Ed Miliband MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I have caught the eye of an infrequent contributor to this House, so I will give way.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I am going to make some more progress. Let me go through what Great British Energy will do. First, it will invest in and own clean energy projects, particularly leading-edge technologies such as floating offshore wind, by working with the private sector and taking stakes in the projects it supports. The truth is that we need to accelerate the deployment of wind, solar, tidal, hydrogen, carbon capture and nuclear, and we need to face the reality that frontier technologies carry risk. That is why there is a particular role for the Government in helping to de-risk projects by investing in them in partnership with the private sector, and in doing so capturing value for Britain. GB Energy will invest across a range of clean energy technologies, using its £8.3 billion capitalisation. The chair has been appointed by the Government, but the company will be able to move at pace with operational independence. I am delighted that Jürgen Maier, who has a great record of achievement and is a champion of UK manufacturing and good jobs, has been appointed as start-up chair.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a brilliant champion of his constituency and these issues, and he is absolutely right that part of the challenge we face is to expand our supply chains in Britain. I am very interested in the example he gives.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I will make a bit more progress. [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members are still in the “the show was great but the audience was poor” stage of Opposition. Let me give them some advice—they will get out of that over time, but they are in the early stages now. Because I get my kicks in strange ways, for a bit of light entertainment, I have been reading what the Conservative party leadership candidates have been saying. It is really interesting, honestly; it is quite fun reading. [ Interruption. ] Yes, somebody has got to do it. The right hon. Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat) said that people “will never vote for a party that they have stopped taking seriously.” Well, that is true. He said they should be “given credit for seeing the errors that we may make and correcting them.” Correct. The right hon. Member for North West Essex (Mrs Badenoch)—I believe the shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), is the mastermind for her campaign—said it was no good “having the same policy arguments from the last Parliament.” The shadow Minister should take those words to heart. I agree with those candidates that the Conservative party needs to move on. I am in a generous mood, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have been involved in leadership campaigns, so I have some advice. I have a free idea for the not very famous five still left in the Tory leadership competition: back an idea that the public support. Back an idea that Conservative voters support; back an idea that Labour voters support; back an idea that Reform voters support—Reform Members are not here. Back an idea that Liberal Democrat voters support. They should move on from the arguments of the last Parliament, show a bit of bravery—even break the Whip and stand out from the crowd. They should break from the past and back our Bill today.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I am going to make a bit more progress. Thirdly, Great British Energy will work with industry to develop supply chains across the UK to boost energy independence and create good jobs. The reality is that the last Government spectacularly underdelivered on the promise of creating jobs in clean energy. It is true that British waters are home to one of the largest floating offshore wind farms in the world: Kincardine, just 15 km off the coast of Aberdeen— [ Interruption. ] The right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho) nods, but where was it made? Its foundations were made in Spain and its turbines were installed in the Netherlands, and it was then simply towed into British waters. How can that be right? This Government are not neutral about where things are made. We want the future made in Britain. Clean energy is the economic and industrial opportunity of the 21st century, and the truth is that other countries are seizing this opportunity. Britain is being left behind. The facts are extraordinary: Germany has almost twice as many renewable jobs per capita as Britain; Sweden almost three times as many; and Denmark almost four times as many. That is the previous Government’s legacy. What our friends and neighbours have realised is that a domestic national champion is a crucial tool to help deliver economic success. The success of the Danes, for example, cannot be divorced from the role of Ørsted in helping to make it happen. That is why Great British Energy will work alongside our national wealth fund and the British jobs bonus, partnering with industry, to build supply chains in every corner of the UK, delivering the next generation of good jobs, with strong trade unions, and reindustrialising Britain.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I will make a bit more progress. I had the chance to visit the Lawrence Weston turbine in Bristol, which Members may know about. It is England’s tallest onshore wind turbine, and it is 100% owned by the local community, powering at least 3,000 local homes and reinvesting revenues into local projects.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman and I have a long history on these issues, which makes me rather old. Indeed, we used to spar about them 15 years ago. He is wrong about £1.6 billion; it is £8.3 billion of investment over the Parliament—a significant sum. Great British Energy will not become EDF overnight—of course not —but the point is that this Government believe in creating a lasting, long-term legacy for Britain, which is what GB Energy will do.