Dame Meg Hillier MP: Climate Timeline

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Meg Hillier's Climate-related Tweets, Speeches & Votes

We've found the following climate-related tweets, speeches & votes by Meg Hillier

• 17 Jul 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  I also recognise the lead and step change in tackling the issue of net zero to decarbonise our economy with investment in renewables, insulation, carbon capture, and green jobs—things I have examined a lot over the last decade and on which we have seen the previous Government fail so often.

  Full debate: Debate on the Address

• 20 Jun 2024: Tweet

  Reaching net zero isn’t just a target, it’s a necessity. Labour will create a new publicly-owned green energy company to tackle the climate crisis and bring down energy bills. Vote Labour on 4 July. https://twitter.com/Meg_HillierMP/status/1803808378868707645/video/1 [Source]

• 31 May 2024: Tweet

  RT @HackneyLabour: Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South & Shoreditch, praises Hackney Council for its work on combating climate change - 'A La… [Source]

• 16 Jan 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  16. What recent discussions she has had with businesses on the Government’s net zero targets. ( 900979 )

  Full debate: Net Zero Targets: Businesses

• 13 Dec 2023: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: .@Meg_HillierMP: "Be it in tackling climate change, reducing waste, creating new businesses, jobs and skills, or improving… [Source]

• 15 Nov 2023: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ????New report???? ????Today we publish our report, 'Support for innovation to deliver net zero'. ????The net zero target is in jeopa… [Source]

• 10 Nov 2023: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ????️Next week, we'll be publishing three reports: ????'Support for innovation to deliver net zero' on Wednesday 15th ????'The New… [Source]

• 7 Nov 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May). I think she needs to join me on my campaign for slow politics, because clearly we have the same agenda here. Some of the best political decisions are those where we are looking 10, 20 or even 30 years ahead, and she is right that we need to be looking at net zero now and planning ahead. Unfortunately, though, this King’s Speech, and indeed the record of this Government led by the party of which she is a member, are thin gruel in that respect.

  Full debate: Debate on the Address

• 06 Sep 2023: Tweet

  RT @hackneycouncil: ???? We’re dedicating £61m to tackling the climate crisis over the next three years - which will help people save on bills… [Source]

• 20 Jun 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  Hackney has also set up a community energy fund. A few years ago, it established Hackney Light and Power, which is the energy services arm of the council, and that local company launched a £300,000 community energy fund last year, which aims to support innovative community-led energy projects that benefit Hackney. That amazing programme ensures that Hackney generates its own energy for local use. That reduces energy costs for many consumers; long may it succeed. We must see locally generated energy for local use as a way to tackle the challenge of climate change.

  Full debate: Co-operatives and Alternative Businesses: Local Authority Support

• 20 Apr 2023: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: The #pandemic & concerns over #climatechange are adding to growing problems with mental health in many of the population B… [Source]

• 22 Mar 2023: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: There are big questions over the path to the UK's legal target of a #NetZero economy by 2050: Now the #NAO expressed has… [Source]

• 17 Jan 2023: Parliamentary Speech

  There is an inconsistency in how the public sector is required to report greenhouse gas emissions. That makes it difficult to keep a track on progress as we approach net zero, and difficult for citizens to hold the public sector to account on delivery. What is the Minister doing to rectify that so that we can keep a proper track on what is happening?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 19 Oct 2022: Vote

  Ban on Fracking for Shale Gas Bill - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 21 Jul 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  Climate change is obviously a huge issue for us all, and I am very concerned about the Government’s repeated failure on home insulation, which is an issue in my constituency and across the country. We have seen a number of failed projects, but the Government now have an opportunity to kick-start the economy. I make this plea now in particular because by the time we return in September we will have a new Prime Minister to hear how we can create jobs, growth and opportunity for people by ensuring that we can get that insulation into people’s homes. Emissions from properties constitute 19% of total emissions, and that needs to be tackled, but it will not be tackled unless we get this right.

