Ed Miliband MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  First, I thank the shadow Secretary of State for her kind words about my mum. If you will allow me to say so, Mr Speaker, I feel incredibly sad to have lost her, but very lucky to have had 56 years with an amazing mum, who taught me values of kindness, warmth, love and justice. It is a reminder to me of what really matters most in our lives. I sincerely thank the shadow Secretary of State for the message she sent me. On the question about the use of forced labour, we take this incredibly seriously. We inherited a regime from the last Government, which we applied in the early stages of what GB Energy was doing, but the shadow Secretary of State will know that, through the passage of the Great British Energy Bill, we have strengthened GB Energy’s commitment to this. Frances O’Grady is now the champion of dealing with slave labour. I can absolutely assure the shadow Secretary of State that we will do everything we can to prevent the use of forced labour.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Tony Blair has lots of interesting views. I am actually old enough to remember when Tony Blair was a great advocate of climate leadership in this country. Fundamentally, this Government and I believe that unless we get off the fossil-fuel rollercoaster—I think all Members have to confront this—we will never get the energy security and lower bills that all our constituents want.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I am afraid that the shadow Secretary of State is indulging in the worst sort of scaremongering to justify her anti-clean-energy agenda. It is incredibly sad what has happened to her. She used to believe in clean energy. Today, a report comes out from CBI Economics, showing 1 million jobs in net zero, and what does she do? She starts quibbling about the small print, and saying that the report does not represent the views of CBI, when the CBI chief economist is actually advocating for clean energy.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  No matter how many times I tell the hon. Gentleman, he does not seem to get it: we are price takers, not price makers. Even the Conservatives, who want to drill every last drop, do not claim that that would reduce bills. The truth is, he said he would— [Interruption.] If the hon. Gentleman calms down for a minute, he will hear my answer. He said he would wage war on clean energy—that is waging war on jobs across our country and on energy security.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Today we have set out our proposal for the seventh carbon budget, as new research from CBI Economics shows that over a million workers are now supported by the UK’s net zero economy. This comes after 2025 set a new record for solar generation, and we have already set a new record in 2026 for offshore wind generation. We are taking these steps because they are the right choice for energy security, and for investment in good jobs and growth, and because it is the right thing to do for future generations and to prevent climate breakdown.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises an important point. The strategic spatial energy plan, which will be coming out later this year, is designed precisely to ensure the kind of co-ordination that she is after. I am very happy to meet her to talk about it.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I am incredibly excited about this project between X-energy and Centrica—I have met both to talk about it. It is part of this Government overseeing the biggest nuclear building programme in half a century, and that is absolutely part of the clean power mission.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman and I go back a long way, so I thought I would answer this one. It is important to look at the whole context of carbon emissions in projects, but if he shares our desire to reduce carbon emissions, renewable energy and nuclear energy are the right way forward.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  The price cap increase announced last week as a result of the war in Iran was deeply concerning news for families in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Tackling the cost of living crisis is the Government’s top priority, which is why we have acted to take £150 of costs off bills in the coming years and expanded the warm home discount, and why we are accelerating the warm homes plan. We will do everything we can to help protect her constituents in the face of this fossil fuel price spike.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a very important point, and does so in her articulate way. The big choice that we in this House face is this: is the way out of a fossil fuel crisis to double down on fossil fuels, in a way that would make no difference to bills and prices, or is the answer to drive further and faster for clean energy, as this Government are doing? We have made our choice.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Power · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. I know that the Energy Minister has met him and the National Fire Chiefs Council to discuss this issue. We take the safety of battery technology incredibly seriously, and I am sure that the Energy Minister will be happy to meet him again for further discussions.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Power · Hansard source

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  The two renewables auctions under this Government have secured power for the equivalent of 23 million homes, and we are embarked on the biggest nuclear building programme for 50 years. The war in Iran shows that we need to go further and faster, so we will open our next renewables auction next month. We recently signed contracts for a fleet of Rolls-Royce small modular reactors. Clean power is already reducing wholesale electricity prices by up to a quarter, and those steps will do more to protect families and businesses across our country.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Power · Hansard source

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  For reasons that the right hon. Gentleman will understand, I am not going to comment on individual planning decisions, because they have to go through the proper process, but I say to him that solar is the cheapest, cleanest form of power that we have. We can decide to bury our heads in the sand and stay on the fossil fuel rollercoaster, but the people who will pay for it are his constituents, because they are paying for it now in higher energy Bills. This Labour Government will keep going with the drive for clean power.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Clean Power · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The central fact that we cannot get away from is that we are price takers not price makers when it comes to oil and gas, and that is the fundamental contradiction at the heart of where the Opposition are. We are going to drive further and faster on clean power, including electrification across the economy. Indeed, customers are already better protected as a result of the renewables in our system, but we must go further and faster.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I will just make a bit of progress. We say tax those profits to help the British people.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I will not give way. [ Interruption. ] I will later on. What a sorry state of affairs: the shadow Secretary of State cannot even agree with herself. There was a gaping contradiction at the heart of the shadow Secretary of State’s speech just now. For all the verbiage—for everything she said—she has no answer to the crisis before us, because even she cannot seriously believe what she is putting forward. The idea that new exploration licences for oil and gas will solve our energy security challenges is obviously nonsense. According to the National Energy System Operator, new licences will make no material difference to capacity and therefore security of supply. Nor will new drilling take a single penny off bills. Members should not take my word for it. When asked if new oil and gas would cut bills, the shadow Secretary of State said new licences “wouldn’t necessarily bring energy bills down, that’s not what we’re saying.”

