Ed Miliband MP: speeches

Speeches

• 26 Nov 2024 · COP29 · Hansard source

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  The National Energy System Operator report, which is the advice given to us by the independent body, shows that this will lead to lower electricity bills. That is so important, because we get two protections from “Clean Power 2030”: one is lower bills, and the second is that we are protected against the devastating price spikes that affected the hon. Lady’s constituents during the gas price crisis of 2022.

• 26 Nov 2024 · COP29 · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is wrong to say that. The truth is that the last Government left the public finances in an appalling state, which is why those decisions were made. As I have explained, we have agreed a global total when it comes to climate, but UK contributions are a matter for us and our spending reviews and depend on our fiscal situation.

• 26 Nov 2024 · COP29 · Hansard source

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  Both the points that my hon. Friend makes are right. I am happy to acknowledge the role of Theresa May in putting net zero into law, as well as that of Alok Sharma and even Boris Johnson, who fought to champion some of these issues. It is a real shame, and it speaks volumes, that we can say those things and the Conservatives do not.

• 26 Nov 2024 · COP29 · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right: although we have party political disagreements on some issues, this country has avoided a fraying and splitting of this consensus, as has happened in other countries. The consensus on climate action is so important precisely because of what he has set out: the fate of his grandchildren and all future generations, and the impact on them. I want to work with people across parties on this issue, because the more of a consensus we have, the better it is for the country.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has made really important interventions on this point. We have been clear that no company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain, and we will be working with colleagues across Government to tackle the issue of the Uyghur forced labour in supply chains that she has raised during the passage of the Bill. As part of that, we have relaunched the solar taskforce and we will work with industry, trade unions and others to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable and free from forced labour. Great British Energy is the national champion that our country needs, for three reasons. First, it is at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Every family and business has paid the price for our country’s exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets over the last two and a half years. A sprint to clean energy is the way to increase our energy independence and protect families and businesses. We need to invest in wind, solar, nuclear, tidal, hydrogen, carbon capture and more—geothermal too. Secondly, Great British Energy will help to generate the jobs the UK needs, not just the power. Here’s the thing: our European neighbours recognise that a publicly owned national champion is a critical tool in industrial policy, and the good news is that after 14 years of industrial policy being a dirty, taboo phrase, it is back at the heart of policy making in this Government. Great British Energy is part of our plan to ensure that the future is made and built in Britain. Thirdly, Great British Energy will ensure that the British people reap the benefits of our natural energy resources, generating profits that can be returned to bill payers, taxpayers and communities across the country. I know that many Members of the House are passionate about the issue of local power, so let me reassure them that the Government are committed to delivering the biggest expansion of support for community-owned energy in history. Great British Energy is the right idea for our time and has in a short time won huge support. I am sorry that the Opposition have chosen to wallow in their minority status and stand out against it, but let me tell them: their vote tonight will have consequences. For every project that Great British Energy announces in constituencies around Britain, every job that it creates, every local solar project it initiates and every wind project it invests in, we will tell their constituents that they opposed it. They are the anti-jobs, pro-energy-insecurity party, and we will hang their opposition to GBE round their necks from here till the next general election. Invest or decline: that is the choice, and GBE is the right choice for energy security, bills and jobs. I commend the Bill to the House.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. It is a privilege to open the Third Reading debate—another milestone in setting up Great British Energy. In less than four months, this Government have incorporated GBE as a company, appointed Juergen Maier as its start-up chair, and launched its first partnership with the Crown Estate. Next will be the national wealth fund. Earlier this month, we announced GBE’s partnership with key public bodies in Scotland. We have also announced its headquarters in Aberdeen. We are acting on our mandate from the British people. I want to thank everyone who has played a role in getting the Bill to this stage: the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks), who has done an incredible job steering the Bill through Committee; Members across the House who have scrutinised the Bill in Committee; all the parliamentary staff who have worked on the Bill; and the fantastic officials in my Department who have moved at such speed over the last four months. I also want to thank the witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee, all of whom were in support of establishing Great British Energy. I am sure that the House will be interested in the list. They include SSE, EDF, Energy UK, RenewableUK, Scottish Renewables, the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, Nesta, the Green Alliance, the Net Zero Technology Centre, the TUC, Prospect and the GMB. And they are not the only ones. I can inform the House that they join a growing list of supporters, including the CBI, the Aldersgate Group, Octopus Energy, E.ON, the Hydrogen Energy Association, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, the Port of Aberdeen, the University of Aberdeen and, of course, the British people themselves, who overwhelmingly backed Great British Energy at the general election. Sadly, the only people you can find to oppose Great British Energy are the faction of a sect of a once-great party sitting on the Opposition Benches. The reason for such support—this will be the argument behind politics for the next few years—is that this country recognises it is time to invest in Britain’s future and put an end to the decline of the last 14 years. That is the choice of this Bill and the choice of the coming years in British politics, and we should relish it: invest or decline.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  The beauty of carbon budgets and the system that was introduced when I was last in government—to be fair, it was carried on by the previous Government of the past 14 years—is that they do at least in theory constrain what the Government do. It is very important that we take carbon budgets seriously in our plans. The plans we inherited from the last Government were way off track for meeting our carbon budgets, which is what this Government will do.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  It sounds like my hon. Friend’s constituents are doing important work. She is absolutely right. The last Government used to say that we have only 1% of global emissions, as if that was a sort of excuse for inaction on the world stage. We see it differently. We see that only by leading at home can we provide the platform to lead internationally. This Government have in a few short months put Britian back on the world stage on climate, and we will be working with our best endeavours to ensure that we tackle the situation we have inherited—I am afraid the world is miles off track for keeping global warming to 1.5°.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend did very well, and I agree with him. Part of the problem with the last Government—I do not doubt that there were people making good endeavours—is that when we do something different at home to what we preach internationally, such as say we are going to power past coal by opening a new coalmine, people say, “Well, you are saying one thing and doing another.” Consistency is the absolute foundation for global leadership.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  Yes, and that is something I am already discussing with my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  I take the hon. Gentleman seriously on these issues, and I undertake to write to him or to have one of the Ministers write to him. I make the general point that rewilding and nature-based solutions are an essential part of tackling the climate crisis.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  All the proper processes were followed by the Foreign Office, which was in charge of the appointment. I have to say that this is a very sad reflection on the Conservative party. Rachel Kyte is an esteemed person who is recognised for her leadership, and all the Conservatives can do is fling around baseless allegations.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  I will say one thing in particular to my hon. Friend. The Prime Minister said at the United Nations General Assembly that we will be unveiling our nationally determined contribution—our target for 2035—at COP29. We are doing that because the danger is that the world settles into a low-ambition equilibrium when it comes to tackling these issues. By having a 1.5º aligned target, we hope to set a good benchmark and a good example for the world.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Climate Change: International Work · Hansard source