  These are small but clear examples of the need for us to turn the challenge of achieving net zero into something that is manageable, meaningful and affordable for the people who need to make those moves in order for us to achieve it. This cannot be done to people; they have to be empowered to do it, and the Government are not helping in that regard. They are missing a real opportunity to drive green jobs, growth and investment.

  Full debate: Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment

• 20 Jul 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  6. What assessment he has made of the potential role of energy efficiency in meeting the UK’s climate targets. ( 901189 )

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

  The Government have had a series of failed programmes on home insulation: the green new deal failed, and the recent green homes grant scheme failed, as the Public Accounts Committee has repeatedly reported. Does the Minister have any confidence that the Government will listen and tackle this major cause of emissions? If it is not tackled, it will put a serious dent in achieving the target of net zero by 2050.

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 7 Jun 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  A recent Public Accounts Committee report on net zero highlighted the real challenge of getting consumers onboard. Going net zero and embracing low- carbon technologies cannot be a preserve of the wealthiest and there needs to be much more work by Government. What are the Government doing to ensure that consumers are supported to make green choices?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 20 Apr 2022: Parliamentary Speech

  The key issue is quite a simple definitional issue: the energy price cap sets a price limit on domestic supplies of electricity and gas, but not on domestic supplies of heat. So developments of the type that my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) referred to will often have wood-chip burners or an equivalent in the basement, or some other source of supply, and they provide heat to the home, but it is purchased for the building and then sold on to an individual. Ofgem, as we know, regulates the supply of gas and electricity but not, at present, the supply of heat. That means that while the supply of gas to a heat network is regulated, the supply of heat from the heat network to homes is not, because Ofgem classifies supplying heat to a heat network as a commercial arrangement, not domestic. But let us be clear: the end user of this is someone living in a home—a flat, an apartment—who benefits from the communal heating system, often arranged for good reason, sometimes in an attempt to provide green energy, but it has actually left individual residents, whether they are homeowners or tenants, in the lurch.

  I am not alone in asking for regulation: the Heat Trust has called for it to happen; the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, as part of a recent report on decarbonising energy, called for heat networks to be regulated; and crucially, it is in Ofgem’s forward programme for 2022-23. It could stretch out for quite a long time to come, but that is not fast enough for those residents who are sorely affected.

  Full debate: Energy Price Cap: Residential Buildings with Communal Heating Systems

• 10 Mar 2022: Tweet

  RT @NS_Spotlight: "The Johnson government is government by cliché and soundbite (three-word slogans in particular). On climate change we re… [Source]

• 08 Mar 2022: Tweet

  RT @NS_Spotlight: Net zero is too important to be left to Whitehall, says @Meg_HillierMP https://t.co/Gch13hsBg4 https://t.co/D5kIkphvbE [Source]

• 04 Mar 2022: Tweet

  RT @GetBritCycling: Government has failed to explain how it will provide funding to meet #NetZero targets says new report from @CommonsPAC… [Source]

• 03 Mar 2022: Tweet

  RT @energyforlondon: Agree with findings of latest Achieving #NetZero report from @CommonsPAC @Meg_HillierMP - that @beisgovuk needs to pr… [Source]

• 02 Mar 2022: Tweet

  The Government needs to take a leaf from Hackney’s book and follow through with detailed plans on net zero that will deliver on the headline announcements https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/government-meg-hillier-mps-treasury-b985462.html [Source]

• 02 Mar 2022: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ✳ #NetZero 2050⚡ "Certainty for business & #consumers is critical" but @GOVUK has “too often pursued stop-start strategie… [Source]

• 13 Dec 2021: Vote

  Subsidy Control Bill — Schedule 1 - The subsidy control principles - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 7 Dec 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  A decade ago we saw the failure of the green new deal, and only recently we have seen the complete and woeful failure of the green homes grant scheme. These were supposed to retrofit homes, create jobs and boost the economy. Will the Treasury work with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to get a grip on this, so that they invest taxpayers’ money in achieving net zero and creating jobs rather than throwing good money after bad?

