Speeches by Reeves.

“What I would say is that we are much too early, less than two weeks into the conflict, to have any certainty about what things would look like when the next energy price cap is determined at the end of May, for July, and we will work flat out to try and de-escalate this conflict and crucially, from an economic perspect…”

“Last year we were the fastest growing European country in the G7, and that is also forecast to be the case this year; but the truth is that growth, both here and around the world, especially in the advanced economies, is not as strong as we would like it to be, which is why I have always said that growth is the No. 1 m…”

“Both the energy profits levy and the electricity generator levy play an important role in stabilising the cost of any intervention. Both of those were set to only be activated when prices are at an elevated level. They were brought in by the previous Conservative Government to ensure that those packages of support were…”

“On the electricity generator levy, that goes to the point I made earlier that less of the price of our energy bill is determined by the marginal gas price than it was when Russia invaded Ukraine. That means that those prices will not go up in the same way that they would have previously, because we are paying a set pri…”

“Of course we are working on different ways to protect people, including more targeted support. In the spending review last year, we expanded the warm home discount to an additional 3 million lower-income families, so in addition to the £150 on average that we took off people’s bills, from April this year, an additional…”

“Already, given the unique situation with heating oil, we are working with the Competition and Markets Authority on any price gouging in that sector.”

“Thank you very much for your question. First of all, I would like to think that everybody is in favour of de-escalation, but that has not been entirely clear during the short duration of this conflict to date. When the conflict began just under two weeks ago, both the Conservatives and Reform were suggesting that the U…”

“Well, the question was also about de-escalation. One of the reasons why it was not in our national interest to be involved in that conflict is the impact here in the UK. That is why we made the decision that we did. Of course, the Treasury is always planning for different eventualities. We saw the impact of higher oil …”

“And also directly with petrol retailers. I and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will meet them tomorrow.”

“We are obviously looking at a whole range of different scenarios. One reason why any future package, if it was necessary, will be more affordable is that we are now less reliant on international energy price movements than we were when Russia invaded Ukraine. That is because we have invested more in home-grown renewabl…”

“No, the main concern and the main response is to try to de-escalate the crisis, because that is the main reason that prices are at elevated levels. I made the point on how important that is, and how important it is to get vessels flowing, but we have already started work with the Competition and Markets Authority.”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“We will always make sure that we do everything we can to protect consumers and to ensure our national security, as an economy. We are in a stronger position to respond to shocks like these than when I became Chancellor. We are in a stronger position, in many ways, than when Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Inflation i…”

“My primary role in all of this is to monitor and respond to the economic impacts—of course working closely with my US counterpart Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and with my European counterparts. We also have a role to play in ensuring, for example, that our defensive actions in the middle east to defend our allies …”

“If you look at the deficit for this year, it is going to come in at 4.2% of GDP compared with 5.3% of GDP last year. That fiscal consolidation is taking place now; it is not just projected to do so in the future. The Office for Budget Responsibility also forecast that that deficit will fall in every year of the forecas…”

“As you know, G7 Finance Ministers met on Monday, G7 Energy Ministers met yesterday, and today leaders will meet. We had the head of the International Energy Agency at the meeting that I attended on Monday. They are consulting with members right now on the release of strategic oil reserves. I have been very clear that t…”

“Well, what will make it possible is de-escalation of the conflict and security for vessels passing through. We are very clear about that and working closely with Gulf allies and G7 allies to try to facilitate that.”

“We monitor that closely. Markets are functioning in an orderly way at the moment, but obviously I am in close contact with the Governor of the Bank of England and other MPC members and officials there.”

“Another route into the cost of living is through petrol and diesel prices at the pumps. We have started to use the cheaper fuel finder that the Government have been working on for the last few months. As I said in the House yesterday, at the beginning of this week there was a range in prices between just under 130p per…”

“I wouldn’t say that they are medium-term measures, because they are things that are coming in this year. Let me address employment, and then energy. The youth guarantee scheme that I announced in the Budget last year comes in in the next couple of months, and that includes the job guarantee for young people who have be…”