Sir Ashley Fox

That is a complicated issue, because of course the cost of managing Rough would have meant a levy on gas bills, so it is not quite the easy solution that the hon. Member proposes. It is not as if gas storage automatically reduces all gas bills; in the long term, it may actually lead to higher costs for gas consumers. It is an important issue, but that is not the simple fix that the hon. Member claims. The United Kingdom possesses significant oil and gas resources, world-class expertise and a highly skilled workforce, yet key decisions continue to be delayed. The decision on Jackdaw, for example, was delayed for months. I wonder why. Could it possibly have been an inconvenient by-election in Holborn and St Pancras? The future of Rosebank remains uncertain. Time and again, Ministers have chosen hesitation over action. Good policy is not simply making an announcement; it is having a plan, delivering that plan and achieving results. That is the test by which households reliant on heating oil will judge this Government: are their energy bills lower? For millions of people, this debate is not about regulation or market design; it is about whether they can afford to keep their homes warm this winter. Rural families should not be disadvantaged simply because they live beyond the gas grid. Affordable energy should not depend on someone’s postcode, and far too often this Government forget our rural communities. The Government talk repeatedly about managing expensive energy. That is not enough. People do not want expensive energy to be managed; they want energy to be made affordable. Let us therefore have clear deadlines, measurable commitments and action, not an obsession with process. If Ministers cannot tell households when they will feel the benefit of those reforms, all they are offering is more process and more delay. Families facing another winter of high costs cannot afford to wait. Those households need lower bills, warmer homes and a Government focused on making energy cheaper.