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and it is part of what this Government have done. In less than two months, we have overturned the onshore wind ban, consented large amounts of solar power and, on Tuesday, had the most successful renewables auction in British history.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I am very surprised by the Liberal Democrats saying that. It is slightly “orange book” Liberal Democrats, if I may put it that way, for those old enough to remember. I say respectfully to the hon. Lady and all Members of the House: look around the world at what is happening before our eyes. There is catalytic public investment—public investment levering in private investment. The whole old fashioned, free market 1980s argument about crowding out turns out to be wrong. Just look at what is happening in America. Why is the money flowing to the United States? In part, because of the catalytic public investment. [ Interruption. ] I can see Opposition Members are going to be slow learners. Great British Energy is at the heart of our long-term plan to accelerate the transition to clean energy and ensure we are never at the mercy of volatile fossil fuel markets again. It will speed up delivery, create good jobs and protect family finances, and we will reap the benefits for generations to come. I commend the Bill to the House.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I looked carefully at that issue before we made that decision. I have great respect for the hon. Gentleman, but we cannot justify spending public money on a scheme that will not work and will not deliver for the British people, which is why we did not go ahead with the second phase. All the advice and all the evidence was that it just would not be value for money. I am glad that the hon. Gentleman draws attention to 2030. For the first time in this country since the last Labour Government were in power, we are going to have a proper plan. We did not inherit a proper plan, and we need a proper plan to give certainty to industry. Fourthly, Great British Energy will support project development, leading projects through their early stages to speed up delivery, while capturing more value for the British people, in particular through our partnership with the Crown Estate, announced just two weeks into our period in Government. The partnership will co-ordinate planning, grid and leasing for the seabed and, importantly, help speed up the roll-out of offshore wind and other technologies. It has the potential to help leverage up to £60 billion of private investment and deliver up to 30 GW of offshore wind leases. The truth is we have huge potential as a country: the chance for offshore wind to drive investment in coastal areas from Cornwall to Grimsby, opportunities for ports from west Wales to north of Scotland to lead the world in the industries of the future, and opportunities for supply chain companies all over the world. That is what this Bill is about.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  Not at the moment. [I nterruption. ] The right hon. Gentleman needs to calm down a little bit; I know he gets very angry. We have had 14 years of blind faith in free markets and a refusal to have an industrial policy, which offshored clean energy jobs, and 14 years of a Government who were perfectly happy with state ownership of our energy system, but with one crucial overriding condition: that it would be state ownership by any country except Britain. That is the reality of what we inherited. We already have widespread state ownership of Britain’s energy assets by other countries—Denmark, Sweden, Norway and France—through their state-owned companies. Indeed, the city of Munich owns more of our offshore wind capacity than the British Government. Following the auction results I announced on Tuesday, the largest two offshore wind projects to win a contract will be built by Ørsted, a Danish state-owned company. I strongly welcome its investment, but the question before the House today—the question at the heart of this Bill—is simple: do we think there should be a British equivalent of state-owned energy generation companies such as Ørsted, Vattenfall, Statkraft and EDF investing in our infrastructure? We have a simple proposition: if it is right for the Danes, the French, the Norwegians and the Swedes to own British energy assets, it is right for the British people to do so as well. That is why we fought the election on the crucial principle that the British people should have a right to own and benefit from our natural resources. To every Member of the House who is considering their vote on this Bill this afternoon, I urge them to vote for that principle. To those thinking about voting against the Bill, I ask them how they will defend to their constituents the idea that other countries should own our national energy infrastructure, but Britain should not.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I will not give way to the right hon. Gentleman again. We have heard quite enough from him. Secondly—I know this is a concern of the Liberal Democrats and of other Members on both sides of the House—Great British Energy will deliver our local power plan, working with local authorities, combined authorities and communities to deliver the biggest expansion of support for community-owned energy in history. Clean energy is not just about large-scale infrastructure. If we look around the world, so many countries have a lot to teach us. In Denmark, around half of wind capacity is citizen-owned; and in Germany, almost half of solar capacity is citizen-owned. Our local power plan will learn from other countries. Generating clean power, and embracing it as a way to generate a return for local people, to help tackle fuel poverty, to unleash the dynamism and resources of local communities and to win the consent of local people, thousands of projects across Britain are tapping into that energy and enthusiasm.

