Ed Miliband
MP for Doncaster North · Labour · United Kingdom
“Gentleman raises the issue of arms, and I talked in my statement about the double lock. I want to take on his point on the F-35s. To be clear with the House, we stopped providing direct parts to Israel’s F-35 programme in October 2024, under my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) when he was Foreign Secretary.”
“I thank the shadow Foreign Secretary for his response. It is our first time opposite each other at the Dispatch Box, so let me congratulate him on his appointment—he has a proud record in Parliament as Security Minister and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and brings great expertise to this House.”
“Israel has the right not to live in fear of vile terrorism, and the Israeli state has the right to protect its people and defend its territory, but that cannot justify what has happened in Gaza. Over 70,000 people have been killed, at least 20,000 of them children—20,000.”
“Our extension of the global human rights sanctions regime will enable us to target those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Gaza or anywhere else in the world.”
“The right hon. Gentleman has an honourable record on this issue. I will quickly clip through his questions, knowing the constraints on time, Madam Speaker. I agree with him on the World Central Kitchen. It is appalling that the investigation has been closed down.”
“Iran must never have a nuclear weapon, so we are also acting this week, alongside our allies, to report Iran to the UN Security Council for its nuclear violations, and I can announce today that we are reimposing major economic sanctions on Iran in line with the European Union and the United States.”
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“Part of this goes to the question asked by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is no longer in his place. We believe that the drive for energy independence can deliver for workers and communities. We are already seeing the jobs that clean energy is creating across the country: 11,000 more workers in nuclear, according to the industry’s latest estimates, 8,000 more in offshore wind, with thousands more upgrading the grid, on the way to 400,000 extra clean energy jobs by 2030, and £90 billion of private investment announced since the election.”
“I am not going to give way as I need to finish soon. The energy independence Bill will legislate to help deliver the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history through our £15 billion warm homes plan. As part of this, we will act to help private renters. This is important, because it is about how we make sure that, in the drive to clean power, we help everybody in our society. It is a scandal that 1.6 million children living in private rented homes are suffering from cold, damp or mould, according to Citizens Advice. We say it is time to act. Minimum energy efficiency standards for renters were promised by the previous Government, then scrapped. The energy independence Bill will legislate for them by cutting bills for renters, and lifting 400,000 families out of fuel poverty by 2030.”
“I also say to Reform Members that we look forward to debating their plans for fracking during the debate on the EIB, because fracking will make no difference to bills. It is dangerous and roundly opposed by local communities, and we will act on it.”
“I am not going to give way. We want to ensure that those jobs are good jobs, so we will amend employment rights legislation, as part of the energy independence Bill, to enable us to bring the rights of offshore renewables workers in line with those working in oil and gas. It is by driving forward in clean energy that we have the best chance of a fair transition in the North sea. Some 70,000 jobs were lost in less than a decade under the last Government. We are determined to lead the world in industries such as offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture, and we will continue to use North sea oil and gas for decades to come by keeping existing fields open for their lifetime. That is why the energy independence Bill will legislate to introduce transitional energy certificates, something the industry has welcomed.”
“My hon. Friend puts it well. There is something ironic about the fact that Reform says nationally that it wants fracking, but its representatives in Scarborough and Lancashire seem to say that they are against it. From now until the general election, we are going to be asking where Reform candidates stand: is it with their local community, or is it with the fracking industry?”
“No. I have set out the approach to energy security that underpins this Gracious Speech. Above all, we will learn the lessons of the fossil fuel crises of our age. We will build our energy independence, tackle the affordability crisis, deliver good jobs and investment in our communities, and make the right decisions for today’s generation and future generations. I commend the Gracious Speech to the House.”
“Families will be deeply concerned about the impacts they are facing as a result of the Iran conflict. This Government are determined to fight the people’s corner. As a result of actions in the Budget, the energy bill price cap will fall from next week and is guaranteed till the end of June. We have already provided £50 million of immediate support for vulnerable customers who use heating oil and will act to prevent unfair practices like price gouging. Above all, we will work to end this conflict, which is so essential and urgent for our national interest.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. It is an important reassurance for understandably worried families that, from 1 April, the energy price cap will fall by £117 thanks to this Government’s actions. That happened not automatically, but because the Chancellor made decisions in the Budget to raise taxes on the wealthiest, which was opposed by the Conservative party. That decision is making possible that relief for families, including those in her constituency.”
