not stand up to any scrutiny. Secondly, the Opposition want to talk about levies to pay for the cost of new clean energy infrastructure, but they conveniently forget that all energy infrastructure needs to be renewed and replaced. Wind, …”

“I would like to finish. Finally, climate change in and of itself is a huge threat to our economic security, our physical health, the entirety of our wellbeing and the ability to feed ourselves. The Opposition say, “If we transition to clean energy, it will not make much of an impact”, but actually it will, because we a…”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“My hon. Friend is making some really good points. There are certain industries that do need gas, so does he agree that we need to shepherd that limited resource carefully, and that the transition in other areas of energy will support us to keep that gas and oil where we cannot replace it?”

“I do not know if any other members of the Committee have anything to add?”

“Is that not the case for any policy?”

“Thank you. We have been talked about social tariffs on a number of occasions in this Committee, and they have been called for by many organisations. In reply to one of our previous reports, the Government said, “The Warm Home Discount could be considered a form of a social tariff”. Is it a form of social tariff?”

“Continuing on the theme of shifting costs, the Government have shifted the costs of the warm home discount from standing charges to unit costs, which, although it will not reduce bills overall, does allow some measure of control through energy efficiency and less use. Are you considering moving other costs from standin…”

“A Committee member asked you about moving costs from consumers and bills on to general taxation. I think the furthest you have gone is a case-by-case basis. I want to ask about the warm home discount. Have you had any thoughts about where that might be funded in the future? Can you advance on a case-by-case basis?”

“I thank the Minister for his statement and the swift response to the need of my rural constituents who are reliant on heating oil and LPG. This crisis has shown that our strategic approach of getting off the reliance on global fossil fuel markets is absolutely the right one, but it has also exposed the under-regulation…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for his answer. About 10 days ago, we saw alleged attacks by both US and Iranian forces on water desalination plants in the middle east, which is in direct contravention of international law. Civilians in the middle east are reliant on desalinated water for survival, and targeting it is a…”

“7. What steps he is taking to protect UK armed forces personnel in the middle east.”

“Do those workers currently have any idea about how they move from gas on to newer technologies? Is that clear to them?”

“Sam, perhaps I could come to you for a TUC view on how that workforce transition can be managed, particularly when we are thinking about skills bottlenecks and retention of skilled workers. What are your views there?”

“Thank you. Are there any further comments?”

“What do you mean by “enabling environment”? What does that mean in practical terms?”

“I want to ask a bit about the workforce and supply chain for the Warm Homes Plan. The Warm Homes Plan says that it will deliver a projected 180,000 high-quality jobs by 2030, but we have also heard evidence that ending the ECO scheme is now leading to current job losses and a current loss of skill. First, how can the G…”

“So there is a specific impact on heat networks in particular?”