Ed Miliband MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  First, let me celebrate the opening of the plant. Indeed, I sent a video celebrating it—I am sorry I could not be there, but I congratulated my hon. Friend on his brilliant advocacy. I accept the point he makes that we have to look at all the technologies at our disposal. One of the reasons I am very glad that Lord Whitehead has joined our Department is that, as my hon. Friend will know, he has a specific brief covering alternative technologies. My view is, if it can bring down bills and help to get us to cleaner power, we should absolutely go for it.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks wisely on these issues. I agree with what he said about how we get energy security and the right thing to do. On the question of bill payers, across Government and across the House, we are incredibly alive to and vigilant about the potential impact of the crisis. I believe there is cross-party support for the price cap, which I think is very important. In a world without the price cap, we would see much more immediate effects. That does not mean that everyone is protected, but the vast majority of domestic consumers are protected by the price cap. My hon. Friend asked about short-term action, including through RNP. As he would imagine, across my Department, there is intensive work under way, looking at all the options that we have. As the regulator said to the Committee yesterday, much of this will depend on how long the crisis lasts, but the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have both shown their willingness and determination to act on bills, and I am sure that will remain.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  No, I do not think that is right at all. The truth about these crises is that it is incredibly important that the Government look at everything we can do, particularly to help address the impact on families and businesses, as I said a number of times in my statement. I reassure the hon. Gentleman and the House that this Government have the right strategy on energy policy. The lesson we all need to learn is that exposure to fossil fuel markets is dangerous for the country, and the best thing we can do is speed up our drive to renewables and, indeed, to nuclear. The more help that he can give to support that, the better.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his points about business and particularly about heating oil. It is a really important point, because people who are using heating oil are exposed to what is happening in the market. Obviously, it depends on when they restock their heating oil and, as I have said a number of times, how long the crisis continues, but he is right to raise that as an area we need to look at.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for the point that she makes. It is worth saying that Lord Browne of Madingley, formerly of BP, was on the radio yesterday making precisely the same point that she and I have made. This is a man who used to run one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, and he said that the lesson of this crisis is that we have to get on to clean power. On the hon. Lady’s point about networks, it is important to be transparent about that. It is also important to bear down on those costs, and I obviously discuss that a lot with the regulator.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is so right. I talk to partners around the world, including in Europe, which the Liberal Democrats asked about, and elsewhere, and it is interesting that so many other countries now take this approach. The case for renewables was always a climate case, but for so many it is now as much an energy security case, because they are in a similar place to us: they are price takers, not price makers.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  I agree with the hon. Lady on her fundamental point about why we are exposed. Cost of living support is obviously a matter for the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, but I reiterate to her that the Chancellor showed a willingness to act on these issues in the Budget because she recognised the pressures that families are facing, and that the cost of living crisis is by far the biggest issue facing our country. At Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister again reiterated that we are carefully monitoring the situation. The Government have shown their willingness to intervene, and if necessary, we will intervene again. On the wider points that the hon. Lady makes, the most important thing to emphasise is that we have to go back to the fundamentals. That means driving forward with clean power and the insulation of homes. Our European counterparts, whom she asked about, face similar challenges. Through the International Energy Agency, we are all engaged on some of the issues around oil stocks that I raised in my statement. She is absolutely right that co-operation with our European colleagues is particularly vital at this time.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  That is why we said in our manifesto that we would keep existing oil and gas fields open for their lifetime. Indeed, we did not just say it; we had a good dialogue with the industry, in which it said that one thing that would make existing oil and gas fields competitive was tiebacks to fields with new production. We listened and we accepted that. I have great respect for the right hon. Gentleman; I think the issue he is adverting to is exploration licences, because the North sea is a declining basin. Obviously, there are tax matters in this regard, which are for the Chancellor, but all the evidence is that exploration licences are entirely marginal to production, and the average time from exploration to production is 10 years, as I said earlier. On the 10-year view, the most important thing we can do for our energy security by far—by many multiples—is to drive towards clean power, which I think he supports and which is the centrepiece of our strategy.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent questions. On the first point, he is absolutely right. I spoke to my counterpart, the Qatari Energy Minister, and it was the attacks on Qatar’s LNG terminals, and understandable fears for their workforce as a result of indiscriminate Iranian attacks, that led him to make his decisions. Iranian threats to the strait of Hormuz are preventing the passage of shipping, and my hon. Friend is absolutely right to emphasise that point. I will not speculate on my hon. Friend’s point about how long the conflict will last, but he is right to say that the longer the conflict goes on, the more impact there will be on bill payers and our economy. That is why it is in all our interests for this conflict to come to an end as soon as possible. On his other point, I undertake to keep the House and the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee informed.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  Obviously, we are in the first few days of this crisis, but the best thing I can say to my hon. Friend and hon. Members in all parts of the House who are concerned about this issue, and totally understandably so, is that we are very much aware of where the exposure is. The price cap is a guarantee, and I chose my words carefully when I said earlier that, for the vast majority of people, the price cap provides a guarantee for domestic consumers, bearing in mind that those using heating oil are more exposed. We will look at that issue. To go back to the wider point that I made, both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have shown a determination to act on the cost of living crisis. Obviously, much of this depends on how long the crisis goes on, but the point is well taken.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a very important advocate for his constituents and, indeed, for Project Willow. He will know that we have made a number of announcements about Grangemouth in recent months, but I can assure him that we will continue to drive forward on Project Willow. The Prime Minister has set out that £200 million will be available from the National Wealth Fund. We continue to work with private industry, because we are determined to create a future for Grangemouth and its communities.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks very well on these issues, and I am sure the Minister for Energy will meet the group’s members and talk to them about these issues. As she will know, we operate under guidance from the last Government about avoiding the best available land where at all possible. Even on the most ambitious plans, solar would occupy a very small fraction of agricultural land, although we had the largest ever solar auction in allocation round 7—