“The hon. Member is right about this country’s exposure to fossil fuels, and that is the legacy of the previous Government. I am incredibly proud to say that, as a result of our two record-breaking renewables auctions, we will power the equivalent of 23 million homes. She is also right to say that the decoupling of gas and electricity prices is an important issue, on which we are working intensively.”
“The hon. Gentleman asks an important question. The reason why we decided to put the money into the crisis and resilience fund three weeks after this crisis began was to get the money out the door quickly. During the previous crisis, that took 200 days. He asks an important question about local authorities’ provision of support and also what happens if they do not have the funds. That is something on which we are working intensively, and we are keeping closely in touch with local authorities. We want the help to go to those who need it and we want to work with local authorities to make sure that that happens.”
“We published the levelised cost analysis, which showed that new renewables were much cheaper to build and operate. As gas prices are soaring across the world and hitting us here at home, the idea that the Conservative party still opposes our renewables auction, which gives us clean home-grown power on which we can rely, is absolutely nonsensical.”
“Families in the right hon. Lady’s constituency will see savings on their bills from next week thanks to the actions of this Government. She is wrong on her facts, because, if we look across 2025, we will see that bills were lower in real terms than in 2024. We remain absolutely committed to our manifesto commitment to cut bills by up to £300 by 2030.”
“Public services across the country, including schools and hospitals—I hope this will come to the hon. Member’s constituency—are seeing reductions in their bills, and money is being transferred to the frontline. We on the Government Benches support those proposals. We support lower bills. As I said to the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), he can look forward to his constituents having lower bills as a result of this Government’s actions.”
“My hon. Friend makes the really important, and relatively basic, point that gas is priced and sold on the international market. Whether it comes from the North sea or is imported, it is charged at the same price. And do not just take my word for it; when the shadow Energy Secretary was in post she said that more drilling would not necessarily lead to lower energy bills.”
“My hon. Friend raises a really important point, and no doubt the Chancellor will cover this in her statement shortly. It is incredibly important that we protect the most vulnerable, particularly at this time. I am proud of the action we have taken to nearly double the number of people getting the warm home discount to 6 million people. This very important action will take another £150 off people’s bills, so in a sense, we have a form of a social tariff, but I assure my hon. Friend that we will keep looking at how we can expand that and help more families.”
“First, let me congratulate my hon. Friend’s council on its great work. The Government are putting hundreds of millions more this coming year into warm homes as part of our record-breaking investment. I hope we can agree across the House that investing in home upgrades is a way to not just have more energy efficiency but cut people’s bills. We are committed to going as far and as fast as we can.”
“My hon. Friend makes a really important point. The Conservatives come here month after month making the same argument about something that will not reduce bills by a single penny. It was they who said that during the last crisis and when they were in government. This Labour Government are about reducing people’s energy bills, which is the priority of the British people.”
“The Conservatives’ plan is totally incredible, and the shadow Secretary of State knows it. Their plan on renewables is just to tear up the contracts. They had 14 years to do it, and they did not do it. Why? Because they know that they cannot. I have to say, it is quite extraordinary that her position is now to abolish the windfall tax, which has raised £12 billion since it was introduced in 2022. The difference between us and them is that we are willing to tax the oil and gas companies to help ordinary families.”
“We are driving forward with contracts for difference, and we are looking at that proposal. On the hon. Gentleman’s more general point, though, he is absolutely right that rolling out renewables at speed—solar, wind, all types of renewables—is the best way to insulate ourselves from global economic shocks. That is a point that we have consistently made, which sadly is being borne out by the events we see around the world.”
