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Grand Committee proceedings (HC) on Thursday, 10 March 2011, in the House of Commons, led by Cheryl Gillan. The answering member was Lord Hain.

UK Government's Energy Policy

UK Government's energy policy as it relates to Wales. Debate by the Welsh Grand Committee (morning and afternoon sessions).

Secondary information

Type
Grand Committee proceedings (HC)
Reference
WGC c15-30, 33-64 
Session
2010-12
Department
Wales Office
Committee
Welsh Grand Committee
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons Grand Committees
Proceeding contributions
Nick Smith | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) And Maesteg. Will the Minister give an assurance that the Cardiff to Ebbw line will also be electrif...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) I have already received representations about Ebbw Vale, and that is certainly a matter that we are ...
Show all contributions (140)
Mark Tami | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) What we are seeing from the Government is a lot of talk and not very much action. Does the Secretary...
Owen Smith | WGC c61-2 (Link to this contribution) No, because we did not say that we were going to electrify to Pontypridd. One of the things that I a...
David Jones | WGC c62-4 (Link to this contribution) I will not because I want to address the hon. Gentleman’s points, and I am sure that he is more inte...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) I will be very disappointed if I take up all that time, Mr Caton. Making the last Back-Bench contrib...
Paul Flynn | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) To put this into context, it is worth remembering that the contract for clearing up the mess left by...
Lord Hain | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State ought to know because the studies have shown—I have spoken to the previous Tr...
Hywel Williams | WGC c33 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is very kind. To follow the Secretary of State and the former Secretary of Stat...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has recently had meetings—...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16-7 (Link to this contribution) I would like to make some progress now. Many power stations are coming to the end of their lives;...
Geraint Davies | WGC c17 (Link to this contribution) May I pick up the point about inward investment and green carbon infrastructure? Will the Minister a...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c17 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that it was a red letter day on St David’s day when we announced the rail e...
Nick Smith | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) It is interesting to hear about the electrification of the valley lines. There was an omission from ...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) It is, although I am representing also Maesteg railway station all the way to the Cheltenham line. H...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) I will, but I would like to make some progress because plenty of hon. Members want to speak.
Jonathan Evans | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I take the opportunity of putting a serious point to her, in which people in Wales might be interest...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising a serious point, which is part of the review that is bei...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c15 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the matter of the UK Government’s energy policy ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to be drawn down that path; I think that is a gratuitous political point, but I am gr...
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c15 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful that the right hon. Lady wants to see jobs created in the energy sector, but I have a ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c15-6 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has had the opportunity to put that matter directly to the Minister and his...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) Order. The point of the intervention is clear.
Paul Flynn | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) I am hoping to speak about this point later. The new nuclear programme in Finland is already three y...
Lord Hain | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) I think I got the gist, Mr Havard. I will come to the cost in a moment, but I want first to point ou...
Jonathan Edwards | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hain | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) Because we do not take nationalist motions seriously.
Jonathan Edwards | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman may recall that a few weeks ago my party and the Scottish National party ha...
Lord Hain | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman misses one fundamental fact that has emerged in the meantime: oil prices have gon...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hain | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) No, I must make some progress. I have been generous in giving way. The fuel price crisis reinforc...
Lord Hain | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) Let me make a little progress. The Cardiff-Weston barrage would generate 8,640 MW, equivalent to thr...
David Jones | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) I commend the right hon. Gentleman, because he has consistently supported the Severn barrage. Does h...
Lord Hain | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) I say politely that the Minister is completely wrong and I am about to come to precisely that point....
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has always been consistent in his support of the Severn barrage project. He...
Lord Hain | WGC c25-6 (Link to this contribution) If a private investor comes forward, it will be interesting to see what the Secretary of State does....
Sian C James | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) As for speed restrictions, the last major upgrade on the line was in 1965 when coloured signals were...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) Order. I appreciate that the electrification of rail is important to Wales, and it has a relationshi...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) In supporting what the right hon. Gentleman says, I remind the Committee that more than £16 billion ...
Lord Hain | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend because to deny south-west Wales the enormous economic opportun...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c22-3 (Link to this contribution) I did not realise the right hon. Gentleman was moving so swiftly off electrification and on to anoth...
Lord Hain | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. For the good of Wales, the Government must ...
