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Energy Prices

Quite right—the hon. Lady corrects me from a sedentary position. However, we had to bite the bullet and make decisions to secure this country's energy future. All those things have a knock-on effect. The Labour Government's dithering, delay and unwillingness to make those decisions because of the fright their Back Benchers gave them have been shown up massively by the two parties that came together to run the country after the mess left by the last lot, with one coalition partner making a decision that it did not want to take, but realising that it was right for the country. That is what is important: what is right for the country. The right hon. Member for Don Valley said much about the Government's cutting the winter fuel allowance for 2 million pensioners; there was a lot of ““We told you so.”” Later in her speech, however, the right hon. Lady said that the proposed legislation was initiated by the Labour Government and we have picked up on it. She cannot have it both ways. Labour was quite clear in its manifesto and previous decisions that it would do exactly the same thing on the winter fuel allowance. In these austere times, it is the Government who are resisting the populist pressure, coming perhaps from some of the more right-wing media, to means-test the winter fuel allowance, and we are ensuring that it is all there. The tax bribes that Labour was giving out at the last election were seen through, which is why it suffered the worst defeat since 1918. I have already outlined the need for a coherent policy on energy futures, which will help to bring prices down. The situation with the feed-in tariffs is difficult, but we need to ensure that progress is made. We have done many other things to help people with their pensions, including introducing the triple lock, and ensuring that pensioners this year will receive the highest cash settlement that they have received in the last 100 years—it is huge. There is every chance that the Opposition motion would lead to more borrowing, less tax, and disaster. When people cannot pay their bills, it is because of the economic incompetence of the Labour party.