“First, I accept the hon. Member’s congratulations on our announcement of the future homes standards today, which are a really important measure—they should never have been abolished by the last Conservative Government. On warehouses and car parks—particularly on the warehouse question—we are looking at how we can roll that out more swiftly. There is so much unused space that could be used to help cut bills right across the country.”
“The UK benefits from a strong and diverse energy supply, with only 1% of our crude oil and gas coming from the Gulf, but the essential lesson of this conflict is that while we are dependent on fossil fuel markets, we are exposed as a country, because prices for oil and gas, wherever it comes from, are set on the international market, affecting families and businesses. For our energy security, the answer must be to go further and faster towards home-grown clean power that we control.”
“The North sea will continue to play an important role in our energy mix for decades to come, which is why we said in our manifesto that we will keep existing oil and gas fields open for their lifetime, including, as we announced last autumn, the use of so-called tiebacks. My hon. Friend is absolutely right in the wider point he makes. That is why we have the largest nuclear building programme in half a century, it is why we have had two record-breaking renewables auctions, and it is why we recently announced that we will bring forward our next renewables auction to July, because we need to get away from our dependence on fossil fuel markets as soon as possible.”
“I disagree with the right hon. Lady on that one. As I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray), we are going to use existing North sea oil and gas fields for their lifetime. I think the right hon. Lady is referring to the question of exploration licences. What everybody says is that exploration licences make no material difference to production levels. On the tax question, I hope she will carry on supporting the windfall tax and will tell her Front Benchers that this would be the wrong time to abolish it.”
“My hon. Friend is right. Those people offer no short-term or long-term solution to the problems of energy security, and they want to fly in the face of all the evidence. As I have said before, it was the last Government who said that more UK production of North sea oil and gas would make no difference to the global price of gas, and it is important that the House understands that.”
“No, it is not. The hon. Gentleman is entitled to his own opinions, but he is not entitled to alternative facts. What the last Government said, what this Government said and what every sensible economist says about more production is that his idea of more drilling—“drill every last drop,” or “drill, baby, drill”— would be precisely the wrong thing for our country because it will make no difference to the price. The answer is home-grown clean renewables that we control.”
“This party and this Government are taking a pragmatic approach to these issues. We are using existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime, including with tiebacks, which is welcomed by industry, but we are not going to fly in the face of the evidence. The answer to a fossil fuels crisis is not to double down on fossil fuels, but to double down on clean home-grown power that we control. The Conservatives used to believe that, before they jumped on another bandwagon.”
“Before the hon. Gentleman self-combusts, let me tell him that, as a result of the court decision, those projects are proceeding at risk. I will tell him the way we will make a decision. I am not going to comment on a live planning issue, but I will say in general that we will make a decision that is legally watertight. The last Government made a series of decisions that were found— [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members say “No, no”, but they do not care about the rule of law. We saw that when they said that we should rush headlong into a war with no regard for the impacts on our constituents.”
“Since conflict broke out in the middle east, we have acted to prevent price-gouging, help those who rely on heating oil, and ensure that businesses get a fair deal on their bills. The energy price cap will fall by £117 next week, with savings locked in until the end of June. We have also sped up work to take control of Britain’s energy, accelerating our next renewables auction and our warm homes plan. We will do whatever it takes to fight people’s corner and learn the right lessons from the crisis.”
“The hon. Lady raises an important issue, and I am sure that many Members will empathise as our constituents face difficult times. The Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West (Martin McCluskey), tells me that the Competition and Markets Authority is considering all those issues. If Members encounter practices relating to heating and other things, they should bring them to the attention of my hon. Friend, because we want to work as speedily as possible with the CMA to stamp them out.”
“I am not. As I said earlier, we are using existing oil and gas fields in the North sea for their lifetime, and we have introduced tiebacks for existing fields. While the right. hon Lady comes here month after month with proposals that will do nothing to cut energy bills for people, this Government are actually taking action: reducing the energy price cap next week; making plug-in solar available to all families; the warm homes plan to drive down bills; and crucially, a renewable power auction, which she said that we should cancel, to help 12 million homes.”
