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Energy Bill

I oppose the amendment, not because I do not want information but because the information is already available from a recognised source. Okay, it is a heavily regulated private monopoly—a natural monopoly in a number of respects—but the National Grid's information is normally regarded as extremely accurate and reliable. It is unlikely that the Government would necessarily be any more accurate or reliable in producing something roughly the same. The amendment has fundamental flaws arising from certain assumptions. The first is that the Government can give an assessment. I mean no offence to the beleaguered forces of the Civil Service and the various departments responsible for gathering that sort of evidence, but, regardless of political complexion, Governments' assessments of energy need and demand over the past 50 years have been consistently wrong. They have never been effective in doing so. It was best when we had supplies of coal literally standing outside power stations in good weather and bad. In the event of the industrial dispute in 1984, they were used, as it were, to fight the miners. The idea that Governments can understand the nature of the level of demand leaves a lot to be desired. I do not see that there much worth in that, particularly when one of the virtues of having a flexible energy portfolio is that if gas is too expensive and you can get clean coal technology, you would switch to coal. You would have to ask why we do not have a report for coal or uranium, or for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.