Speeches by Reader.

“I will perhaps wrap up on a couple of bits that I have heard, just because most of the questions I had down have been answered. Alex, the shadow Secretary of State for Energy yesterday called foreign gas from places like Norway “dirty” and “worse than British gas”. Is that correct?”

“For members joining your organisation, is there a code of conduct that they have to sign up to, or any bar that means you have reputable retailers joining your organisation?”

“To what extent have high retail prices reflected the wholesale costs? To what extent have they been reflected by additional margins and profit in the supply chain, with your retailers taking the public frustration because of that hitting the supply chain?”

“Across your entire membership, are you certain that there is no profiteering or price gouging from members of your organisation?”

“Gordon, we talked about commerciality. What benefit do retailers have in joining your organisation?”

“Okay, and what about electricity storage, batteries et cetera? There was a big focus under the previous Government on renewables. There is a bigger focus now from this Government on transition, network and improving the grid. Are we doing enough on energy storage in terms of electricity capacity?”

“Are we looking in the wrong place? We have had some evidence around excessive margins and profit-making in the supply chain rather than from the retailers themselves. Are the retailers the fall guys for others making excess profits in the supply chain?”

“Across your entire membership, are you certain that there is no profiteering or price gouging from members of your organisation?”

“Does the Secretary of State share my concern, or dismay, perhaps, that at a time when families are concerned about the cost of energy and the price at the pumps, the Conservatives have become obsessed with oil and gas licensing and not taking any action at all to reduce bills?”

“I have found this debate quite fascinating. What nonsense from the Conservatives! We are watching a party rip itself up as it worries about more defections to Reform, and Conservative Back Benchers parrot the lines of their Front Benchers. We know from media coverage that the Conservatives are promoting people to the F…”

“The discussion on fracking is perhaps one for another day. We have heard claims that there are billions of pounds to be invested, but in reality, when it comes to development, it is the public who pay the price. In some cases, taxpayers foot around 80% of the development bill. Modelling on Rosebank and ending the energ…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Will the Government learn from this scheme when developing support for less mature technologies in the future, to avoid creating new legacy costs for decades?”

“Do you think you could go further?”

“Would the Government consider a windfall tax on generators with ROCs as a reasonable alternative to taxpayers covering the costs or the breakeven of our contracts?”

“Let me move on to ROs. We had evidence, particularly after the autumn statement announcement. Can you foresee a time when it might be politically feasible to put the full cost of ROs back on to bills?”

“If the Department or Martin is setting these things up now, what was happening before?”

“He was invited to join us today.”

“I will come on to other questions, but on listening to the line of questioning from Graeme and Claire, is there enough focus in the Department on debt? Whenever we have Ministers come in and we see big announcements, it is always on building new stuff or it is on clean power. That is the Secretary of State’s big sexy m…”

“Would it take a private Member’s Bill to get you to agree to it? The Liberal Democrats introduced the sunshine Bill and all of a sudden it was in the future homes standard. We have not got that on batteries yet and you have said how important that is. What is the mechanism to get Government to adopt it?”