“I do not. We continue to use the North sea, and ours is a pragmatic position. But there is a wider lesson that the House has to focus on. Is the lesson of this crisis—a fossil fuels crisis—to double down on fossil fuels, or is it to drive forward with clean energy? We believe clean, home-grown power that we control is the answer.”
“The Chancellor will have heard the hon. Member’s question, because she is in the room. My right hon. Friend is providing support for people but on a platform of fiscal stability, which the Conservative party would do well to understand.”
“As a result of decisions made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, we are raising significant sums from the windfall tax. We do not agree with the Opposition parties that now is the time to abolish the windfall tax; we think that is really important revenue that can help many of our constituents.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend’s local hospital. He rightly shows the way that cheap, clean, renewable power can cut bills not just for families, but for our public services, as GB Energy is doing, so that we can transfer money to frontline patient care.”
“We all love Cornwall and its incredible clean energy potential. I can confirm that we will be opening the new renewables auction in July. We see an incredibly bright future for floating wind, and we see Cornwall absolutely at the centre of that.”
“On his other point, I undertake to keep the House and the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee informed.”
“We will work with our allies and partners to defend our national interest, and seek to bring this conflict to an end for the benefit of citizens at home and the stability of the world, and I commend this statement to the House.”
“Every solar panel we install, every wind turbine we put up, and every nuclear power station we build makes us more secure as a country, and protects families and businesses from those kinds of energy shocks. This Government have learned the lessons of the geopolitical instability we have seen and continue to see. In an unstable world, we will keep driving for energy sovereignty and abundance with clean home-grown power. We will not gamble with the British people’s money at the fossil fuel casino, and ignore the lessons of the past. We have shown a determination to act to help families, and we will continue to do so.”
“This Government have taken the decision to keep existing fields open for their lifetime, including through transitional energy certificates in our North sea future plan, as called for and welcomed by industry. They have also decided not to issue new licences to explore new fields, which the science tells us is the right thing to do, because this Government will not ignore the biggest long- term threat multiplier to our security and stability that we face: the climate crisis. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, for Labour Members the lesson of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lesson of recent days, is that our mission is the only route to greater energy independence for Britain, and we will double down on it.”
“Of course, North sea production continues to play an important and valuable role in our energy system, but as we learn the right lessons from this crisis, this Government will not succumb to the false arguments peddled by some. It is a maturing basin and accounts for less than 0.7% of global oil and gas production. New exploration licences are completely marginal to that basin, and would make no difference to prices set by international markets and paid by UK billpayers. “More UK production wouldn’t reduce the global price of gas”— those are not my words, but those of the former Energy Minister, Greg Hands in 2022, in midst of the last energy crisis. Indeed, the shadow Energy Secretary said in 2023 that new licences “wouldn’t necessarily bring energy bills down”.”
“I warned that the Opposition had failed to learn lessons from the Ukraine crisis, which caused the worst cost of living crisis in memory, and that a dogma of opposing clean energy would damage this country, and risk families and businesses being left to pick up the bill. The events of recent days have unfortunately shown why that would be such a dangerous and reckless strategy, and we will continue to reject it. Instead, our AR7 renewables auction alone will supply enough home-grown, secure, clean power for the equivalent of 16 million homes. That is power we will not have to source from the international gas market, power that will not be at the mercy of international events, and power over which we, not fossil fuel markets, have control.”
“The events of recent days are yet another reminder that the only route to energy security and sovereignty for the UK is to get off our dependence on fossil fuel markets, whose prices we do not control, and on to clean home-grown power that we do control. Only several weeks ago, some people were suggesting that we should gamble on low fossil fuel prices and cancel the allocation round 7 renewables auction. When I made my statement on that auction, I warned the House that people can have incredibly short memories, given that we are just four years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I warned at the time that it was a foolish and dangerous gamble to bet on geopolitical stability during greater geopolitical instability than at any time for generations.”
