Speeches by Crichton.

“What was the fear? Is it a technical fear of something that might be in the turbines, such as the circuitry?”

“Thanks for hanging in, Minister. We are at that stage where the Speaker would say, “Short questions, short answers”, so I will ask two quick topicals. Today, on the incredible convergence of national security, the energy transition and jobs, when you took that decision to block Ming Yang and the £1.5 billion investment…”

“This is a quick question, Dan, because you alluded to it. The Chinese company Ming Yang has been blocked from opening a big turbine factory in the highlands today on security grounds. Is that the right decision by the UK Government?”

“Just picking up on the carbon border adjustment mechanism, Elizabeth, that is about nitrogen as well, is it not? It is about fertiliser.”

“Thank you all for coming in. I am sorry I was late coming into the session after delaying you for an hour. Alex, you talked there about stable prices and markets. Earlier, you seemed to make quite a good argument for the energy profits levy, because it gives us politicians lots of money to decide what to do with. What …”

“Do you have a sign that it is going to change its mind on it?”

“Just very quickly, on little notice yesterday, when she was asked, the Chancellor thought that we might get a decision on Rosebank in the autumn. There are only two seasons in politics—spring and autumn. Would you want Rosebank decided in spring or in autumn?”

“I welcome the UK Government’s support for heating oil customers in my constituency and the follow-up support from the Scottish Government, but I am slightly baffled that the Scottish Government have chosen to centralise support through Advice Direct Scotland, instead of entrusting local authorities. Will the Minister u…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Despite talk of a “complete and total” resolution of hostilities from across the Atlantic, I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy) that we cannot give false comfort to our constituents that there will not be lasting economic and military conse…”

“I thank the Minister and Jonathan for coming along today. Just to correct the Minister slightly on fuel supply, 4,500 people on the islands of Uist and Benbecula, in my constituency, have had no petrol for the last two days. That is the result of a combination of consumer behaviour, bad weather and bad logistics, but i…”

“Minister, you talked about not wanting to rip up contracts and Britain being seen as a place to invest. When it comes to feed-in tariffs, so the price per kilowatt paid to the early adopters—the guys who put solar panels in first or put a turbine at the end of their garden—you want to change that support from the retai…”

“Are you not worried about seeming like you are ripping off the early adopters—the guys who were there first and who are now getting a raw deal—or are you balancing that against the consumers who will save something like £600 million over 10 years, was it?”

“What you seem not to be saying is that every future scheme will now be based on the consumer prices index, not the retail price index.”

“I thank the Minister and the Government for their swift response; £4.6 million to Scotland will be very welcome in my constituency, where up to 50% of homes outside the town of Stornoway rely on heating oil. What discussions has the Minister had with the Scottish Government to ensure that the £4.6 million is distribute…”

“There is no short circuit we can do with the warm home discount?”

“That segues into a cheeky question I was going to ask you—which is off agenda and off grid—about fuel oil. Many of the Age UK pensioners will be sitting and wondering how they are going to fill their tank. What can the Government do to help consumers in poverty who face rising fuel oil prices this week?”

“There is no short circuit we can do with the warm home discount?”

“I am running out of time. We will come back to you, Brenda, but, Dion, I want to hear from you as well.”

“What is the danger of people being left behind in that—”

“That segues into a cheeky question I was going to ask you—which is off agenda and off grid—about fuel oil. Many of the Age UK pensioners will be sitting and wondering how they are going to fill their tank. What can the Government do to help consumers in poverty who face rising fuel oil prices this week?”