  Full debate: Levelling Up: National Retrofit Strategy for Homes

• 17 Nov 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: You can watch both parts - #NetZero #CovidCosts - of this meeting (and scroll through) anytime here ????https://t.co/avkz4y9… [Source]

• 16 Nov 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ⚡*WEDS 130pm* we question @HMTreasury on #COP26 action & #spending plus the total £499 BILLION⚡ pledged, paid & guaranteed… [Source]

• 11 Nov 2021: Tweet

  RT @hackneycouncil: ????️???? Today is Cities and Regions Day at #COP26. ⬇️ Watch @mayorofhackney on the work we're doing in Hackney, and how c… [Source]

• 25 Oct 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ✳Pls note new 4pm start every Monday ✳ ????https://t.co/iTmB4OphE9 #COP26 starts SUNDAY but in March we warned that @GOVUK ha… [Source]

• 21 Sep 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  The Minister has talked a lot about what is going to happen ahead of COP in respect of net zero, but will he look back at the green homes grant voucher scheme that was delivered in September last year? It was set up in 12 weeks, from announcement to delivery, and was axed six months later without having delivered the jobs or the green homes measures. What is the Minister’s Department doing to reflect on that? Is he thinking about longer-term planning to the benefit of both the industry and our net zero targets?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 7 Sep 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  The hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr Baker) and I may not have the same views on net zero, but we share a concern about how the Government will fund it. We will see, for example, a reduction in petrol vehicles, so what will happen to the tax on them? We have also seen yet another failure recently with the green homes grant. What is the fiscal plan for making sure that net zero achieves its targets while we maintain the Exchequer balances?

  Full debate: Net Zero Emissions and Green Investment

• 25 Jun 2021: Tweet

  RT @NAOorguk: Our work spans across key areas of government spending, including: ???? net zero and the environment ???? COVID-19 ???? major infras… [Source]

• 07 Jun 2021: Vote

  Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill — New Clause 1 - Human Rights Abuses - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 26 May 2021: Vote

  Environment Bill — New Clause 24 - Prohibition on burning of peat in upland areas - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 11 May 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  I want to touch on some of the environmental issues that are touched on in the Bill, although we do not yet know the detail. I am pleased that the Environment Bill is being carried over, but let us hope that we see more detail and more meaningful steps towards action on this issue. The Public Accounts Committee has spent some time over the last year looking at environmental and climate change issues, and we have found the Government wanting. They have been promising the Earth with big broad-brush headlines, but potentially really damaging the Earth through their inaction. There is no planet B, so we have to get it right now. Ambitious projects such as stopping production of petrol and diesel cars within nine years make great headlines, but there is a lot to be done in the nine years between now and then, and very little detail. So it is vital that that is got right, and I think that there is, or should be, cross-party consensus across the aisle that we need to tackle this generational issue for our planet.

  On green jobs, again the Government make promises, but I have been looking at this for at least a decade. With COP26 on the way, we can expect a flurry of stage-managed headlines, but the detailed plans to achieve all these things are not there. Over the last decade or so, we have seen the privatisation of the UK Green Investment Bank, and even the removal of its absolute requirement to deliver green investment; we have seen the failed green deal, which cost over £100,000 per loan; and we have seen a fourth contest launch for carbon capture and storage, which would help to tackle some of our energy intensive industries. The first three fell at the first hurdle.

  Full debate: Debate on the Address

• 28 Apr 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: #NetZeroReview #GreenTaxes #GreenEconomy Despite a narrow “focus on the #revenue taxes raise”, @HMRCgovuk & @hmtreasury “h… [Source]

• 19 Mar 2021: Tweet

  RT @metecoban92: ????????‍♂️ | London Fields Lido is a much-loved local facility that will now be POWERED by its own renewable energy. I was de… [Source]

• 08 Mar 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: Following Friday's #PublicAccounts report on #NetZero we continue the theme this week #LowEmissionCars on Thurs & this aft:… [Source]

• 08 Mar 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: Following Friday's #PublicAccounts report on #NetZero we continue the #green theme this week with #LowEmissionCars on Thurs… [Source]

