Speeches by Chope.

“Have I misunderstood it, then? If you receive an electricity bill, and it is subject to the price cap, are you saying that the company is not allowed to put on to the bill the costs of unpaid arrears?”

“You do not think this is indulging a sort of “can’t pay, won’t pay” culture, which is what we had when people did not like paying the community charge? Local authorities have enormous powers to take people to court, to confiscate their goods and so on if they do not pay the council tax. Why shouldn’t electricity compan…”

“Exactly.”

“£4.5 billion. If you require those companies to recover what is owed to them without giving them a subsidy, surely we would be able to reduce the extraordinarily high sum of money owing. It is related, of course, to us having these extraordinarily high electricity costs, which the Government have promised to bring down…”

“We have seen the lists showing that we have the highest electricity prices in Europe, both for industrial users and consumers. Do you think that, because of the way in which our market is regulated, our prices for consumers will now be below the highest levels in Europe, both for industrial and domestic consumers?”

“The companies that have hedged successfully against this sort of price hike will be able to take that benefit for themselves, rather than have to pass it on to the consumer?”

“Can I ask you about operating costs? Most people would think that it is extraordinary that an electricity company that does not collect what it is owed from its customers should receive some sort of compensation allowance from the regulator. Why do you permit that? Why do not you require energy companies to fund any fa…”

“You make this extra allowance. If they are recovering the costs from their consumer—if the consumers are paying their bills—that is good, and the more efficient companies collecting the money will make perhaps larger profits, or not such large losses. However, the idea that all this should be pooled and be another burd…”

“The consumer and industrial pain is going to be deferred as a result of what you are saying, because unlike, for example, at the petrol pumps, the price is not directly reflecting changes in market conditions. What you are saying is that you are going to prevent the energy companies responding with a price mechanism to…”

“I am told that a fortnight ago a cargo of liquefied natural gas from the United States would cost about $25 million, delivered to Europe, and now that cost is about $50 million, delivered to Europe. Are you saying that the energy companies should not be buying at that price or are you going to, in a sense, insulate the…”

“What can you do to stop profiteering? Obviously if I have hedged and I have my supply for $25 million instead of $50 million, I could go out and sell that in a subsidiary market now and make profits for my company. Will I then be able to pass on those costs ultimately to the consumer through the price cap?”

“How confident are you that all the major players in the industry have themselves insulated by having long-term contracts? That was the problem last time—that a lot of the companies went bust and the taxpayer ended up bailing them out. Can you assure us that that is not going to happen again?”

“Your policy on this has contributed to an exponential increase in the debts—the unpaid bills. Remind me of how many billions of pounds are now owed by customers on their electricity bills.”

“Is not the fundamental problem that the DVSA is a state-controlled monolith without any competition? Would it not be a good idea to privatise the DVSA and enable young people to access driving tests a lot more quickly?”

“Does the Minister share my concern about the revelations relating to the connection between Mandelson and the Chinese motor manufacturer BYD, which now says that the United Kingdom is the largest destination for its electric vehicles? Is he preventing the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero from disclos…”

“Okay. You have announced the most massive expansion of solar panel investment. Of the solar panels in used in this country, 95% are imported from China. By expanding solar panels, we are increasing our dependency upon China. The same is true in relation to wind turbine blades. In answer to questions on that in the Comm…”

“You have not said anything about how we are going to reduce our dependency on Chinese solar panels.”

“Following from the answers that the Secretary of State gave—or perhaps did not give—to my colleague, Bradley Thomas, is there any inhibition, other than his own desire, to publishing the documents to which reference has been made?”

“According to NESO statistics, by 2030, under the clean power plan, the United Kingdom’s gas import dependency will still be 70%. What is the Government’s gas supply plan out to 2050, where will the gas be coming from, and why are we not getting it from our own North sea?”

“But the costs of subsidising solar, wind and other renewables are being borne by the consumer. You have made a big thing of reducing bills by £150, but after that announcement was made, Ofgem said that bills would increase by £108 by 2031, just because of the need to invest more in transmission. Far from the bills comi…”