Lord Hain | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Havard, for that correction. I was about to mention fuel duty increases, but I want fi...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) Petrol pricing is an integral part of our energy security, but would my right hon. Friend care to sp...
Lord Hain | WGC c23-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, who is an expert in such matters, given his shadow ministerial role, has raised an i...
Roger Williams | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman’s point about VAT on petrol is one that we all recognise. However, I rememb...
Lord Hain | WGC c21-2 (Link to this contribution) Mr Havard, I welcome you to the Chair. I am delighted that the Secretary of State has recognised you...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) Before we go any further, let me say that we need to co-operate and collaborate with one another if ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c20-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I have been working on the timing of new nuclear build in Anglesey. One of ...
Guto Bebb | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State agree that the economic benefits of the development of a second nuclear ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c19-20 (Link to this contribution) I am so glad that I gave way to my hon. Friend, as I visited that project the other day and had disc...
Mark Williams | WGC c19 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady mentioned our strengths. Does she accept that there is huge strength in our high...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c18-9 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, but I shall not pre-empt anything that my right hon. Fr...
Owen Smith | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for giving way once again. She mentioned a moment ago her busin...
Lord Hain | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) I will come to money shortly. Surely cost cannot be the issue. London to Swansea would cost £1.1 bil...
Geraint Davies | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will know that the cost of upgrading Tottenham Court Road tube station alone is...
Ian Lucas | WGC c51-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Redditch, who knows Wrexham, where she lost her counc...
David TC Davies | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Caton. I seem to recall that in the previous Committee sitting, for some rea...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) I was not at the previous sitting, but I am advised that no resolution was passed.
Ian Lucas | WGC c46 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in the hon. Gentleman’s arguments. I am pleased to say that Prysmian Cables in Wrexh...
Guto Bebb | WGC c46-7 (Link to this contribution) I associate myself with those comments, and indeed, inasmuch as my constituents can travel down the ...
Nia Griffith | WGC c47-50 (Link to this contribution) I would like first to make a couple of comments on feed-in tariffs, and then I shall move on to spea...
Karen Lumley | WGC c50-1 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Caton. It is good to be in my first Welsh Gran...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) Yes. The Committee is free to vote on the motion when we conclude.
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr Caton. The motion does not mention electrification or anything el...
David TC Davies | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr Caton. The motion that was passed in the previous Committee sitti...
David Jones | WGC c44 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening carefully to the right hon. Gentleman. If he would like to accompany me, I wou...
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c44 (Link to this contribution) Who am I to refuse such a generous offer? I will happily ensure that the Minister is invited to King...
Roger Williams | WGC c41 (Link to this contribution) I commend the right hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Wrexham for the support they have given t...
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c41-4 (Link to this contribution) Let me return to that point. The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has said that ther...
David TC Davies | WGC c40 (Link to this contribution) I think the road to Damascus obviously leads to Ynys Môn. I have covered the referendum, global warm...
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c40-1 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Caton, for allowing me to contribute to this debate. I shall not follow the train of t...
David Jones | WGC c40 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making the accurate point that those who live near nuclear power stations frequent...
Guto Bebb | WGC c44-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Mr Caton. I will keep my comments brief and...
David Jones | WGC c44 (Link to this contribution) May I assure the right hon. Gentleman that if the visit was to be a photo opportunity, I would go by...
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c44 (Link to this contribution) I will take the Minister up on that. I will copy in the Secretary of State for Wales on the letter a...
David TC Davies | WGC c60 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman cannot get away with such historical inaccuracies. He must be aware that many mor...
Owen Smith | WGC c60 (Link to this contribution) None of those pits was shut with the same glee that we saw under the Tory Government.
Owen Smith | WGC c60 (Link to this contribution) No, they were shut because of economic circumstances, not closed down as we saw under Mrs Thatcher. ...
Owen Smith | WGC c60-1 (Link to this contribution) The Minister keeps referring to tidal lagoons. We look forward to hearing precisely what will happen...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c61 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman point directly to the part of his programme that said that it was going to e...
David Jones | WGC c62 (Link to this contribution) I thank you, Mr Caton, for your chairmanship this afternoon. Once again, the Welsh Grand Committee h...
Roger Williams | WGC c53-4 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Caton, for dealing with that point of order. I have enjoyed this morning and this afte...
