Energy Bill

I rise to speak to Government new clauses 8, 9 and 10, and Government amendments 52 to 66, 68, 71...

I am listening closely to the Minister. Does he share the worries of many hon. Members? The Bill ...

The Bill is before the House today and tomorrow, and has some way to go before it completes its p...

On the rules governing what is considered sensitive, who will set the criteria: the companies the...

The judgment will be one for the Government, and I want to come on to a proposal on that. I also ...

The Minister is, however, describing a process in which information is published and laid before ...

I will describe in some detail the arrangements for the scrutiny of any deal done or any negotiat...

rose—

I must make some progress, if the hon. Lady will forgive me.

The third improvement I am sug...

Will the Minister give way?

I will just finish this section.

Amendments 60, 64, 80 and 84 make it clear that supplier d...

I thank the Minister for being generous in taking interventions.

Who will scrutinise the co...

I am happy to give the hon. Gentleman further written assurances on that. He might be on rather w...

Does the Minister agree, however, that the Government’s position on nuclear ought to be guided by...

Of course I stick to the line. On this side of the House we all stick to the terms of the coaliti...

Is there not a concern about the role of the National Audit Office in all this? There is no way o...

My first answer to the hon. Lady is that there is nothing to prevent the National Audit Office fr...

Is not part of the problem the fact that the National Audit Office and the Comptroller and Audito...

I am not sure that is wholly right. I think that the NAO has, as I recall, already been looking a...

rose—

rose—

I want to be fair to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), too, but I give way...

I am most grateful, but the point is that while the Comptroller and Auditor General might conside...

It is for Ministers to take these decisions and for Ministers to be accountable to Parliament for...

I reiterate the point that the hon. Lady has just made because the National Audit Office cannot l...

I wonder how the hon. Lady seems to have more information about the final details of the contract...

rose—

I must be fair to the House and make some progress because I am only half way through this group ...

The Minister is very generous in giving way. I would like to ask him about one aspect, which was ...

My hon. Friend tempts me, but I am afraid that, much as I would like to do so, I am not able to s...

rose—

I will give way, but I must soon make more progress.

I am grateful to the Minister, who has been extremely generous in engaging in debate. Will he cla...

I should be happy to check that. I suspect that the hon. Gentleman may be right, but I think that...

The Minister has referred several times in the last few minutes to CCS technology. What is his co...

I am not able at the moment to give my hon. Friend a precise timetable. Last year, we had a compe...

I understand what the Minister is saying, but as it stands clause 121 says that there can be a sw...

There may well be consumers who are not aware that they are being left on these tariffs, so we ne...

I understand what the Minister is saying and I understand his objection, but if he looks at the e...

I will certainly look at that. I understand the purpose behind the hon. Gentleman’s amendment and...

I welcome the Minister to his first parliamentary interaction with the Bill. His predecessor, the...

I have listened carefully to what the hon. Gentleman said about the need for an expert panel, and...

I understand, from what the Minister said, and what his predecessor said in Committee, that the a...

Does the hon. Gentleman envisage the Government coming to an agreement with EDF that is subject t...

I expect that EDF would want the Government to be sure that the agreement that they were entering...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for my new schedule 1. In answer to the point just mad...

I am grateful for that clarification. I hope that that helps to address the point that the hon. M...

The hon. Gentleman is probably aware that the Energy and Climate Change Committee recently had a ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I am pleased to hear that the Select Committee w...

rose—

Order. I remind the House that the debate must end at 7 o’clock. Quite a few Members wish to part...

I will certainly obey your request, Madam Deputy Speaker, and skate through what I have to say. I...

We might have an ideological difference if the Bill was actually nationalising the energy industr...

I do agree. Let us look at what has just happened in America with the advent of shale gas and the...

Was my hon. Friend also surprised at the lack of reference to the impact on business in this coun...

I dare not say a word about small businesses in the presence of my hon. Friend, the champion of s...

I accept the thrust of what my hon. Friend says on matters such as fuel poverty, but I rise to de...

Yes, I accept that we need to be aware of our carbon emissions, and I actually think that being r...

I rise to speak to my amendments 48 to 50, which, as we have heard from Minister, are concerned w...

Surely an even more important reason for the tightening of capacity to which the hon. Gentleman r...

Yes, indeed. A number of plants are to close down over the next few years, and given how the ener...

First, let me make it clear, particularly to Ministers, that I support the Bill. The attempt to l...

The hon. Gentleman refers to nuclear energy becoming more expensive, but I am not sure whether, l...

Perhaps courses in negotiating skills might be recommended for members of the Department of Energ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I think Madam Deputy Speaker will catch me with her rather steely eye if I give way too many time...

Specifically on that point, the hon. Gentleman says that a strike price of 10 is unacceptable. Wo...

I did not say 10, I said 100, and figures as high as 165 have been discussed and contract times a...

I rise to speak to my proposals and give notice that I will press amendment 24 to a Division.

I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) and to hear that s...

Will the hon. Gentleman clarify something for me? Is he saying that we should not worry or think ...

I am sorry to hear the hon. Gentleman not focusing on his constituents’ heritage. Climate reducti...

I rise to speak to amendments 148 and 150 in my name, and to amendment 179 in the names of my rig...

Does my hon. Friend agree that coal has a huge role to play in the energy mix of this country? It...

I am in 100% agreement with my hon. Friend. I am happy to put on the record that coal is the ener...

I beg to move amendment 2, page 192, line 9, leave out subsection (4).

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 3, page 192, line 18, a...

Forgive me for the delay in getting to my feet, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was expecting the Ministe...

On the arbitrary cap, I agree with what the hon. Lady has been saying, but it seems to me that th...

I am expecting to hear from the Government about that, and I intend to address the point later. A...

Does my hon. Friend agree that we have also not used the current rules properly? The fines that h...

My hon. Friend raises an important point. Currently, the fines that are being raised are going in...

Can my hon. Friend clarify what she means by turnover, as factors such as the central pot and whe...

My hon. Friend raises a point we on the Opposition Benches have raised many times before about th...

The Opposition amendments seek to amend schedule 14 by removing restrictions on retrospective and...

I ask the Minister the same question I asked my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (...

I will correct myself if I am wrong, but I believe we are talking about global turnover—we are ta...

Just for clarification, is “the company under investigation” the mother company as well as the su...

The hon. Gentleman asks a fascinating and timely question, one which deserves a proper answer. He...

I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with a lot of what those on both Front Benches ...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, particularly as I have only just sat down. Le...

I accept that, and I understand what the Minister is saying, but he said in his speech that the m...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good argument and I had not thought of going down that road. Does...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Whereas the big six would be able to take that financial...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Angus (Mr Weir). He was an excellent member of the...

I absolutely assure the hon. Gentleman that there will be no “get out of jail free” card.

That is a very good answer, but the Minister gave an answer earlier that was found to be wrong, s...

I have listened carefully to the debate. Is there not in my hon. Friend’s mind, as there is in mi...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, which brings me to the next issue that I wanted to raise:...

I have been listening carefully for almost an hour to the debate, and I listened carefully to wha...