Speeches by Edwards.

“You will know that the Committee has been very interested in hearing from businesses about how they access capital and how they are going to finance their ability to grow, and some of the challenges. We have also heard some really interesting evidence from the Boston Consulting Group about which sectors are potentially…”

“Thank you, Chair. Slightly rolling back on that really interesting overview, we have heard a lot of evidence about what the definition of economic security might be. There are various schools of thought and a number of potential wordings. Some people think that you need a solid definition; others think that you need a …”

“Do we think that the regime is going to catch things at the right stage? Obviously, this was something that went through and then got withdrawn, at great expense and interruption to infrastructure development. Do we think that we have got that right now?”

“That is very helpful. Thank you very much.”

“A lot of businesses have told me that they do not have that capacity, so it falls to: are they going to do it, or are they going to leave it and let them get away with it, or are they just going pay it? If they end up in a dispute, they also end up with their credit rating being hit, so they cannot deal with it and the…”

“They are going to go under in that time, aren’t they?”

“It is interesting, because there is an onus on the supplier to make its customers aware, when it enters into a dispute, that the ombudsman service exists. In theory they are being told about that 50% of the time, from the figures that the ombudsman itself gave me, when I asked it directly. However, I do not know of any…”

“One thing that has been raised with me is the fact that there is absolutely no clarity on how on earth it came to a decision about the case. In the instance of the business that I have supported and reconstructed its accounts, it is owed over £4,000 from the energy supplier. During the ombudsman process, the energy sup…”

“As you know, I have been crusading on this one. Last week I led a debate on commercial energy billing, which is a fascinating subject when you start to get into the real details of all the scandals that keep going on. I have a company that I have been supporting in my own patch through the Energy Ombudsman process. It …”

“That is great. Verity, you might have a slightly different take on this, but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.”

“No, I recognise it is not a silver bullet, but the Committee is looking for all the different pieces of the puzzle to help bring this down.”

“That is very helpful. Paul, what are your thoughts? You probably have examples as well.”

“Yes. I am moonlighting here. On the Business and Trade Committee—obviously, you came to speak to us the other week, and thank you very much for that—we have heard so much about the problems of energy rates. We have gone around the country and heard that continuously, and I have had issues in my own patch, to the point …”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for securing such an important debate. As others have said, an inquiry is absolutely crucial. Last November, I added my name to the calls for an inquiry for the families, for the victims and also for the city. This has been a cloud that has covered Birmingham for 51 years. I wonder whether …”

“That is really helpful.”

“That perfectly segues into my question. I am interested in your experience of the insurance cover you had—whether it was enough, what the interaction was like with your insurer and, perhaps, any of the “what if” moments and what other businesses might be able to learn from that. This is going to be a threat that all bu…”

“When we are talking about the classification of what is critical, and given what we have just heard from two food retailers, at what point do you think the Government and the security agencies need to see that as a critical infrastructure attack? We had two, and then a delivery organisation was affected as well. How sh…”

“Did the likelihood on your risk register match, or has it changed?”

“Thank you for coming. Professor Martin, you have described the “transformation of China’s digital attack capabilities” as “the most important change” for western cyber-security in more than a decade. What are the policy implications of this change, and can you describe what you think we need to know?”

“When you took out the policy, were there any terms that suggested that, if a particular type of cyber-attack were to occur, you would not have been covered?”