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Energy Prices

The motion's opening line states:"““That this House believes that soaring energy bills are driving up inflation””." No one can argue with that. There has been a massive increase in energy bills, and before we continue with the debate, we should assess the reasons for that. All the independent financial analysts recognise that there has been a double-digit inflationary rise in energy bills, and that has spread to the economy. We live in a dangerous world, where there is much instability. The European Union recently approved sanctions on oil exports from Iran. All that has a knock-on effect on energy prices in this country. It is important, when setting the scene for the debate, to understand why energy prices have increased and that the Government can do something, but not everything. In the summer I was in the United States when Michele Bachmann amusingly commented that she would reduce the price of fuel back to $2 a gallon. Perhaps that is why she has polled only 5% in the primaries—one simply cannot say, ““We'll reduce it back””: that flies in the face of dealing with the world crisis. There has been discussion for many years—certainly when I was at school, but it is now coming to the fore—about whether we have reached peak oil. Whether we have or not does not matter because the markets believe that we have reached that position. There has been a 30% increase in energy demand in the recent past. As the Secretary of State pointed out, there are forecasts, but the further into the future they go, the more unreliable they are.