Speeches by Esterson.

“Secretary of State, you mentioned that the science is still really bad, although not as bad as it was before. My Select Committee heard last week, in a very sobering panel, that there is evidence that perhaps things are significantly worse than the figures that you just gave. I am going to ask you a question about dome…”

“The evidence we heard was that it has not gone far enough. I will ask just one more question if I may, Chair. The changes that are needed to deliver domestic action go well beyond your Department. How well are the Departments for Transport, for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Business and Trade performing i…”

“Thank you very much for reading the report. To return the compliment, I spent part of yesterday reading your engagement strategy; there were very good points in it. I look forward to your fuller response to our report. You touched on SMRs in an earlier answer. One of the things that is clear is the opportunity in the n…”

“Context is everything, and the context for this Budget can be summed up in three letters: ABT. It stands for “anyone but the Tories”, or “austerity, Brexit and Truss”. Both explain the composition of the House of Commons; it is a result of the damage done by those things. Their combined impact is that households in thi…”

“My hon. Friend is right. The warm homes plan will help those who are in fuel poverty the most. We are talking about up to £500 for a combination of insulation and solar and battery installation. Closing the gap between electricity and gas prices, which is what the money off bills will partly do, will make it more attra…”

“My hon. Friend is right. The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee looks forward to hearing what John Fingleton has to say, and to the Government’s response to him. Regulatory reform is key. We have to speed up planning and grid connections, which are referred to in the Budget, in order to address the very serious sho…”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Member for quoting me, but when backing Liz Truss to be leader of the Tory party he said: “I have no doubt that we will move with determination to make this country safer and more secure.” Does that not rather undermine any claim of credibility he makes?”

“My right hon. Friend rightly reminded us of the progress that was made at COP. The recommitment to limiting global warming to no more than 1.5° is hugely important. He was honest in saying that we did not get everything we wanted, and that is sensible. However, he also reminded us of the absolute seriousness of climate…”

“Rowan View mental health hospital at Maghull health park in my constituency is benefiting from lower costs from the installation of solar panels from GB Energy. May I encourage the Minister to support Maghull health park’s bid for an innovation and research facility so that we can address the Government’s priority of g…”

“The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee has heard evidence that we need these critical minerals for our energy future. That is absolutely true, so the 10% from production and the 20% from recycling are key steps along that road. Can I ask the Minister about no more than 60% coming from one country? He talked about s…”

“Sure, but to the question I asked in the first panel, was that good value for money, given that wall insulation is expensive?”

“Was it from outside the Department?”

“I want to ask some questions about the lessons that have hopefully been learned by now. Mr Pocklington, you talked about the 2021 fuel poverty strategy and said that a policy decision was taken to move to a whole-house approach. Who advised that change?”

“But they would have had a lower cost to run with loft insulation.”

“That is not answering quite the same question, is it?”

“Are you satisfied that the scheme offered value for money in taking that whole-house approach?”

“My understanding is that wall insulation is expensive compared with loft insulation. Would it not have been better value for money to keep it simpler?”

“Mr Gantley, you were nodding as I spoke.”

“So why was there so much external and internal wall insulation?”

“I would have thought that was blindingly obvious. I cannot believe that that was not already in place. Anyway, that is for the Committee’s report. One final question from me at this point: heat rises, so why was external and internal wall insulation such a priority? Should it not just have been loft insulation?”