Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Cost of Heating Oil.
09:30 Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat)
Much of the North sea gas that is used across the country passes through the North Norfolk countryside, deep underground and at high pressure. A vast amount of gas is onshored at the Bacton gas terminal, one of my constituency’s largest employers, and then sent out across the country. Despite our being the custodians of that vital resource, around half of my constituency is not connected to the gas grid. Of those who are not connected, more than half rely on heating oil or liquefied petroleum gas to heat their home and provide hot water. These homes, and the families in them, vary widely. The homes range from listed buildings that cannot be retrofitted to run-of-the-mill family homes that happen to be somewhere with no gas connection and were built long before the advent of heat pumps and other green energy solutions.
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09:44 Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat)
I do agree. That great example shows that even if the increase does not push a household over the edge into total poverty, it will cause people to have to make tough decisions about their money. Like my hon. Friend, I have inevitably received a range of messages on this issue. Unfortunately, I have had quite a few on social media over my calls for support with fuel costs. That is a shame, as I am an environmentalist, but we will not win the argument on renewable energy by making struggling rural households pay the price of Trump’s illegal war in Iran. This is part of a wider debate about retrofitting and rural renewables. We do not have time to explore it here, but the need is urgent.
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09:45 Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat)
Well-insulated homes powered by renewable energy will prepare us for whatever volatile fossil fuel markets may do down the line and reduce my constituents’ exposure to the effects of the late-night proclamations of President Trump. I want to be clear with the Minister: residents in North Norfolk should not be poorer because they live in a rural area. We face unique challenges, and we accept that, but we should not be punished for them. The Government have a responsibility to step up and help where necessary, and that is what I am calling on them to do today. If we were in power, Liberal Democrats would be stepping up for Britain; the Government must do so, too.
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09:54 Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat)
The long-term answer is not just to regulate a volatile fossil fuel market more cleverly; it is to get communities off fossil fuels altogether, particularly through the use of community-led renewable energy projects. That is not a top-down mandate. It is genuine community ownership of clean energy, and we need the Government’s local power plan genuinely to deliver for rural communities, getting rid of the barriers of grid connection, access to capital and planning complexity that stop many community schemes before they start.
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10:12 Steve Witherden (Labour)
With heating oil prices reaching levels similar to those in 2022 following the Ukraine war, our Government have been far quicker to react than the previous Conservative Government were. Less than two weeks after the price surge, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced a £53 million support package aimed at protecting the most vulnerable households that rely on heating oil—particularly low-income households in rural communities.
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