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  The SNP has had more positions on this than the Kama Sutra, so it is genuinely hard to keep up. We have a very simple position: we want to keep existing oil and gas fields open for their lifetime. One of the things that the energy independence Bill will do is introduce transitional energy certificates—so-called tiebacks—which is what industry has called for. We are not in favour of a “turning off the taps” position, but I will be honest with the House: nor are we in favour of a “drilling every last drop” position.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I am not going to give way. Don’t take my word for it. This is what the Energy Transitions Commission, which includes energy companies, says: “Any national strategy which assumes that all fossil fuel reserves must be exploited is incompatible with limiting global warming to safe levels”. The truth is that new licences are totally marginal to the North sea.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  No. I have set out the approach to energy security that underpins this Gracious Speech. Above all, we will learn the lessons of the fossil fuel crises of our age. We will build our energy independence, tackle the affordability crisis, deliver good jobs and investment in our communities, and make the right decisions for today’s generation and future generations. I commend the Gracious Speech to the House.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  No, I am not going to give way. These are unearned profits as a result of the war.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I am not going to give way as I need to finish soon. The energy independence Bill will legislate to help deliver the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history through our £15 billion warm homes plan. As part of this, we will act to help private renters. This is important, because it is about how we make sure that, in the drive to clean power, we help everybody in our society. It is a scandal that 1.6 million children living in private rented homes are suffering from cold, damp or mould, according to Citizens Advice. We say it is time to act. Minimum energy efficiency standards for renters were promised by the previous Government, then scrapped. The energy independence Bill will legislate for them by cutting bills for renters, and lifting 400,000 families out of fuel poverty by 2030. Part of this goes to the question asked by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is no longer in his place. We believe that the drive for energy independence can deliver for workers and communities. We are already seeing the jobs that clean energy is creating across the country: 11,000 more workers in nuclear, according to the industry’s latest estimates, 8,000 more in offshore wind, with thousands more upgrading the grid, on the way to 400,000 extra clean energy jobs by 2030, and £90 billion of private investment announced since the election.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I will not give way for a minute. The shadow Secretary of State comes to the House with a plan which will not take a penny off bills, which will not give us energy security and which rejects the things she used to believe.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I will make a bit more progress. That is why we have already brought forward our next renewables auction and taken steps to fast-track the roll-out of renewables on public land. But renewables are only part of the story, and I want to come to nuclear, because this is going to be fun. Those drafting the Opposition amendment obviously have a real sense of humour. Here is the truth about their record. They promised a final investment decision on Sizewell C in the last Parliament and did not deliver. They promised SMRs and never delivered. They promised fusion and never delivered. We have delivered them all, and they have the cheek to complain when we are delivering the biggest nuclear building programme in half a century—delivered by this Labour Government. I should welcome the fact that the shadow Secretary of State supports our nuclear regulation Bill, but I am bound to ask: why did her party not do it? Was it incompetence, idleness, ideology or a combination of all three? There is always a great quote from the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie) that we can read out. This is what he said following the last general election: “After 14 years of Conservative Government, we are now in a position where it’s more difficult to build critical infrastructure than it was when we came into power”. It is a Labour Government clearing up their mess.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  It is a privilege to speak in support of this Gracious Speech. This debate takes place in the shadow of the second fossil fuel shock in four years. Families and businesses across the country are deeply concerned about the impact of the Iran war on the cost of living—a war which this country did not start and this Government chose not to join, but which is having significant effects here at home, just like when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and energy bills rocketed, and the British people and firms paid the price. The argument at the heart of this Gracious Speech is that there is one overriding lesson of these two crises: while we remain exposed to the fossil fuel rollercoaster, we are deeply vulnerable as a country. Our sovereignty, our security and the British people’s living standards are undermined by this dependence and exposure, for a simple reason: we do not control the price of oil and gas, which is set on international markets. It is different from what it was like in the 1970s when we had fossil fuel shocks. There is an answer staring us in the face: energy independence through clean home-grown power that we control—clean home-grown energy that comes from our own wind, sun and nuclear resources that cannot be disrupted by foreign wars, that cannot be controlled by the whims of petrostates and dictators, and that means that our national security and energy security cannot be held hostage. One commentator put it incredibly well in 2023, after Russia invaded Ukraine: “Moving to home-based, clean power mitigates risks to bill payers, now and in the future”, protecting consumers from “volatility in international fossil fuel markets.” —[ Official Report , 16 November 2023; Vol. 740, c. 53-54WS.] I agree with that commentator—it was the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), the shadow Energy Secretary, in Hansard on 16 November 2023. I agree with her. The problem is that she no longer agrees with herself. Where the evidence says we need more renewables, not less, she opposes them. Where the evidence says we should electrify as much as we can, she says we should abandon support for people to get heat pumps. Where the evidence says electric vehicles can protect consumers, she opposes action for their take-up—not because the facts have changed, not because the evidence has changed, but because she has jumped on the anti-clean energy, anti-net zero bandwagon. I am very happy to give way to her, so that she can tell the House whether she agrees with herself.

• 19 May 2026 · Energy Security · Hansard source

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  I am going to make some progress, and then I will give way. For nearly two years, we have been moving at speed on our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. We came to office amid a legacy of the irrational onshore wind ban; the fiasco of the allocation round 5 auction, with no offshore wind secured; and years of dither and delay on nuclear—the shadow Secretary of State amused me on nuclear, and I will come to that in a second. The Conservative Government left us exposed through 14 years of neglect, and we are clearing up their mess. In less than two years—opposed every step of the way by the Conservative party—we have secured enough clean energy for the equivalent of 23 million homes through two record-breaking renewables auctions, but the lesson of these two fossil fuel crises is that we need to go further and faster.