Ian Lucas | WGC c54 (Link to this contribution) It is possible that what the hon. Gentleman suggests happened in some places, but I assure him that ...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr Caton. Surely, a motion may be pressed to a vote at the conclusio...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) That is correct. It would be unfair to the two Government Members who have been here all the time at...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) I stimulate the right hon. Gentleman to his feet.
Roger Williams | WGC c54-6 (Link to this contribution) I accept what the hon. Gentleman says, but he will realise that we are working with rather constrain...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) I will now call Mr Evans, but I advise the Committee that I would like to start the winding-up speec...
Alun Michael | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for provoking me. He referred to the Severn barrage and the ques...
Owen Smith | WGC c58-60 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure, Mr Caton, to serve under your chairmanship today. I think everyone will agre...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c56-8 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has the disadvantage that he was not here during that particular exchange, ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c28 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman knows that I am not saying that.
Lord Hain | WGC c27-8 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that I allowed the Secretary of State to intervene—I always am—because she has said som...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c28 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman takes me further down the road: there is nothing to prevent an application ...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c29 (Link to this contribution) I call Hywel Williams. That has come as a surprise.
Lord Hain | WGC c28-9 (Link to this contribution) I am going to make progress by not taking any more interventions. There is a big difference between ...
Hywel Williams | WGC c29-30 (Link to this contribution) Being called to speak has come as a surprise, Mr Havard, as the right hon. Member for Neath was in f...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) May I offer clarification to the right hon. Gentleman? We are talking at cross-purposes when we coul...
Lord Hain | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) I will finish my point. The right hon. Lady and the Minister raised the point about cost. The potent...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c35 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Member give way?
David TC Davies | WGC c35 (Link to this contribution) May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Caton? I am sure I will learn m...
Hywel Williams | WGC c34-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. I have recently had correspondence with a supplier, whil...
Nia Griffith | WGC c33 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman is also aware of the problem of LPG gas contracts, which fix peo...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c35-6 (Link to this contribution) Speaking of duality, does the hon. Gentleman remember canvassing for the position of Chair of the Se...
David TC Davies | WGC c35 (Link to this contribution) I will in a minute—I would be delighted, but let me finish because I was just about to talk about th...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c33 (Link to this contribution) On that point, may I say—and I am sure that I speak for the whole Committee—how encouraging it is to...
Hywel Williams | WGC c33 (Link to this contribution) Hon. Members will remember that before the break I was talking about the domestic supply of LPG and ...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c30 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman can continue this afternoon.
David TC Davies | WGC c37-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that it is a conspiracy. Although I do not always communicate very well, I r...
Geraint Davies | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not accept now that some 99% of the scientific community say that if we look...
David TC Davies | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman is referring to a medical doctor or one of those peop...
David TC Davies | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should look at what I said. I said that I am not convinced that all the rises in ...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr Davies, before you resume, I have allowed you to stray into constitutional territory, but ...
Geraint Davies | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) Surely there is a problem here of David and Goliath. Wales has only 3 million people out of 60 milli...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) Is there a doctor in the House?
David TC Davies | WGC c36-7 (Link to this contribution) Mr Caton, you have been extremely kind to me. We all know who won the battle between David and Golia...
David TC Davies | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) No. Let me correct the right hon. Gentleman. His memory deceives him. I said that I would take no pa...
David TC Davies | WGC c40 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Lady for that. I do welcome it very much, but not as much as the Member of Pa...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c40 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. He may also like to welcome the extension of ...
David TC Davies | WGC c39-40 (Link to this contribution) I have done that many times. I suspect that not every scientist in the UK will be poring over the re...
David TC Davies | WGC c39 (Link to this contribution) I would probably take my career into my hands here, except that-
Sian C James | WGC c39 (Link to this contribution) In evidence given to the Welsh Affairs Committee in the past two years, the nuclear energy providers...
David TC Davies | WGC c38-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, but such systems are still not 100% efficient. Using wa...
Hywel Williams | WGC c38 (Link to this contribution) There is of course another way to store electricity. The prime example in the UK is in my constituen...
David TC Davies | WGC c38 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point—one that we should think about. As for a solution that shoul...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c38 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my hon. Friend knows that during the recent cold weather over Christmas, up to 20% ...
Subjects
Conservation Coal Carbon capture and storage Energy Electricity generation Nuclear power Railways Prices Wales Renewable energy Electrification
Link
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