Member

As for the statement made by the noble Lord, Lord Offord, I was interested in his point about his party’s stewardship of energy policies over 14 years. I very much regret that the Opposition seem to be backing away from the consensus that we had on the crucial importance of responding to climate change and net zero. Of course, rising prices are a concern to all of us, but we believe that the only way to ensure that we have long-term energy security, and to wean ourselves off the international gas market and the volatility that that has brought, is to move as quickly as we can towards clean power and net zero. The noble Lord, Lord Offord, knows that I totally agree about the importance of nuclear, but his party did not open a single nuclear power station during its stewardship—they fiddle-faddled around and decisions were delayed. This Government will ensure that nuclear has a strong role to play in the future.