Speeches by Billington.

“My right hon. Friend will be aware that this energy crisis offers the opportunity to shift further and faster on clean energy. Will he consider an energy social tariff linked to the warm homes plan to support those who are most exposed to the volatility of fossil fuel prices, not just those on benefits, but other vulne…”

“Does the right hon. Lady agree with her shadow Energy Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), when he said: “Look, nobody’s saying that net zero was a mistake. Net zero in the round was the eminently sensible thing to do. We need to decarbonise and we need to have an ambitious ta…”

“indicated assent.”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Thanet, we are welcoming to people who play by the rules, but unfortunately it appears that the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) forgot his manners and did not notify me of his visit to the wonderful, tolerant and open-minded community in Cliftonville for the b…”

“I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his statement. Giving support to people who are off grid is vital; however, Thanet Earth, which is near my constituency and employs a number of my constituents, actually grows 20% of the tomatoes that are sold in this country. The business is profoundly energy intensive and is d…”

“Much of the discussion has been about tightening up the process. It has become increasingly clear from the documents already in the public domain that this is as much to do with the personnel delegated to make this political judgment. Will my right hon. Friend explain how tightening up the process might ensure that suc…”

“Apologies for being a bit late. I would like to ask about the minimum energy efficiency standards. As we know, they have been around but were effectively unenforced by local authorities because they did not have the resources to do so. I am particularly interested in them in relation to the private rented sector in pla…”

“Okay, I think that is politely put, Dr Boardman. What might be an effective way of changing this from exemptions to incentives, even if you maintain the cap?”

“Thank you.”

“Yes, I was going to ask about that.”

“Apologies for being a bit late. I would like to ask about the minimum energy efficiency standards. As we know, they have been around but were effectively unenforced by local authorities because they did not have the resources to do so. I am particularly interested in them in relation to the private rented sector in pla…”

“It could be a passport.”

“And the warm home discount does not do any of those things.”

“Yes, I was interested in that because I am concerned that we have a set of energy efficiency standards that are not enforced, a cap which basically gives people a get-out and no incentive to do the right thing, which feels like the wrong set of rules.”

“If you are looking to change behaviours and shift away from gas and dirty fossil fuels to electricity, and at the moment the market is distorted so electricity is more expensive than gas, we need to support people into making that shift—”

“Thank you.”

“It does not change behaviours, though.”

“It could be a passport.”

“Can I follow up on Torcuil’s question about the energy market reform? We will obviously need some energy market reform, especially if we are going to shift away from fossil fuels on to more electricity. Interestingly, we were talking about data and smart metering and so forth. I have been campaigning for an energy soci…”

“And the warm home discount does not do any of those things.”