Ed Miliband MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Feb 2025 · Clean Power by 2030 · Hansard source

  More

  As the Chancellor said last week, any aviation expansion has to take place within carbon budgets and environmental limits. I would also point out that this Government have achieved more in six months than the last Government did in 14 years. We have lifted the onshore wind ban, consented nearly 3 GW of solar, set up GB Energy and the national wealth fund and held the most successful renewables auction in history. This Government are delivering on clean power.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Clean Power by 2030 · Hansard source

  More

  The last Government consulted on what, if any, future support there should be for biomass power stations. We are studying that consultation and we will make a statement in due course.

• 4 Feb 2025 · Clean Power by 2030 · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend makes a fantastically important point, which is that we often think about planning reform as being about the large-scale projects, but it is also about unblocking the smaller-scale projects. Having a national energy policy statement that includes 2030, working with local authorities and making sure there are enough planners to make the decisions—all those things can all make a difference. I congratulate my hon. Friend on her advocacy for this work, and I congratulate the local community on this project.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome that question from my right hon. Friend, who is a fantastic champion of these issues. We will look at any proposal in detail, but she makes such an important point, which I would make to all Members of this House. People will have different views on this issue, but clean energy is the economic opportunity of the 21st century—whether it is small modular reactors, offshore wind, hydrogen or carbon capture. In our first six months, this Government have shown what it means to deliver at pace on the investments that this country needs.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

  More

  The national wealth fund is an essential part of our clean energy and growth missions. Recent investments include £20 million of investment into XLCC, a subsea cable manufacturer, to develop a new facility in Scotland, creating 900 jobs; £28 million of investment into Cornish Metals to finance lithium production, supporting more than 300 local jobs; and £1 billion, working with Barclays and Lloyds, to upgrade social housing, giving people warmer homes and lower bills.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend asks a really important question, which Members from right across this House will agree with. The situation we have inherited from the last Government is that Germany has almost twice as many renewables jobs per capita as Britain, Sweden almost three times as many, and Denmark almost four times as many. Through a combination of Great British Energy, the national wealth fund and a clean industry bonus, we are making sure that we do not just build offshore wind in this country, but reap the huge industrial opportunity from it.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

  More

  NESO made that assumption, but it does not reflect our assumption that the carbon price will be significantly lower. I will not start predicting market prices. What I will say to the hon. Gentleman is that the difference between him and us is that he believes that we should double down on fossil fuels as the answer to the problems facing the country, whereas we know that clean energy is the way forward.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

  More

  That is an individual planning case, so I will be careful about what I say. What I will say to the hon. Lady is that the last Government made an unlawful decision, according to the court. We are going to follow due process.

• 4 Feb 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Opportunities for Industry · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I discussed this issue in detail in advance of the preparation of the Great British Energy Bill, and it is also relevant to the national wealth fund. We want our institutions to serve all countries in our United Kingdom, and I encourage him and industries in his constituency to make applications to the national wealth fund, which is there to support people and industries across the UK.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  Last Friday, we published our landmark clean power action plan, which sets out the route towards our world-leading 2030 clean power mission, including wholesale reform of the grid and planning to make it happen. This is the route to getting off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets and delivering energy security, lower bills and good jobs for the British people, as well as tackling the climate crisis.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  I find the hon. Gentleman quite extraordinary, and not in a good way. The last Government left not only a generalised absolute mess in the public finances, but lots of the programmes that he is talking about were not even funded. The difference with this Government and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is that she put the money for Sizewell in the Budget. That is something the Conservatives simply do not understand. [ Interruption. ] You get the point.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  I very much enjoyed my trip to my hon. Friend’s constituency before the general election. He is an incredibly powerful advocate for the way his area can source some of the critical minerals we need, including lithium, and he is right about this. The concentration of supply chains, including critical minerals, has taken a generation to arrive, but we must unwind it, and it is one of the many things we are working on as a Government.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  I can tell the hon. Gentleman that we support the SMR programme, and we are driving it forward through Great British Nuclear. I am afraid he is making a terrible mistake, which is that we need all of these clean technologies at our disposal—we need nuclear, we need renewables, we need carbon capture and storage—and the difference is that this Government are getting on with it. We have delivered more in five months than the last Government did in 14 years.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend asks a really important question. The whole clean power plan is about benefiting all four nations of the United Kingdom, including Wales, and we work closely with the Welsh Government on these issues. Before this Labour Government came to office, they were actually trailblazers on how we could have publicly owned generation, and that is one of the things that we and GB Energy are working with them on.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman’s story about Wylfa says it all. He says his Government had this great plan for Wylfa, but they had no money behind it.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  Yes, but the hon. Gentleman does not say how the power station will be funded. The truth is that this is elementary economics. If things are announced, they need to be able to be funded, and the Conservatives need to learn that lesson.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Energy Security · Hansard source

  More

  I have to say to the hon. Lady that I do not see it that way. The reality is that the country is totally vulnerable to the rollercoaster of the fossil fuel markets. We do not need to look into a crystal ball; we just need to look at the record: we saw the worst cost of living crisis in generations. So long as we are exposed in this way, people in Wales and across the country are vulnerable. That is why clean power is so important, and the Opposition should get on and support it.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I will not answer the hon. Gentleman directly, but I will say that I am working with my colleagues across Government on this crucial issue. We will do everything we can to drive down Russia’s benefits from its oil and gas industry, because that is a crucial part of the war effort to help Ukraine.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has been a brilliant campaigner on this issue for a very long time. My hon. Friend the Minister of State will have heard what he said. This is the difference: this is a Labour Government delivering justice for mineworkers across our country and their families, which is all part of delivering our mission for the country.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I am very glad that the hon. Gentleman has asked that question, as the shadow Secretary of State has asked me about that. [ Interruption. ] I will answer the question. Page 77 of the NESO report says very clearly what happens to overall costs in the system: electricity costs are reduced by £10 per MWh. As NESO says, it is for Government to make policy choices that determine the precise impact on bills, but the report is clear that the system will be cheaper. It is completely logical to say that that will lead to a reduction in bills.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is right about this. We must not have short memories here, because the truth is that the cost of living crisis that we saw after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine not only hit families and businesses across Britain, but continues to hit them today. That is why the drive for clean power is so important. Every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we erect, and every piece of grid we build makes us more secure as a country.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  No. The case is that the Conservatives left us dependent on fossil fuels, which led to the worst cost of living crisis in living memory. The tragedy is that they are doubling down on their failed policy. The only answer for lower bills is clean, home-grown energy that we control.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I have great respect for the right hon. Gentleman. The truth is that we need to build the grid, regardless of whether the target is 2030 or 2035. This Government are being honest and open with people in saying that the grid needs to be built. If we do not build the grid, we will remain massively vulnerable as a country.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  This is a Government with a world-leading position when it comes to oil and gas, and we will do the right thing for the environment and climate change and the right thing to ensure that there is a just transition in the North sea.

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  The truth is that there is only one way to get bills down sustainably in this country, which is to drive towards clean energy. The Conservatives used to believe that, too; then, in September 2023, the former Prime Minister took them on an anti-net zero crusade, and it is only getting worse.