Speeches by Miliband.

“As I said at the outset, an important thing to underline and talk about is that I think there is broad consensus for this and support for the clean energy transition, partly because people recognise the scale of the threat, but also because people recognise the reality of our exposure to fossil fuels. That is what all …”

“There are different ways of talking about it. Net zero is quite a nerdy term but, as you know, that is my Department’s job: to be nerdy. But there are different ways of talking about this. There is a strange thing about this, which is that I think Westminster sometimes underestimates the extent to which the public gets…”

“The important thing to understand about this—and this is the narrative that I use about the first and second limb of our mission—is that this is right for future generations but it is also right for current generations. Think about the issue of transport: people are exposed to what will happen to oil prices and we have…”

“I can write to you on the specifics around the carbon price. The important thing about the NESO report is what it shows about the potential for lower bills. I know you had Fintan before your Committee, but I can write to you about the carbon price.”

“I will not endorse these assumptions in the way you are suggesting, but what I will say to you is that we can definitely achieve 2030 clean power in a way that is good for business. If you think about the response of industry right across the board to the document that we produced in December, whether it is in manufact…”

“We work with NESO all the time on these issues. We work hand in glove with NESO, not just on modelling but on all of these questions, because they have a crucial role in the system and they have a crucial role in helping us to deliver clean power. But I have to be honest with you: the worst thing for business in the la…”

“Absolutely, and—”

“Are you talking about where levies are—”

“I have followed quite a lot of the very interesting questioning you have done of NESO and of Emma Pinchbeck on these issues, and I will try to set this out as clearly as I can. It is a complex area. I think this 47% can be a little bit misleading, because the extent you get the benefits of cheaper of renewables does no…”

“In a way this was my answer to Bradley earlier. The Nesta report puts it quite well. There is a world where you transfer all the levies to public expenditure. No doubt all of us in our fantasy world would like that to happen. It is billions of pounds of costs. I do not think it will surprise the Committee if I say that…”

“Exactly.”

“This is definitely something we want to work on, as I think I said to Polly. It is important to realise the potential here. If you think about the potential around solar, batteries and heat pumps, with half-hourly settlements, I think we are underestimating the extent that this can make a massive difference to consumer…”

“The future homes standard is a matter for MHCLG and they will be coming forward with proposals. There are massive advantages to us in ensuring from the outset that homes are built to a low-carbon spec. There is enthusiasm for this among the house builders and others. To give you the vision here, because it is important…”

“I am pleased we have gone into injury time or extra time or whatever it is called these days; I am giving you my age here. You raise a wider point—I will come to your specific question—about the role of trade unions in this transition. We have a different view from the last Government on the role of trade unions in thi…”

“I definitely will. What I would say at a general level is that we want GB Energy to be a model of what a good employer looks like, working with the trade unions. I know this is important to Juergen Maier, who is the start-up chair of GB Energy, and I am happy to write to you in more detail about that.”

“I think it goes to this wider question that is in all of this, and this is the next stage of what mission control, led by Chris Stark, will do. Workforce planning is incredibly important, because there is huge potential for jobs in some of the areas you have talked about, including in home heating. Where will we get th…”

“Explain the question again please, Chair.”

“This is the work we are engaged on across Government, working with Skills England, and my Department is engaging. You are right that it is a challenge. I do not want to have rose-tinted spectacles here, but there is a massive opportunity. I want to assure you that part of our job, for the first six months, is to get th…”

“You are right to raise this as a challenge, and it goes to the more general challenge. There is lively disagreement about the scale of where heat pumps can work and where they cannot, but I think there is consensus that we are going to need many more heat pumps installed across the country. I think this is doable. One …”

“In the interests of time, Chair, since we are in overtime, I am going to be relatively brief. There is an important role for hydrogen in our economy. We touched on it a little bit earlier in relation to industry. The issue of hydrogen in home heating is something we are examining. We have said in our response to the Cl…”