Speeches by Billington.

“Forgive me, market research does that too. People get quite a lot out of market research, including language, policy, design and so forth. It is not just about your brand, is it?”

“That comes to my second question. Stephanie, in relation to your experience about citizens’ juries—which I have contributed to by giving testament and so forth in the assembly that Luke oversaw before I came to this place. I know and understand the purpose and so forth of citizens’ assemblies, but it does strike me tha…”

“I cannot remember all the things that I wanted to ask in relation to this. Lorraine, it strikes me that what you are sort of saying, I think, is that this is not a comms problem, this is a policy design problem.”

“Will my hon. Friend use this opportunity to remind the House how many women and girls are vulnerable to people they know, as distinct from people they do not know? Will she also use this opportunity to condemn elected politicians who peddle misinformation about who is most at risk and where the targets really are?”

“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, which is detailed, practical and focused on outcomes. That is in stark contrast to the ludicrous, back-of-a-fag-packet policy of the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), who claimed yesterday that he would simultaneously nationalise half the water industry, without knowing…”

“It is interesting, talking about locking in technologies. How far does your evidence extend when, for example, talking about hydrogen? If we do not have hydrogen, what if we have a gas network that is becoming increasingly a stranded asset and the costs of dealing with that are a consequence of climate change action an…”

“So you would include decommissioning costs as part of the evidence that you will provide when talking about making decisions on different technologies, particularly when it comes to heat, which is a big problem?”

“I have one final question. Bearing in mind that the political consensus on achieving net zero as part of our climate change trajectory has broken down, how do you envisage you will be able to navigate that landscape now that we no longer have the political consensus that we used to have on achieving this in a timely fa…”

“I am going to be a bit mean now, but it is probably worthwhile.”

“It is nice to see you. You have talked about this being about presenting the facts and being apolitical. Facts might be indisputable but judgments, which are what policies end up being made on, are nuanced and they are based on balancing competing interests. How will you navigate that if decisions are made that actions…”

“We also know there is a cost of doing nothing. Should the CCC be talking about that a bit more?”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. We are lucky in East Thanet to have several brilliant council-maintained SEND schools: Forelands Field, Laleham Gap, Stone Bay and St Anthony’s. They do brilliant and vital work, despite the incompetence of Kent county council. I know from my casework just how …”

“I welcome the statement, in particular the importance and emphasis that my right hon. Friend places on how climate change and nature loss are fundamentally linked and contribute to each other. I also remind the House that after the national health service, the thing that this country loves the most is its natural envir…”

“Verity, I would like to ask you about this, because you represent those small manufacturers in the supply chains.”

“It is probably best for me to ask Paul this. Are certain sectors or types of SMEs more vulnerable to energy price volatility?”

“Sorry, could you explain the difference?”

“That is interesting. I was also thinking of the risk for the electricity generators; if something goes bust in three years’ time, you have to hunt around for somebody else.”

“I represent East Thanet, which is Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, heavily dependent on hospitality and tourism as our economy is. I am interested particularly in how the cost of energy impacts small and medium-sized businesses. I expect, David, you will probably want to go first, bearing in mind what I have already …”

“So PPAs do not really work for your industries?”

“What do you think?”