• 5 Sept 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  I will make a bit more progress. I have set out our case—a case that the British people overwhelmingly support. According to post-election polling by More in Common, Great British Energy was supported by an overwhelming 73% of voters and opposed by just 8%. It appears from the Conservative’s reasoned amendment—so-called—that Conservative Members will vote against the Bill today. If they do that, they will do something remarkable: they will go one step further than refusing to listen to the people who did not vote for them by refusing to listen to the people who did vote for them—quite a remarkable feat by an Opposition—because Great British Energy was supported not just by Labour voters, but by Conservative voters by a majority of four to one—56% to 14%.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his elevation since the election. I look forward to our exchanges in this House. I say him to gently that the crucial first phase of Opposition, in my experience, is having a bit of humility to admit where they have got things wrong. I do not deny that some of the things that the previous Government did were right, but quite a lot of what they did was wrong—for example, the nine-year ban on the cheapest, cleanest form of power, the blocking of solar projects across the country and the crashing of the offshore wind market, which led to the worst energy bills crisis in generations. That is their legacy, and at some point some of the leadership candidates will have to face up to that. Let me deal with the hon. Member’s specific points. If I may say so respectfully, I feel like he answered some of his own questions. He draws attention to the fact that energy bills are rising from 1 October. He is right about that, and that is deeply regrettable. Why is that happening? Because we are exposed to international gas markets. This is about power that we do not control. Every solar panel that we do not put up, every onshore wind turbine that we do not erect, and every piece of grid that we do not build leaves us more exposed. The Conservative party is in a dilemma on this, because it is facing both ways, but it has to face up to that fact. Of course we will have a proper and orderly transition in the North sea, keeping existing fields open for their lifetime and having a just transition for the workforce, but the idea that the Conservative party and some of its erstwhile friends are clinging to—that fossil fuels will get us out of this—is completely belied by all the facts and the crisis that we went through. The shadow Minister says—and I agree with him—that we need to have jobs in this country. He says it as if he finds it hard to remember who has been in power for the past 14 years. It is terrible, he says, that everything is being produced elsewhere. He is right. Germany has almost twice as many renewable energy jobs per capita as the UK. Sweden has almost three times as many, but, most interestingly, Denmark, with its publicly owned energy company, Ørsted, has almost four times as many. The hon. Gentleman asks about Great British Energy. We will debate that matter on Thursday, but one reason why we went to the electorate on this point and were endorsed on it is that, unless we have a publicly owned national champion, all the evidence is that the jobs will go elsewhere. That is part of having a basic industrial policy. The hon. Member talks about solar energy, but, again, he has to make up his mind about where he is on this. He says that he agrees that we need clean energy in this country, and that we have to get off the international gas markets, but the problem is that the Conservatives duck every difficult decision. Then he asks about undergrounding. The Conservatives were in power for 14 years, so they had plenty of time to do the undergrounding of all the cabling. Why did they not do that? It is because they know that it is multiple times more expensive. Now they come along, less than two months after the general election, and say that it is time for some undergrounding of the grid. For goodness’ sake! I have experience of being Leader of the Opposition. Perhaps it is time for the Conservatives to have some private tutorials on how to be in opposition.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her support and the warm tone that she uses. She is right that we face a big challenge as a country to get moving on the offshore wind Bill, the onshore wind Bill, solar on rooftops and ground-mounted solar. The truth is that CfD auctions have served us well and continue to do so. We inherited this auction halfway through the round, and we increased the budget substantially to make sure that it was a success. But the right thing for us to do—I think this is the main point that she is making—is to talk to industry about how we can make sure that future rounds are a success. I am very interested in how we can have a line of sight for industry, so that it can have the industrial certainty to plan ahead. The annual auction round is serving us well, but we need to work with industry to make sure that we land the clean power that we need and get the jobs here too.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his kind words. He raises an incredibly serious and important issue. When I came into Government, I asked for discussions across Government on this. Controls were in place, to be fair to the last Government, and as part of the ongoing solar taskforce, these issues were being looked at, but we need to kick the tyres on this, to make sure that the proper controls are in place. My Department is very happy to have discussions with him and other interested parties on those questions.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  When I came into office and examined the issues around pot 2, which covers tidal, I was very keen to make sure that we increased the tidal minimum, which we did by 50%. These are important discussions to continue. There is a dilemma here, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, which is that tidal remains relatively expensive, but the point of the tidal developers is that many technologies remained expensive until they were deployed at scale. These are hard questions, because they are about value for money and how much we invest in tidal, but my Department needs to have those important discussions.