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Energy Regulations (Consumer Prices)

I repeat that I do not want to discourage those who are free to switch from doing so. None of us would. But the hon. Gentleman has a point. The suggestion, in the midst of all the problems that people are dealing with, that switching is the whole answer, and Ofgem's devotion of so many resources to that answer alone, is not something I find convincing. Many people have switched more than once, only to find that prices have gone up again. All the evidence is that no sooner do people move, but the energy company they have joined raises its prices, too. The hon. Member for Twickenham mentioned evidence from the university of East Anglia showing that about a third—1.3 million people—switched to a tariff that was worse than their previous one.