Speeches by Hobhouse.

“May I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, your fantastic staff, and colleagues across the House a merry Christmas? Bathford village shop and café, a volunteer-run community enterprise, recently won an award for its fantastic work supporting the elderly, lonely and vulnerable, but there is a risk that it will soon lose its …”

“Thank you for coming. I do not have any interests to declare, and I am possibly in a minority, if not the only one, who is a little more sceptical about nuclear power. I also recognise that our overarching aim has to be to get to net zero. I am a liberal; I am always persuadable by good arguments. The cost thing, of co…”

“The question has nearly been answered, but I had a meeting with a company called Nucleo about its nuclear advanced modular reactor. It wanted to know what the strategic rationale is for prioritising the long-term storage rather than exploring reuse. You have just explained that, but are you in conversation with these c…”

“When it comes to persuading people—let’s say people like me—that this is a safe technology and that we should not worry too much about human health and the risk assessment that we have already talked about, don’t you have anything that could make that a little bit more transparent? Can you say, “What took us this amoun…”

“So not in my lifetime.”

“We have already talked about how much of this has been picked up by the taxpayer; I understand most of it, but will there eventually be a point at which it is complete and no more monetary support is required?”

“Thank you. You have already answered one of my questions, which is whether you think new technology will get things done faster and more cheaply. That has already come out in your answers to the previous set of questions. Can you characterise the efficiency and effectiveness of the Sellafield site operation, so we unde…”

“To add to that, are you ultimately worried that the Government or anybody will become lukewarm about further nuclear if you disclose the range of costs up to the possibly highest cost, rather than doing that optimism bias?”

“The hon. Gentleman mentions public trust; we all understand how important it is to restore that, but how can that happen if the very things needed to support the public and restore trust—our hospices and the charitable sector—are being hit by this Government’s measures?”

“President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel. Is my hon. Friend worried, as I am, that a man who has called for a one-state solution will jeopardise the situation? Does she agree that the UK Government should make it clear to the US that we believe firmly in a two-state s…”

“We say that all the time. We have said it for a long time. Do you have any ideas how to do that or have you made any proposals to the Government on what they need to do to speed up the planning process? We have a consultation now from the Government. It seems to be one of the biggest blocks to a lot of progress towards…”

“Let us come to the difficult issue of planning and consent. That takes a long time and there are delays in the system. Have you had any thoughts on how the planning system could be sped up while not riding roughshod over communities and community consent? Kayte O’Neill: We talked in our report about planning being one …”

“Yes, sort of. It was an outside question, but I wanted to understand.”

“Thank you for coming. I have a more general question. The energy transition is not just transitioning away from CO2 or fossil carbons; the whole energy future looks different. We used to have big, centralised generators and now it is all decentralised and little. When you are talking about dispatchable energy, how shou…”

“Avon and Somerset police is doing an excellent job at Bath Christmas market, challenging any individual seen behaving inappropriately towards a woman or young female. What more can the Ministry of Justice do to tackle street harassment?”

“Indeed. I could not agree more and I thank the hon. Gentleman for clarifying the figures. That is why something needed to change and something needed to give. I repeat that I hope Government Members can support our new clause 2, because it matters. It will lay open what has been squandered and what difference we could …”

“The oil and gas giants were making eye-watering profits when the Conservative Government finally introduced a levy, although it had a loophole that let the oil and gas companies off the hook. The Government should support the Liberal Democrat amendment, which demonstrates how much of a missed opportunity that was, and …”

“Does the hon. Lady not recognise that we are in a transition period, which we need in order to get to net zero? Of course, we need to protect jobs, but the transition to net zero is essential.”

“I rise to speak briefly in support of new clause 2. I welcome the Government finally scrapping the unfair investment allowance loophole for the oil and gas giants, which the Liberal Democrats have advocated for and called for since the previous Government introduced the levy—too late, and half-heartedly—in May 2022. Oi…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It is absolutely by putting in place the measures for transition that we will meet net zero. If we continue with business as usual and continue to listen to people who ultimately do not understand that unless we get to net zero our whole economy will suffer, then people will …”