Speeches by Hobhouse.

“Since we have a little time, we should congratulate the whole sector for making museums so much more engaging and fun. I remember being dragged to museums when I was young. They were boring places to be, and I could just about survive for half an hour. These days, museums are places where people really want to stay, be…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. What a wonderful debate we have had this afternoon. From Egyptian mummies and vampires to castles and royal pump houses, from the history of textiles and shipbuilding to Captain Cook and the Cutty Sark, the whole colourful history of our country has passed thr…”

“The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee is running an inquiry into the costs of energy, as we have already heard from its Chair. With all due respect, I cannot understand how the Conservative Opposition can with a straight face deplore the cost of energy for bill payers while at the same time advocate prolonging our…”

“Forgive me if I did not quite hear it, but the consultation you were talking about is coming soon and at pace. Is that correct? Will you consult on policy options on energy systems cost allocation and recovery?”

“What did you say? How much profit did the networks make between 2021 and 2025?”

“We have different evidence from different people, and some people were saying, “How do I recognise that?” It seems to me not very clear at all. Since it does impact consumer bills very much, first of all, shouldn’t there be much more transparency? How much profit is made by the generator or by the networks? How much is…”

“Should we?”

“Coming back to an earlier point about constraint costs and batteries, I am trying to get my head around how one could think about it. You said that there is a balance between, “ Is it worth building out the network? That costs so much money,” and, “We would rather occasionally pay off the generators for not running the…”

“You could retrofit batteries, if you wished, where you have a lot of constraint costs. Often, you have to turn a wind turbine off. Graeme is no longer in the room, but he was talking about the anger that people feel about wind turbines being there but not operating. Could you not retrofit, rather than building out the …”

“Some people might be interested.”

“To what extent can Ofgem mandate how the burden of cost is shuffled around, while still allowing retailers flexibility and discretion in recovering costs?”

“But again, are you confident, from everything that we have heard, that there will not, in future, be excess energy sector profits?”

“We are particularly talking about the network charges—the network and profits. I want to know more about the network cost and the profits that the network—”

“How much profit are energy companies allowed to make before they push their costs on to consumer bills? They are making quite a lot of profits that we do not really see. We have heard that there might be as much as £500 per household in profits across the energy system. Could Ofgem be more transparent on where these pr…”

“Do you recognise the figure of £500 per household bill?”

“Should that be itemised on your bill particularly to explain that to customers? Rising energy bills are obviously a big political thing. Should that not be explained better and what particular part of the charge is profit?”

“Indeed. We always talk about digital literacy. Some people are interested and say, “All right, I will put my washing machine on now,” or even have a remote signal to put it on when energy costs are low, but not everybody is that way inclined, and particularly more vulnerable households are not going to do that. The guy…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this important debate. I hear time and again from local Bath charities that they are disadvantaged due to their size. They are incredible, committed and dedicate…”

“Does the Minister agree that small local charities cannot compete with national charities? We have made that point time and again, but she has not made any comment on how competition can be achieved or how local charities can get priority. I have many examples in Bath where a national charity gets a bid through the bid…”

“Bounties have been placed on the heads of pro-democracy activists living in Hong Kong—a shocking act of transnational aggression. May I add my voice to that of the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), and ask: when will the Government use our Magnitsky sanctions regime against tho…”