Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-03-30
Topic: Energy
Questions: The UK Government’s work connecting rural areas such as Brecon and Radnorshire to superfast broadband will become a lot harder tomorrow, when the Welsh Government withdraw their matched funding for the scheme, forcing the cost of installation back on to homes and businesses in my constituency. Welsh Labour’s decision means that my constituents will lose out, as local authorities in England continue to fund the scheme. Does my right hon. Friend agree that broadband is critical to the growth of the rural economy, and will he double his Government’s efforts to connect my constituents, despite Welsh Labour’s letting us down yet again?; Following on from the publication of the schools White Paper, one of my most important campaigns is to secure provision of quality post-16 education within the Bolsover constituency, where there is currently none. Young people in my constituency have to travel long distances at considerable cost to access their education. Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss how we can right this wrong for the young people of the Bolsover constituency and give them the education that they deserve?; Households are experiencing soaring energy costs. We are in the middle of a global climate emergency. Against that backdrop, Norway can feed energy into our national grid at a cost of £1.36 per megawatt-hour. France pays 17p per megawatt-hour. Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg pay nothing to feed into our grid. Can the Prime Minister explain then why Scotland’s renewables sector is being punished with grid connection charges of £7.36 per megawatt-hour?;   With the Government losing an estimated £4 billion to fraud in the furlough scheme, surely the Prime Minister should have tackled that fraud—especially when, in his own party in North Tyneside, furlough was claimed for a member of party staff even though he continued to work.; Over 2 million tonnes of edible food is wasted on farms and in factories every year. Funding was introduced in 2019 to cover the costs of getting food to charities to reach those in need. The Prime Minister will know, however, that the Government have now cut that critical funding to zero. Funding for food waste diversion helps to support community projects such as the Threehills community supermarket in Glasgow, so can he explain why he is ignoring calls from Feeding Britain, Good Food Scotland and FareShare to continue that worthwhile initiative and is instead cutting off a lifeline to those struggling with the cost of living crisis?; Prime Minister, every day I hear from more and more of my Rotherham constituents who are struggling to put food on the table, to keep their lights on and to fuel their cars. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that the Government’s measures will only offset falling living standards by a third. This is the biggest financial squeeze since the 1950s. Prime Minister, do not blame Ukraine and do not blame covid. This is down to your Government’s policies and your political choices. How do you sleep at night?; My constituency has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the entire country, with too many already struggling between heating and eating. The Government’s recent real-terms social security cut will now push even more families, children and pensioners into desperation. Does the Prime Minister agree that the biggest squeeze in household finances since records began does not come out of the blue, but is due to Conservative economics and the notion that, while some have the pleasure of partying, the rest of us should suffer?; Gas and electric prices and bills are through the roof. The “just about managing” are no longer managing; they are coming to surgeries and queuing at food banks. Last week, the Government had a golden opportunity to tackle this. Why the devil did they not take that opportunity to do something to relieve the pressure on our constituents?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand the pressure that people are under, but the best thing we can do, rather than endlessly taxing more and borrowing more, is make sure that we support people through this tough time, which we are doing, and ensure that we have a strong and growing economy in which we get people into work. We are cutting the cost of energy, but we are also taking the long-term decisions that the Labour party failed to take to invest in our energy for the future.