Speeches by Murphy.

“I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and the actions that the Government have taken already on sanctions, aid and proposals to recognise the Palestinian state. Given the facts on the ground, which he has recognised—the man-made famine, the killing of women, children, healthcare workers and journalists, the ongoi…”

“Are you looking at other measures that might reduce bills in the near term—ideas like rebalancing levies or the reform of the standing charge?”

“My question follows on nicely. The Government have committed to make electricity cheaper, and you have clearly set out through your clean power plan that the main driver of that will be reducing the dependence on volatile fossil fuels. Do you worry that if the Government are unable to deliver some of that benefit withi…”

“You alluded earlier to thinking about who might pay. There are two proposals out there around gas plants: bringing them into public ownership or regulating them through the RAB model, with the idea being that ahead of reform, and in delivering the change by 2030, the Government would have more control of how the price …”

“It will be really clear whether the Government have met their clean power target by 2030. The Government started the Parliament with some of the highest consumer energy prices, and the highest industrial prices, in the developed world. What measure of success will you use at the end of this Parliament to determine whet…”

“On jobs and skills more broadly for the transition, are you concerned about the progress in meeting our net zero targets and the way in which they might be hindered by the lack of necessary skills that are required across the range of sectors?”

“I think most of the previous incarnations of the Committee have had a serving or previous politician; most of them have sat in the House of Lords at some point. Do you think the Committee has the necessary political skills and background experience to navigate what is probably a more testing time, given the previous di…”

“This is my final question, very quickly returning to the politics and navigating the political landscape. Before the last election one of the political parties wrote to journalists about some of the CCC’s recommendations, asking another political party to respond to all of those and whether they did or did not agree wi…”

“I have questions on jobs and skills, but I want to ask you about who will be the public face of the Committee. Is it you or is it the chief executive? How do you see that being divided? I am conscious that I don’t think in the presentation documents we mentioned the chief executive and how you will work.”

“You see trade unions and local government as key stakeholders to engage with in that?”

“What role do you think there is for the Committee in thinking about things like a just transition? One of the big topics is obviously thinking about how you support workers in carbon-intensive industries that are declining because of the transition or that are in natural decline anyway. Do you see shaping that as outsi…”

“Do you think the Government are sufficiently seized of the problem with the skills agenda for the transition? Is it as high a priority as it should be?”

“How do you compare your strengths with those of your main predecessor, not the interim—Lord Deben? Do you think you bring different things to the table?”

“He was.”

“Thank you very much, Chair and Committee members. I am here to request time for a debate on the motion “That this House has considered the UK’s progress towards achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.” I am doing so because this is a timely, urgent and important issue. The UK has legally committed to ne…”

“It would be preferable to have the debate ahead of that, because it would enable Members across the House to hold the Government to account for what they plan to achieve at COP. Scrutinising what they will be doing afterwards may be worthwhile, but there would be more merit in doing it in advance.”

“Absolutely. As one who has fought outside the House for significant investment in affordable housing, particularly social housing, I greatly welcome the Government’s massive investment in the affordable housing programme. It falls to this Government to fix the mess that the Conservatives left behind. We are committed t…”

“I am grateful to the Opposition for initiating a debate that enables us to discuss one of the most critical issues facing our nation: child poverty. Every child growing up in poverty represents a future diminished, opportunity denied and potential unfulfilled. Every child deserves the best start in life, so that they c…”

“I will not get ahead of our Chancellor when it comes to the announcements about taxation that will be made later in the year, but I am confident that those on the Front Bench know that they have our full support in delivering the final recommendations of the child poverty taskforce, also later in the year. This Governm…”

“In 2023, the shadow Minister said: “The narrative that the public has now firmly adopted—that over 13 years things have got worse—is one we just have to acknowledge and admit.” Does he still acknowledge and admit that things got worse under his Government?”