Polly Billington MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Sept 2026 · Draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Energy Prices Act 2022 (Extension of Time Limit) (No. 2) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. In the autumn Budget, the Government acted to reduce energy costs to benefit all households with a domestic energy contract. We did that by closing the energy company obligation scheme to new costs on bills and by moving 75% of the domestic cost of the renewables obligation to the Exchequer. Those decisions are already making a real difference. From April 2026, they took an average of £150 in costs off household energy bills, and they continue to keep bills lower than they would otherwise be. The renewables obligation exists to support renewable electricity generation through a system of tradeable certificates. The scheme is closed to new applications, and the first generators will come off the scheme from April 2027; the scheme will close finally in 2037. The scheme has been instrumental in building the UK’s renewable energy sector. It supports about 35 GW of generation capacity and about 30% of total UK electricity generation. The core of the renewables obligation scheme is a process in which electricity suppliers purchase certificates from renewables generators. Previously, suppliers recovered all the costs of complying with the obligations from consumers via their electricity bills, with Ofgem reflecting those costs through the price cap. From 1 April, the Government have instead provided grant funding to electricity suppliers to cover 75% of the domestic share of the costs in Great Britain. We have also taken steps to ensure that those savings are passed on: for customers on standard variable tariffs, Ofgem has factored the lower policy costs into the price cap; and for customers on other domestic tariffs, including fixed tariffs, the Government issued a legally binding direction requiring suppliers to pass through the savings in full. The latest price cap illustrates why that action matters. On 26 August, Ofgem announced that the cap for 1 October to 31 December will increase by 4% to £1,723 for a typical household, driven by ongoing wholesale price volatility as a result of the war in the middle east. Ofgem has been clear that the increase is likely to be felt primarily in gas bills, with electricity bills remaining broadly flat. Without the action we took at the Budget, the cap would be significantly higher still. The draft regulations are concerned with the legal basis for continuing to deliver the bill reduction measures. Section 13 of the Energy Prices Act 2022 provides the power we are using to take such steps to reduce people’s bills, but the power in section 13 is time-limited and may be extended only by six months at a time. Earlier this year, Parliament approved regulations extending the power from 25 April to 25 October 2026. The regulations before the Committee extend that time limit again, from 25 October to 25 April 2027, so that the policy can continue without interruption.

• 9 Jul 2026 · Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban · Hansard source

  More

  I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am honoured to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward), and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) on securing the debate. Earlier this year, I travelled to Israel and the occupied west bank as part of a cross-party delegation organised by Yachad. I met survivors of the 7 October attack and Palestinian families driven from their homes and living under daily intimidation from settlers. Let us be clear: illegal settlements are not simply an obstacle to peace; they are a deliberate strategy to make a viable Palestinian state impossible. I welcome the Government’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine, but recognition must not be simply symbolic. We have a responsibility to make that state viable, and that starts with banning trade with illegal settlements. The UK should not allow goods produced on occupied land to enter our markets, and nor should British businesses profit from activity that our own Government say is illegal. We should also suspend trade concessions and sanction any company bidding for contracts to design, finance or construct illegal settlements, such as those in E1. There needs to be far greater scrutiny of British money flowing into settlements. No UK charities should retain charitable status while facilitating settlements, and no British financial institutions should be investing in companies sustaining settlement expansion. There must be accountability when British-funded infrastructure is destroyed. In Khirbet Zanuta, I saw the remains of a school partly funded by UK aid. It was destroyed by sustained settler attacks, which forced the community to flee. The British Government should seek compensation from the Israeli Government for the destruction of infrastructure funded by UK taxpayers. Finally, we must support the institutions of the Palestinian state. Representatives of the Palestinian Authority described to me the financial crisis caused by Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax and tariff revenues. Its continued withholding weakens the institutions that any future Palestinian state will depend on. If we are serious about nation building, the UK must apply renewed pressure for the release of those revenues in full, without delay. None of these measures are anti-Israel; they are pro-peace. They are about defending international law, supporting those on both sides working for co-existence, and preserving any realistic prospect of a negotiated two-state solution. My hon. Friend the Minister is a man of principle, and of strong values and determination, and he will resist excuses for not acting. I urge him to apply those principles and that determination to this problem. The world watches us, and we must act.