• 05 Mar 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ✳️✳️A few short months from hosting #COP26 and two years after setting target in law, @govuk still has "no co-ordinated pla… [Source]

• 05 Mar 2021: Tweet

  RT @CommonsPAC: ✳️"@GOVUK set itself a huge test committing, in law, to a #NetZero #UKEconomy by 2050 - but there is little sign it underst… [Source]

• 04 Mar 2021: Tweet

  RT @Meg_HillierMP: Today's #Budget lacked any vision for: - Supporting people into affordable homes - Tackling #NetZero - A long-term plan… [Source]

• 3 Mar 2021: Parliamentary Speech

  The country is crying out for change. It is in debt and there is an uncertain future for many individuals and businesses. Brexit, which I do not think I heard mentioned in the Chancellor’s speech, is hitting businesses and individual consumers very hard and proving costly to the economy, certainly in the short term. The bit that was missing from the Budget is the vision for a country that should be supporting people into decent, affordable homes; that should be properly tackling net zero, on which I will touch in more detail; and that should have a plan for social care, the sector that was abandoned in the early stages of covid.

  Structurally, there are real issues. A few figures have been announced today on green initiatives—I have not had a chance to go through the detail in the Red Book—but there is no clear plan. We have targets on net zero and other environmental targets, including on things such as electric or net zero cars, yet there are not enough milestones along the way to the targets, which are coming upon us really fast. I will look in detail at the little bits of money announced today, as my Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, is examining issues relating to the green economy in a series of inquiries.

  On net zero and the environment, the Government are setting big targets, but our detailed work in the Public Accounts Committee raises many concerns. This is on top of failures on the green deal, the privatisation of the green investment bank, three competitions for carbon capture and storage—one more was recently announced, but so far the first three have failed—and real inertia on developing proper, long-term commitments to really tackling climate change.

  Full debate: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

• 03 Mar 2021: Tweet

  Today's #Budget lacked any vision for: - Supporting people into affordable homes - Tackling #NetZero - A long-term… https://t.co/RGpIEFrfvG [Source]

• 08 Feb 2021: Tweet

  RT @Meg_HillierMP: The #ClimateEmergency requires urgency. The Government must move on from aspirational words and start taking the hard d… [Source]

• 05 Feb 2021: Tweet

  The #ClimateEmergency requires urgency. The Government must move on from aspirational words and start taking the h… https://t.co/4hl6Y2zvez [Source]

• 01 Feb 2021: Tweet

  RT @Meg_HillierMP: This week @commonsPAC scrutinised the Government's plans for #netzero and ending #roughsleeping by 2024. Still lots of w… [Source]

• 29 Jan 2021: Tweet

  This week @commonsPAC scrutinised the Government's plans for #netzero and ending #roughsleeping by 2024. Still lots… https://t.co/rJ6LKd0rhk [Source]

• 16 Nov 2020: Vote

  Pension Schemes Bill [Lords] — Clause 124 - Climate change risk - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 12 Oct 2020: Vote

  Agriculture Bill — After Clause 42 - Contribution of agriculture and associated land use to climate change targets - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 29 Sep 2020: Vote

  United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — New Clause 6 - Economic development: climate and nature emergency impact statement - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 05 Feb 2020: Vote

  Transport - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 17 Jan 2020: Tweet

  I will be voting against the #QueensSpeech because: ???? It doesn’t act with the urgency the climate emergency deman… https://t.co/cgQxLYHaBQ [Source]

• 19 Dec 2019: Parliamentary Speech

  Let me move on the specifics of the Queen’s Speech. Her Majesty talked about the Government continuing to “lead the way” in tackling climate change. It has been my great sorrow, in one of my responsibilities as the former Chair of the Public Accounts Committee—a role I hope to resume in this Parliament—to have pored over the detail of the Government’s policy on climate change. And what do we see? There was carbon capture and storage: three expensive competitions, wasting millions of pounds achieving absolutely nothing. There was the much vaunted green deal, with the noble aim of greening our homes, because, let’s face it, more domestic emissions come from housing than from aviation. But that scheme was scrapped as a total failure—predictably—and cost the taxpayer the equivalent of £17,000 per loan granted.