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  This Government believe that we can only ensure climate security for further generations in the UK if we lead globally. That was the message of the Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly with our world-leading 2030 clean power plan, no new oil and gas licences, and playing our part in reforming the global financial system. Next month I will be attending the COP29 talks in Azerbaijan to stand up for Britain’s interests.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Onshore Wind Energy · Hansard source

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  I am sympathetic to what the hon. Gentleman says. We are working on proposals on community benefit. I believe that when communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should automatically get benefit from it. I am also sympathetic to what he said about minimum levels of support. We are discussing that with industry at the moment and will come forward with proposals soon.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Onshore Wind Energy · Hansard source

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  After nine years of the disastrous, bill-raising ban on onshore wind in England, this Government overturned the ban in our first 72 hours in office. We have also set up the onshore wind taskforce to restore the pipeline of projects destroyed by the last Government. In the recent renewables auction, almost 1 GW of onshore wind was secured at prices that make it among the lowest-cost power sources to build and operate.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Zero Carbon Electricity System · Hansard source

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  Of course, that work is ongoing—in fact, I think the right hon. Lady the shadow Secretary of State has written me a letter about it—and we will be announcing our plans in due course.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Zero Carbon Electricity System · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman—and he knows this—will obviously want to stand up for what he sees as the best benefits for his constituency. I will be cautious about what I say, because there are proper procedures for planning decisions, including my quasi-judicial role. I will make this general point to the House, because I think this may well be a recurring theme during questions, but if we want to get off the dangerous exposure to international fossil fuel markets, which we were left with by the last Government, we need to build the grid. Every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we put up and every piece of grid we build will help to deliver energy security for the British people.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Zero Carbon Electricity System · Hansard source

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  Thank you very much, Mr Speaker—and you, too, if I may say so. [ Laughter. ] I congratulate my hon. Friend, but particularly the Fairwater community campus on the work it is doing. I think he highlights a very important issue. By helping to decarbonise public buildings, including schools, we help not only to cut our carbon emissions, but, crucially, to save money for those schools that they can then use for frontline services.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Zero Carbon Electricity System · Hansard source

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  Let me tell the hon. Gentleman a little about the situation that we inherited from the last Government, because it is very relevant—obviously, he was not a Minister in that last Government. We inherited a situation where there was no plan: no plan for their target of 95% clean power by 2030, no plan for their target of clean power by 2035, and no plan to avoid a repeat of the worst cost of living crisis in generations. This Government are developing a plan and will publish it in due course.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Zero Carbon Electricity System · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of both rooftop solar and ground-mounted solar. I can tell him that, as part of Great British Energy’s plans, we want to work with local schools, local hospitals and, indeed, local leaders to have a solar panels programme, because this is a way to rapidly decarbonise and to save money off bills.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Zero Carbon Electricity System · Hansard source

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  In 12 weeks, this Government have hit the ground running for our 2030 target by ending the onshore wind ban in place for nine years under the Conservative party, consenting to more nationally significant solar projects than in 14 years of the last Government, and overseeing the most successful renewables auction in history compared with the Conservatives’ disastrous auction round that crashed offshore wind. This is a Government in a hurry to meet our mandate from the British people, and we are just getting started.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to our announcement on Aberdeen as the headquarters of Great British Energy and the important role that it will play, and also to the importance of the satellite offices. I know from my visit to her constituency of the huge potential of her area on these issues, and we want to drive jobs throughout the supply chain through Great British Energy.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises the important issue that what will define the future for North sea workers is whether there is a plan for future jobs in offshore wind, carbon capture and hydrogen. There was no plan from the previous Government; this Government are absolutely determined to ensure a just transition for those workers, using the power of Government and a proper industrial policy to make it happen.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Every planning application and development consent order is assessed on its merits. Importantly, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed), is polishing a land use framework, which has long been needed in this country. It will set out the balance between food security, the use of renewable energy, the restoration of nature and the role of farming. I hope that will help with some of the issues that hon. Members are facing.