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Energy Security

The hon. Lady's first point was constructive, and I share her welcome for the biomass plant—as I said, diversity is important, and the plant will help to create British jobs—but she is wrong to choose to ignore the problem of inadequate gas storage. We do not often get to talk about such things and people are not aware of them but, at times like this, when we see how little we have, it is important to galvanise support for action. Let us take the Engineering Employers Federation and the Energy Intensive Users Group. In a letter today, they say:""The bottom line is that the UK energy system was unable"" last week""to meet the needs of all consumers…To dismiss"," as the hon. Lady seems to do,""last week's interruption as a one-off also ignores the growing risks associated with increasing dependence on gas from overseas. The long-standing vulnerability in our energy system has been exposed—the UK has significantly lower storage capacity relative to demand than most other major gas-consuming economies."" That came from the Engineering Employers Federation and the Energy Intensive Users Group; it is what British employers say is necessary for them to continue in business and to continue to expand their businesses.