  The hon. Member is making a powerful speech. She will know that the Committee on Climate Change wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday to say that action on climate change is falling short. Does she agree that that will continue to be the case for as long as this Government do not commit to leaving fossil fuels in the ground, and that that means ending mass road building, mass aviation expansion and the mass subsidies to the fossil fuel industry?

  We have to look at this issue in the long term. Let us be clear: Governments of different colours did not deal with it early enough or properly, but we now need to tackle it, and a Government with a majority of 80 have every opportunity to be bold and ambitious in this direction. But they privatised the green investment bank, which became the Green Investment Group and now does not even need to deliver on any of its green principles. There are very few guarantees about where that money will go. Had the green investment bank remained in public hands, we would have had a huge opportunity to invest in emerging green industries to create jobs and opportunities as well as tackle climate change issues. But that was another squandered opportunity.

  In order to compare this situation with what Labour in power can do, I turn to my own borough—the Labour-run Borough of Hackney—which has set bold targets to tackle climate change, and is achieving those targets. Already, half the electricity for the council and local schools is generated from renewable sources, and that will rise to 100% by April next year. Only very recently, the council established a publicly owned clean energy company that will maximise all council-owned roof space to generate renewable electricity. The council is also decarbonising its vehicles and tackling many other issues. I do not have time to go into everything today, but it is setting an example to show what can be done. If one London borough can do this, what could a Government do if they set their mind to it? This Government really need to step up. Of course, we await reshuffles, but I invite the relevant Minister to come and see what my borough is doing; we can show them how we are leading the way.

  Full debate: Debate on the Address

• 27 Nov 2019: Tweet

  The #ClimateEmergency ties us all into a common fate, only Labour will deliver #RealChange and secure the green inv… https://t.co/CgSkqgd6c0 [Source]

• 20 Nov 2019: Tweet

  We need action on the #ClimateEmergency. #Hackney is proving what Labour in power can do Labour will:​ ✅Invest in… https://t.co/dfdtuKS7u3 [Source]

• 06 Nov 2019: Tweet

  See my final round now that Parliament is dissolved #Brexit #SecondReferendum #ClimateEmergency #NHS #SchoolFunding… https://t.co/jXdlgTFKqc [Source]

• 28 Jun 2019: Tweet

  The Time is Now for urgent action on climate change. See this + my Annual Report as chair of the @CommonsPAC, in my… https://t.co/RfyBAowLMk [Source]

• 26 Jun 2019: Tweet

  RT @suedashbell: Thanks so much to ⁦@Meg_HillierMP⁩ for taking time to talk to us today about the climate emergency ⁦@TimeIsNowUK⁩ ⁦@Greenp… [Source]

• 26 Jun 2019: Tweet

  Privileged to meet so many people and pupils from #Hackney committed to tackling #ClimateEmergency #climatechange.… https://t.co/qzD6Ayeibl [Source]

• 03 May 2019: Tweet

  With Parliament making history by recognizing the #ClimateEmergency, now is the time for urgent climate action. Thi… https://t.co/htOsHsSbu7 [Source]

• 26 Apr 2019: Tweet

  Economically, environmentally, and existentially, there is urgent need for action on #ClimateChange. There’s a lot… https://t.co/4t30c4Gk5h [Source]

• 24 Apr 2019: Tweet

  The Government must set out its plan to tackle the #ClimateEmergency and reach net zero carbon emissions. See below… https://t.co/aZ1b51nmyv [Source]

• 23 Apr 2019: Tweet

  Watched the fantastic #ClimateChangeTheFacts over the Easter break, which laid out, in precise detail, the existent… https://t.co/tmBLs5Ismi [Source]

• 06 Sep 2016: Vote

  Finance Bill — VAT on Installation of Energy Saving Materials - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 09 May 2016: Vote

  Housing and Planning Bill — Planning obligations and affordable housing - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 03 May 2016: Vote

  Housing and Planning Bill — Neighbourhood right of appeal - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 14 Mar 2016: Vote

