Speeches by Hobhouse.

“Very quickly to Alastair, if the savings on balancing costs are so significant, do we need to raise the sums on offer to consumers for being flexible?”

“Will consumers be attracted to tariffs where large smart appliances could be switched off by the grid operator remotely at peak times? Ultimately, we are talking about, “We don’t really want to think about it. I am happy if somebody else does it for me.””

“Demand-led flexibility obviously depends on consumers engaging with thinking about electricity, and we have already discussed whether that is a good or a bad thing. Consumers have not engaged very much with flexibility, and uptake has not been very widespread. Has that surprised you, Sarah?”

“Yes.”

“We were talking about the fact that the system should be abated gas—that is, it has to have a carbon capture attached to it. Does the cost calculation include the abation?”

“Fair enough, Chair. As I understand it, inertia is about the speed of the turbines in generating electricity; what will the main challenges be in maintaining inertia on the grid as we decarbonise, and can it be done without adding significantly to bills? As I said at the beginning, what does all this cost, and what wou…”

“Anybody else?”

“Yesterday, I was at a breakfast meeting about short, medium and long-term battery storage. I learned that this is not something that would, for example, tide us over two weeks or so of cold weather. We are really talking about only a few days here or there; therefore, these batteries are not the answer for a cold snap.…”

“The long-term plan is to move away from oil and gas and into renewables, but there is always the question of intermittency. We need flexibility, but at what cost? That is the big question. There are all sorts of solutions—battery storage, hydrogen—but it has also been argued that methane has a very large energy potenti…”

“Do we need to raise incentives for consumers to do that if the cost savings are so significant?”

“We have slightly moved on but ultimately this is a debate about the distribution and transmission networks. What is the cost of upgrading the transmission network versus the cost of upgrading the distribution network? We are always looking at the cost of energy to consumers, and since it is so difficult to calculate th…”

“After more than a year of raising the issue in this House, illegal drugs including spice are still being brazenly sold to children online. If that is not harm, I do not know what is. What are the Government doing to ensure that all powers under the Online Safety Act are being used by Ofcom to stop this appalling harm t…”

“Through his new folly over Greenland, President Trump is increasingly bringing the UK closer to Europe. At Denmark’s request, would the UK allow European forces to use the UK’s command infrastructure for operations in and around Greenland?”

“Madam Deputy Speaker: “I will happily accept tariffs to oppose Trump and his corrupt regime.” Those are not my words, but those of a Bath constituent who emailed me today. Does the Foreign Secretary not recognise the strong feelings of so many of our constituents? They are ready to stand up to the bully that Donald Tru…”

“Bath has proudly welcomed hundreds of Ukrainian refugees, and we stand in full solidarity with the people of Ukraine, especially in Oleksandriya, which is our partner city. It has been concerning to hear that, in some parts of the country, Ukrainians have been encouraged to learn Russian as a GCSE, which can retraumati…”

“There is obviously also a global dimension to this. The US is signalling a walk away from net zero. Does that also affect business? We cannot really look at what we do here in the UK in total isolation. Does that global picture also have an effect on business willingness to invest?”

“There is obviously also a global dimension to this. The US is signalling a walk away from net zero. Does that also affect business? We cannot really look at what we do here in the UK in total isolation. Does that global picture also have an effect on business willingness to invest?”

“Does it affect the willingness of businesses to engage or make investments? Certain things are about sentiment, aren’t they? Businesses need to feel that they are investing in the right thing at the right time.”

“I probably also still call myself a zealot. I know you are not, but I am. “Net-zero policies…are increasingly viewed as unaffordable, ineffective, or politically toxic”—not my words, but those of the Tony Blair Institute. Does the breakdown of what we are now calling the political consensus—we can even question whether…”

“Does it affect the willingness of businesses to engage or make investments? Certain things are about sentiment, aren’t they? Businesses need to feel that they are investing in the right thing at the right time.”