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UK Government's Energy Policy

It is a great pleasure, Mr Caton, to serve under your chairmanship today. I think everyone will agree that we have had a varied debate. I have enjoyed many of the contributions, and a favourite was that of the hon. Member for Monmouth, who took us on a remarkable tour of Wales, Westminster, the twin poles of his own unique isotopes, and all points in between. I thank him for that. I also very much enjoyed the serious comments made by the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, particularly his reference to chicken power as the future driver of the Welsh economy. The hon. Member for Cardiff North made an interesting contribution. It was fascinating that he should launch such a passionate attack on abuse by the dominant position of capitalist, privatised electricity companies. They were privatised under the Tory Government, and it is precisely because of such fears that we oppose the privatisation in the NHS and elsewhere that is coming from the Government—[ Interruption. ] It is a legitimate observation. I support him in his views about cartel behaviour. I also support the comments by the hon. Member for Arfon about LPG companies and the disgraceful way in which they have been ripping off customers, particularly in rural Wales. As ever, it is a pleasure to precede the Minister. Too infrequently do we have the chance to speak in the Welsh Grand Committee. Between sittings, I miss the humour and lightness of touch that he brings to these occasions—so much so that I have recently taken to following him on Twitter so as to keep up with his wit and wisdom. I had a couple of recent insights. One was: ““You know what? I think I’ll go in the garden today.”” Another classic was: ““Suddenly I prefer smooth orange juice to the sort with bits, which I always used to buy. What can this mean?”” I was distraught to read this morning that he is giving up Twitter for Lent. I and all his followers in Wales will be bereft in the coming weeks. In all seriousness, I was looking in the blogosphere, Twitter and elsewhere for insights into the Minister’s and the Secretary of State’s energy policy. I did not find much, although I found a lot of pretty bold rhetoric, most notably the Secretary of State’s recent observation about Wales: ““Surrounded by wind, wave and tidal resources, we are in a prime position to be able to benefit from investment in the green economy whilst making a significant contribution to the government’s carbon reduction targets through safe, clean renewable means.”” None of us would disagree with that; it is a statement of fact. However, we disagree about the policies and decisions that have been put in place—rather, that have not been put in place—to turn that rhetoric into reality. They are invisible to all. We do not agree that the Government are delivering on their promise for Wales. Today, we heard that the gap is enormous between the rhetoric—that they are the greenest Government ever—and the reality. It includes the cancellation of the Severn barrage, which would have gone ahead had we taken power— [Hon. Members: ““It is not a cancellation.””] We keeping hearing that it is not a cancellation, but I do not see the barrage being built when I visit my parents at Barry. I suggest that we would have seen it had this Government not come to power on 5 May last year. The gap also includes the handicapping of community electricity projects and photovoltaic businesses because of the crazy review of the 50 kW level for feed-in tariffs, which was to the disadvantage of Welsh ports in developing wind turbine manufacture and maintenance. The Government’s record on energy in Wales is lots of hot air but no turbines. We should not be surprised that a Tory Government are taking short-sighted decisions. They are the people who shut the pits in Wales— [ Interruption. ] That is true; it was a short-sighted decision by a previous Tory Government. We sit on top of 250 million tonnes of coal. Given the energy crisis, the security worries and the potential for carbon capture, we could have been mining it right now. It was a short-sighted decision, and there have been many more.