  Energy Bill [Lords] — New Clause 8 — Decarbonisation target range - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 14 Mar 2016: Vote

  Energy Bill [Lords] — New Clause 3 — Carbon capture and storage strategy for the energy industry - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 26 Oct 2015: Vote

  Finance Bill (Ways and Means) (Payment of Corporation Tax) — Chapter 5 — Supplementary provisions - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 04 Dec 2013: Vote

  Recall of Elected Representatives — Schedule 4 — Application and modification of emissions limit duty - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: No

• 28 Nov 2013: Parliamentary Speech

  The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) talked earlier about good value for green money, but the green deal has been a complete failure. What is the Secretary of State’s assessment of the enormous amount of money spent on this complex, bureaucratic project that has delivered no results?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 04 Jun 2013: Vote

  Energy Bill — Clause 133 — Financial provisions - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 04 Jun 2013: Vote

  Energy Bill — Clause 10 — Direction to offer contract - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 04 Jun 2013: Vote

  Energy Bill — Clause 1 — Decarbonisation - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 03 Jun 2013: Vote

  Communities and Local Government — Clause 42 — Duty not to exceed annual carbon dioxide emissions limit - Pro-climate vote: No - Their vote: Aye

• 17 Oct 2012: Vote

  Relationship, Drug and Alcohol Education (Curriculum) — New Clause 22 — Interpretation of the green purposes: duty to assess impact on the Climate Change Act 2008 - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 11 Jun 2012: Vote

  Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 14 Sep 2011: Parliamentary Speech

  At last we are here at the Third Reading of a Bill that has dropped off the parliamentary agenda more often than Humpty Dumpty. In Committee, the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) clearly set out his ambitions for the Bill. He described the green deal as

  We will wait to see whether the energy company obligation will truly deliver, because we have real doubts about it. We are yet to see the detail, and the devil will be in that detail. There are 50 pieces of secondary legislation that will flesh out that and other elements of the Bill. We will continue to work on and with the Government, as appropriate and where possible, to put flesh on this skeletal Bill, as well as on fuel poverty and affordability, on climate change and across the board in this area. If the Government fail, they will fail this generation of families this winter and every winter. They will fail future generations who will not forgive them for mistaking rhetoric and ambition for action and outcomes.

  Full debate: Energy Bill [Lords]

• 14 Sep 2011: Vote

  Prime Minister — Clause 42 — Domestic energy efficient regulations - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 14 Sep 2011: Vote

  Prime Minister — New Clause 1 — Energy efficiency aim - Pro-climate vote: Aye - Their vote: Aye

• 18 Jul 2011: Parliamentary Speech

  We want to help Ministers. We want to offer positive guidance and advice, and to support them where they are right. For example, we would welcome the publication of the Government’s cross-departmental green economy road map. Businesses need to know what the Government’s long-term strategy for tackling climate change is. They need to make investment and research decisions free from doubt about the Government letting them down. I tabled a question about that earlier this month, and was told that we would have the green economy road map before the end of July. However, with two more sitting days of Parliament, we are getting close to the wire. Indeed, perhaps that is why Parliament is sitting on Wednesday—so that we can see that document before the end of July. Frankly, the Minister had better hurry up if we are to meet that deadline. However, more important than what this House receives is that businesses up and down the country know what is coming, because further delay will cost orders and jobs. Up and down the country, people tell me on the doorstep that they want jobs, and green jobs are a real opportunity, so will the Minister give the House an assurance this evening that this important document—the green economy road map—will see the light of day? Will he commit himself to a date?

  The national policy statements do not adequately address the energy market, the price of energy and the price hikes that our constituents face this summer. We on the Opposition Benches want to see an independent energy advisory committee, akin to the Committee on Climate Change, to advise Ministers on everything from the carbon floor price to energy auctions. We are talking about a body to advise Ministers along the lines of the Committee on Climate Change, but we look forward to the Government perhaps coming up with proposals based on our suggestion, because people have lost faith in Ministers standing up to the big six energy companies. Six energy companies control 99.9% of the consumer market, so how does the Minister intend to protect consumers and tackle fuel poverty?

