Speeches by Esterson.

“Yes, you have told us that. Your point is that it would just be that much more difficult for you to do.”

“The power outage, which had such a significant effect on Heathrow and its immediate surroundings, has raised real concerns about resilience and back-up in our energy system for major infrastructure projects and sites. The Government have plans for a significant expansion of our clean energy electricity networks, so can…”

“Sure, but you have been able to put a long-term, 100-year cost on it. Do you have a potential alternative 100-year cost?”

“The question follows about what sort of reduction in cost you would envisage, if that were the route.”

“Is there anything comparable in the UK where consent has been demonstrated? That may be a quite hard question to ask, but have there been any major projects with a good model on demonstrating consent?”

“Which is what?”

“How will you decide that you have community consent?”

“What lessons are you learning from Sweden or anywhere else?”

“You will have. Do you already have some of these?”

“I could not help but notice, David Peattie, that you said late 2050s and then you said 25 years. By my calculations, that takes us to 2060. Nevertheless, how will you demonstrate over the coming years that your plans are on track?”

“No, that is fine. Thank you very much, Chair. It has been fascinating, as always. Thinking about it from the point of view of the wider DESNZ agenda, I am struck again and again by the question that we started with, which is the target of 2125 and returning it to a greenfield site. How essential is it to deliver that a…”

“Given some of the uncertainties that we have been hearing for the last three hours, what certainty can you give us that those plans will be on track in the coming years?”

“It sounds like it is possible to have an alternative.”

“We will not pursue that point further today, but it is something that we should come back to. You may want to come back to it as well. I am sure I will. When will the geological disposal facility start accepting materials?”

“That is interesting. My Committee may well pursue that.”

“That modelling has not gone on at any time within the Department.”

“UK electricity bills are the highest in Europe compared to gas. Evidence given to the Select Committee suggests that the Government are absolutely right to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and it is a shame that some Opposition Members have abandoned an evidence-informed approach to policymaking. Can the Minister c…”

“The Minister was right to remind us that the North sea is a mature basin, she was right to remind us that 70,000 jobs have been lost there in the last 10 years, and she was right to praise the highly skilled engineers who have made such a contribution in the North sea and to the country. She mentioned the skills passpo…”

“Does the Minister agree that it is in the interests of business to see waiting lists in the NHS reduced, roads repaired and the public finances fixed? Does he agree that if Opposition parties do not agree with Labour’s plans, they should set out how they would pay for such improvements?”

“The Prime Minister was right to say in his statement that economic security is national security. The same is true of energy security, as we see in the clean power plan. May I encourage my right hon. and learned Friend to use our success in developing alternative energy technology to support Ukraine, giving it energy a…”