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  Somebody asked me about standing charges earlier, and I neglected to respond. One important thing that we did was transfer the warm home discount to unit rates, which helped make a difference in bearing down on standing charges. I reassure my hon. Friend, and many of his constituents and others who are concerned about this issue—I talk to Martin Lewis and others about such matters—that we continue to look at it.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks with great eloquence on these issues, and he is absolutely right. As I said earlier, it is striking that so many countries now talk about this as an energy security issue. For the 80-plus countries that supported the road map for the transition away from fossil fuels at COP30, it was as much about energy security, about their own situation, about bills and about their fear of exposure as it was about the long-term threat that we face from the climate crisis, as crucial as that is.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend puts it incredibly well: this is about clean, home-grown power that we control. We need to get off the roller coaster of fluctuations in international markets, which does such damage to families across the country.

• 5 Mar 2026 · Energy Markets · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady raises an important issue. Indeed, the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald)—who has briefly left the Chamber—is also a Minister at the Department for Business and Trade and has a particular focus on how we can help small businesses to get better deals. Better regulation of the deals they get is one area where Ofgem will have a role in what was previously an un-regulated or under-regulated market. On the wider point about the impact of the crisis on small businesses, I reiterate to the hon. Lady, by way of reassurance, what I have said to other hon. Members. The Government are absolutely focused on the impact of the crisis on households and indeed businesses, and we will not hesitate to act.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Clean Industry Bonus: Jobs · Hansard source

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  The first-of-a-kind clean industry bonus as part of allocation round 7 is set to crowd in up to £3.4 billion of private investment in supply chains and support up to 7,000 jobs across the country. After a legacy of failure under the previous Government, we are determined that the clean energy future is made in Britain.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Clean Industry Bonus: Jobs · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes an important point. One great thing about the clean industry bonus is that it will be focused on the industrial areas of our country, including those that are based on oil and gas. We also have, as part of our North sea future plan, a whole set of plans to help displaced oil and gas workers into these areas. There is huge potential in this innovation, as it rewards companies that invest in our country.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  Bills are too high and the cost of living crisis is the biggest issue facing the country. That is why, at the last Budget, we took decisions to raise taxes on the wealthiest, which will enable us to take an average of £150 in costs off household energy bills from April. That builds on the fact that the price cap and average energy bills were lower in real terms in 2025 than in 2024.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to this morning’s auction, which saw record amounts of solar power. It is the cheapest form of power that we could possibly have in this country, and it costs less than half the price of building and operating new gas. On the point about infrastructure, he is right that we inherited a terrible legacy, and we are building the new infrastructure that we need.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Lady on reading out the Whips’ handout. No, I do not, and I will tell her why. The Chancellor’s action in the Budget to take the renewables obligation off bills and put it on to public expenditure was the biggest single cut in the cost of electricity that we have seen dating back to even the Conservatives’ time in office.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend draws attention to the really important issue of standing charges. We have been consulting on moving the warm home discount from fixed cost standing charges to unit rates, which has been welcomed by Martin Lewis, among others. We want to bear down on standing charges, and we will announce the results of that consultation soon.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to this important issue. As part of our warm homes plan, we are going to set up a warm homes agency to give people proper information, advice and guidance on what they can do to cut their bills. We have made the biggest public investment ever seen in this country to help people cut their bills and upgrade their homes, and we will make sure people know about it.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  I am afraid that the right hon. Gentleman’s first point is wrong; he is taking one quarter—summer 2024 —and comparing it with today. If we look across 2025, bills are lower than in 2024. Actually, I had hoped that he would support the £150 that we have taken off energy bills, but the Opposition oppose all the measures making that possible.

• 10 Feb 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to our consultation. From talking to my ministerial colleagues, I know that we will take into account the points that she has made. We want to allow as many as people as possible across the country to convert to cheap, clean power. That is the point of our warm homes plan, and that is the point of the consultation she mentioned.