“However, we recognise that at the point of contracting, businesses are exposed to international fossil fuel markets, and clearly, for both businesses and consumers, much will depend on the length of this crisis. On Tuesday in her spring statement, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor reaffirmed her commitment to prioritise families and businesses, whatever turbulence we see around the world. She showed her determination to act on bills in the Budget last year, and as we continue to monitor the effects of these events, the House and country should be in no doubt that the Prime Minister’s No. 1 priority is to tackle the cost of living crisis that affects families across Britain. However long this crisis lasts, we must learn the right long-term lessons.”
“Friend the Chancellor to raise taxes on the wealthiest, and to cut bills for families across Britain. In addition, around 6 million families are benefiting from our expansion of the £150 warm home discount, and we are delivering the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history through our warm homes plan, to cut bills and shield families from these kinds of fossil fuel shocks. On business and industry, we are taking action to expand the British industry supercharger from April to reduce costs for the most energy-intensive businesses, and a significant proportion of businesses are on fixed-term contracts that shield them from market volatility for the contract duration.”
“This is a fast-moving situation, and we continue to work with our allies to seek to minimise the impact of disruption to markets and support the safe passage of oil and gas across the world. I know that families and businesses across the country will see these global events and be concerned about the impact on their energy bills and the cost of living. It is important to say that the energy price cap will provide protection for households until the start of July, regardless of developments in the middle east. Last week, Ofgem confirmed that as a result of the Chancellor’s decisions in the Budget, the price cap will fall by 7%, or £117 annually, for the period covering April to June. The price cap for that period is fixed and will not change. That is a direct result of decisions in the Budget by my right hon.”
“As when Russia invaded Ukraine, though, we will be exposed to price competition in international oil and gas markets, which is pushing up wholesale prices as other countries seek to replace lost supplies from the region. That reflects our position, regardless of our domestic production, as a price taker not a price maker in these markets, leaving us exposed to their volatility, no matter where the fossil fuels come from. The Government continue to monitor the situation closely and work with our international partners. In recent days I have had multiple conversations with the executive director of the IEA, as well as with my counterparts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the EU and our major UK oil and gas producers. I will be having further calls with our international allies and partners over the coming days.”
“LNG production has also been halted in Qatar, following unjustified and indiscriminate Iranian attacks at the start of the week. The UK benefits from strong and diverse energy supplies, including our own North sea production, pipelines with Norway, interconnectors with continental Europe and three LNG terminals. While Qatar is a major supplier of LNG globally, last year it provided the UK with 1% of our gas supply. I have been in touch with National Gas and the National Energy System Operator, which are confident about our security of supply. On oil, we hold substantial emergency and commercial stocks and stand ready to work with the International Energy Agency to support the stability of oil markets if needed.”
“With permission, I will make a statement about the situation in energy markets in the light of the unfolding conflict in Iran and the middle east. My thoughts are with the British citizens and those across the world affected by the events of recent days, and I thank members of our armed forces serving in the region and elsewhere. Let me update the House on the situation in global oil and gas markets and the impact on the UK. In the days since the conflict began, we have seen Iran target energy production and export infrastructure across the Gulf. Traffic in the strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped, has declined very significantly, and the Iranian regime has issued reckless and unjustified threats to all ships using it.”
“Friend the Chancellor listens closely to the industry, and was talking to representatives from the industry about these issues yesterday, but it is important to recognise those other issues. On the environmental impact assessment process, we will follow the right process because we want to ensure that what we do is legally watertight and not subject to endless judicial review, and that is what the industry wants. To return to my original point—”
“The more we fail to do that, the more we are exposed, given that the North sea is a declining basin that has seen production fall by 75% in last 25 years, and that 70,000 jobs were lost under the Conservatives. On the hon. Lady’s point about the windfall tax, the Chancellor says that she wants the windfall tax to end, but obviously she has to look at the current circumstances. I notice that the Conservatives have now disavowed their decision to introduce the windfall tax. The windfall tax has raised £12 billion since 2022 because of supernormal profits—the money that was going from our constituents into the pockets of oil and gas companies. It is all very easy to say, “We shouldn’t have done the windfall tax,” but the Conservatives did introduce it, and I think it was the right thing to do. My right hon.”