Speeches by Shanks.

“It is a really important framing of the question. The Prime Minister was really clear with all of his Ministers before this crisis, in fact, that the sense of fear and dread that many people have that the next letter coming through the letterbox is a bill that they cannot afford should be uppermost in every single one …”

“The first thing to say is that the Chancellor outlined yesterday, and repeated the message that the Prime Minister gave at the Liaison Committee, that the Government are working day and night at the moment on what support for billpayers might look like. As I said last time I gave evidence, there is an observation perio…”

“Everything that we want to do is to make sure it is fair. Fairness has to be looked at in the round, so fair in terms of the support that might need to be provided, but fair in terms of who, ultimately, pays for it as well and what that means for the future of the country’s finances. We are looking at all of these opti…”

“I cannot speak specifically about the strait of Hormuz. Jonathan might be able to. I would say that, generally, on the risk register, we take account of disruption to supply chains. I do not know whether we specify down to that, but we look at different scenarios and where different fuel types might be affected by inte…”

“We review these documents regularly, as you would expect, not just given the events happening at the moment. These documents are reviewed regularly. Just because it has not been updated, no one should read anything into that.”

“We absolutely are looking at options in that space. I hope that people would expect us to be looking right now at every option that is on the table. If something deals with a particular problem now, but maybe is not the long-term answer, we will absolutely look at it. There are mechanisms in place that will support som…”

“It is a really important question. Since I was last here, there have been meetings about that. The Minister for Energy Consumers held a meeting in the Treasury recently to talk about that exact issue and—your point is well made—to try to find ways, which might not be the perfect long-term data architecture strategy for…”

“We absolutely should be moving as fast as possible on everything, but there is a particular case to be made for bringing more flex on faster. We announced this week that we would start a trial of being able to utilise so-called “wasted” wind—the wind that we currently pay to turn off in areas of high constraints—so tha…”

“It is worth saying that marginal pricing is a natural market. Our view is that gas should not be setting the price, so we need to do everything possible to de-link those two. We are looking at a range of options in this space, but it is worth saying that the clean power mission will de-link naturally as we build more. …”

“We carefully considered this. This was a proposal that was put forward without consultation with Government from Ming Yang. We welcome investment from China, as we have announced in the past few months, when it is in the national interest. When the Prime Minister was in Beijing, we have seen a lot of inward investment …”

“My hon. Friend is right that strategic infrastructure planning is crucial, which is why we are engaging in the first ever national strategic spatial energy plan, which will lead to a centralised strategic plan for the future of the network. We are also looking at how we manage demand projects such as data centres acros…”

“The hon. Gentleman has framed that perfectly. The challenge is not just about being able to get clean power into homes and businesses; on the demand side, it is also about how we can connect these critical economic growth opportunities. That is partly why we have cleared out the connections queue, so that more projects…”

“The hon. Lady asks an incredibly important question, and I share her frustration. I have reflected that frustration to all those involved in this process. It is worth remembering that we had more than 600 GW in a queue, and that this process has cleared out 300 GW. That was incredibly complex, and it is the first time …”

“Methane harvested from landfill sites enables the generation of around 2.5 TWh a year, which is around 1% of the UK’s electricity. Many of those assets receive a subsidy through the renewables obligation, which expires in 2027. That generation has a supportive, but limited, effect on energy security. Given the high imp…”

“Those projects are continuing at the moment at the developers’ own risk. They are subject to a process, which the Conservative party will understand because this matter ended up in the courts under the previous Government. We are dealing with that process. Ultimately, none of those projects would take a penny off bills…”

“I reiterate that although methane harvested from such sites and used to generate electricity plays a role in electricity generation, it is less than 1% overall, so it is not an issue for our energy security. As the sites age, the amount of methane they omit reduces, and that reduction has been factored into our plans. …”

“I congratulate all those in my hon. Friend’s constituency on what sounds like a fantastic project, and it is an example of what we want to see all across the country. The local power plan unlocks £1 billion of investment, with the ambition that communities right across the UK should be able to own and operate their own…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments. My visits to Northern Ireland are important to me, and at the very first meeting of the reconstituted inter-ministerial working group we had a conversation on that exact question: how can we support the reduction of methane across the UK, and how can we support that thr…”

“The nationally significant infrastructure project regime provides a clear consenting route for nationally significant electricity lines, but processes have been too slow and we are determined to change that. Our reforms support the faster delivery of infrastructure, essential for strengthening our energy security in pe…”

“We do work very well together, actually, contrary to what it might appear from the hon. Member’s contribution. He suggests, quite wrongly—twice now—that Scotland is generating all this electricity by itself. Of course, those projects are funded by bill payers across the UK investing in that infrastructure. His plan see…”