Speeches by MacDonald.

“I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s decision to introduce powers to create a bill discount scheme to help households closest to new electricity transmission infrastructure. However, to be clear, the scheme is nowhere near enough. It falls short as both a meaningful community benefit and a measure to address local opp…”

“I wonder whether the Minister can persuade the Chancellor to leave her constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey and explore the reaches of rural Britain. It strikes me that a lot of these issues are due to funding and the fact that rural Britain is substantially underfunded, compared with urban Britain.”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing the debate. My two main calls for Government support for rural communities are as follows. First, rural communities producing a substantial portion of our nation’s electricity should be paid 5% of revenue for all newly consented renewable …”

“Does my hon. Friend recognise the fact that we have major issues with environmental tariffs being placed on renewable energy but not on the carbon fuel of mains gas? That is really hitting the renewable energy industry and the cost for consumers.”

“In rural Britain, particularly rural Scotland, the cost per kilowatt to heat a house is about 24p, whereas those on mains gas in the city pay about 6p, so those using renewable electricity to heat their houses pay four times as much as those using mains gas. The renewables obligation certificate scheme is an important …”

“I wonder if the Minister could put herself in the position of somebody from the island of Skye who wakes up in the morning, opens his windows, and sees beautiful mountains in the background —it is always sunny there and there are no midges. He sees the wind turbines, but then he goes and looks at his heating and realis…”

“May I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests? Let me voice my support for my hon. Friend’s new clause, which would require the Government to review the impact of alcohol duty increases on key sectors. Scotch whisky is one of Britain’s greatest industries, accounting …”

“I am proud to represent Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire. My colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), could not be here, but, on the subject of centralisation, our nearest maternity hospital is in Inverness, which is four hours each way from parts of Sutherland, A…”

“Will the Minister say a few words about the massive change in our lifetimes? Doctors, policemen and teachers had houses owned by their local authority body, and they have now been sold. That pressure is continuing. Does he think we should go back to that to ensure that people can work in those sectors?”

“The share price of Diageo is down by two thirds, that of Pernod Ricard has halved—the whisky industry is in a difficult place. In the Budget, the duty added to a normal bottle was 32p, taking the total duty on a bottle of spirits up to £9.18. Does the Minister not think that we are plucking the golden goose once too of…”

“Would the Minister spare a minute to talk about community benefits?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) on securing this important debate. Much of what I was going to say has been mentioned, but I want to reiterate a few things. How can it be that households on renewable electricity pay four times as much as those who get fossil fuel gas? That is inappropr…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Will the Minister allow me to intervene?”

“LPG is not the issue; electricity, along with kerosene, is largely the issue. Very few people use LPG to heat their properties or businesses. It is electricity where the taxes are. I would be delighted to share information; I am doing a big thing about it shortly, so I have done a lot of research.”

“I support what the shadow Minister said, almost word for word. My career has been in business, and in my two days sitting in the Committee, I have been appalled by what seems to be tax increase upon tax increase. Small and medium-sized businesses across the UK are on their knees and we have done a catastrophic job sinc…”

“As always, I speak on behalf of the highland industries. In rural areas, only electricity and kerosene are available; mains gas is not. Electricity users pay four times more for their energy than mains gas users, so a hotel on the island of Skye may pay £80,000, whereas one in a city may pay £20,000. That causes enormo…”

“Yes. Question put, That the amendment be made.”

“I have finished my remarks.”

“I do not have a great deal to add. I did miss out, when we declared our interests earlier, the fact that I own a pub, which hon. Members are very welcome to visit when they are next in Fort William—do not all rush at once. It never rains there. I want to come back, briefly, to the 1p a pint reduction that we were promi…”