  This is increasingly a Government losing control, distracted by events and unable to deliver their programme. There may be good intent, but there is a lack of clout across Whitehall and a lack of ability to bring other Departments to the green energy and future green jobs table. As someone who is committed to this issue, I fear that we are in danger of seeing wasted years in the battle against climate change, which future generations will not forgive or forget.

  Full debate: National Policy Statements (Energy)

• 10 May 2011: Parliamentary Speech

  It is important to outline where the Opposition stand on the vital issues facing the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Government. We would all agree that there is no greater threat facing the planet than global warming. In the 19 years since the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro, when climate change was firmly put on the agenda, the issue has moved from the fringes to the centre stage. Even during the 13-year period of the last Labour Government, for whom I had the privilege to serve, the issue became more urgent and pressing. That is why Labour not only introduced tough targets to reduce our emissions of the gases that cause global warming, but enshrined them in law.

  This coalition Government cannot be accused of ignoring climate change. The Prime Minister himself put the environment at the top of the Tory agenda when he took his husky ride to the Norwegian glacier. At the time, there were sceptics—including the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change—who dismissed that as merely a public relations stunt. We could doubt the Prime Minister’s commitment; after all, he has uttered hardly a word on the matter since. Why else, though, would one install a wind turbine on the roof unless one were committed?

  There is a yawning gap between Ministers’ rhetoric and their actions and it grows day by day. In public, Ministers talk about being the greenest Government ever, so why have they called the Climate Change Act 2008 “red tape” and placed it in a review of what they call “burdens on business”? Ministers might huff and puff and say that the Act is safe in their hands, and I do not doubt the commitment of the DECC team, but why then is it in the red tape review? Perhaps they need to talk to other members of their Government.

  Overall, climate change is too important to leave to the market, and that is one of the problems with the Bill. The market and the market alone will decide. We need a strong Government to lead the fight against global warming and fuel poverty, but I fear that instead we have a Government who are at war with themselves.

  Full debate: Energy Bill [Lords]

• 16 Dec 2010: Parliamentary Speech

  Given the list that the Secretary of State just read out, one would think that he sees himself as Action Man, but we heard this week that he describes himself as Tesco Man. Last time I questioned the Government about green investment, the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), reassured the House that plans for the green investment bank would be unveiled in the spring. Yesterday, I read that the Secretary of State has lost out to the Treasury and that this much-vaunted green investment bank is to be a fund with nowhere near enough resources to generate the £200 billion necessary for investment in green technologies. The question is whether the country has lost out. Given the impact on British business, job creation and the climate, a properly functioning bank cannot wait, and this confusion is very unhelpful to British business. Will he tell the House what is happening?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

  We still do not have certainty. We hear that the matter is “under review” but we believed that it was a Government commitment. I am proud to be the first Labour/Co-op shadow Secretary of State for climate change, and the Secretary of State has described himself as very happy to be the Tesco of the energy industry. Yet without the green investment bank, whichever model we choose, we will not see the benefits that we want to see. The Minister of State, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle, spoke earlier of the importance of community energy and smaller suppliers; we want energy to benefit all. We want to see this bank up and running, and the Secretary of State will have support from the Opposition if it gets going. Will he consider joining me, as the advocate of co-operative climate change, in working for the benefit of all, with the green dividend and green investment shared fairly through an up-and-running bank?

  Full debate: Oral Answers to Questions

• 11 Nov 2010: Parliamentary Speech

  Moving from housekeeping to international issues, I note that next week there will be a debate on the Cancun climate change conference, thanks to the hon. Member for Chippenham (Duncan Hames). That debate is very welcome, but until we heard some snippets from the Minister today, it underlined the fact that there has been a deafening silence from the Government in the House about what they want to achieve. We all want a good outcome, and we recognise the challenges, as the Minister said, about legally binding international agreements. Will he tell the House clearly what the Government hope to achieve in the UK, and whether they are planning to make a statement in Government time?

  Full debate: Topical Questions