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a typically eloquent point. This is about a partnership with private industry. The truth is that much of the investment that we need for the clean power mission will come from the private sector, and I suspect that there is cross-party agreement on that. We on the Government Benches have a difference with the Opposition, though, because we believe that a lot of that comes from breaking down the barriers to planning and grid infrastructure, which is a massive challenge for supply chains and skills. There is also a role for what we call catalytic public investment, levering in extra private investment. The other point that my hon. Friend makes is absolutely right. There is huge enthusiasm in the private sector and industry more generally for this sense of mission for the country. We want this mission to involve every business that has an interest in this area, and I believe that we can achieve that.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  I welcome my hon. Friend’s question. We need to be honest about this: we face what we can only describe as a crisis with our grid situation, because we have people wanting to connect to cheap, clean renewables and being offered dates in the 2030s—often late in the 2030s. We have industrial investments that we need to happen, for which dates in the 2030s are offered. Grid reform and, as part of that, planning reform is absolutely crucial for this Government and for any Government who are serious about this. I am afraid to say that the legacy of the last Government is disastrous when it comes to the grid. We will build the grid, and I look forward to support from all parts of the House from those who want to tackle fuel poverty and want lower energy bills.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is 100% right, and she puts it incredibly well. It is hard for Governments of all stripes to admit this truth, but when the 1 October price cap was announced, these matters were not within the previous Government’s control, and would not have been within ours, because of our exposure. These prices are set internationally. When Putin or the petro-states make decisions, they rebound on my hon. Friend’s constituents, and the only solution is our clean energy superpower mission. The truth is that it will take time, and it will be hard for her and my constituents, and the constituents of those across the House, but the answer has to be to go as fast as possible, because that is what gets us energy security and lower bills.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  I shall address this question at a more general level, for reasons the right hon. Gentleman might understand. I think we should be looking at all proposals that can maximise energy security. He is talking about the Xlinks proposal. I am obviously aware of that proposal, and know that we need to look at it in the broadest way. My view has always been that we need every source of power available, which is why I embrace nuclear, onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, tidal, carbon capture and storage— [Interruption.] And absolutely, as the right hon. Gentleman says from a sedentary position, oil and gas also have a crucial role in the transition.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes an important point about the legacy of the last Government. To widen her point, I would say to Members across the House—we need to be candid that this is hard for us as constituency MPs—that there is a need to connect debates in this House about fuel poverty and energy bills and the decisions that are being made in our areas. Candidly, unless we build the grid, solar and onshore wind, we will never get off the rollercoaster of international gas markets. All of us face a choice. We need a public debate about this, because if we are to tackle fuel poverty and do the things that I described, building is required, and we need to make that happen.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a great champion of floating wind in the Celtic sea. He is right: we are proud of the 400 MW project in this round. We need to look—including in the auction round, through GB Energy and in other ways—at how we can build on our advantages in crucial floating wind technology, take the opportunities that they provide, and have the industrial capacity. I look forward to discussions with him and other colleagues on how we make that happen.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  I thought that the hon. Gentleman’s party supported a publicly owned energy company, but I may be wrong about that. I can absolutely say that this is the way to deliver lower bills for his constituents. [Hon. Members: “When?”] Members can shout all they like—I know that this is hard for the hon. Gentleman—but the reality they must face is this: does he believe that a continuing reliance on fossil fuels, and this country saying no to renewables, which I think is their position, will give us energy security? The truth is it will not. [ Interruption. ] The hon. Gentleman says that he agrees with me; well, I look forward to him supporting our clean energy superpower mission.

• 3 Sept 2024 · Contracts for Difference · Hansard source

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  Again, my hon. Friend speaks with great expertise. Part of it is about is having a Government who are committed to a proper industrial strategy and have the levers to make that strategy happen. There was an interesting divide between the Opposition, when they were in government, and us. Although, of course, America is a different-sized country from us, we see the Inflation Reduction Act as offering real lessons to us about how we can lever in private investment. We will not be able to do it on the scale of that Act, but these interventions can make a difference. There is also this crucial point: we care where the manufacturing happens, and we are determined to make sure that it happens in the UK.