Extract from
PMQs
: It is extraordinary that
the Prime Minister is not only refusing to extend the windfall
tax but choosing to hand the water companies who are polluting
our beaches a tax cut. She is choosing to hand the banks a tax
cut. Add it all together, and companies who are already doing
well are getting a £17 billion tax cut while working people pay
for the cost of living crisis, stroke victims wait an hour for an
ambulance and criminals walk the streets with impunity. Families
and public services need every penny that they can get. How on
earth does she think that now is the right time to protect
Shell’s profits and give Amazon a tax break?
The Prime Minister: I am on the side of people who work hard
and do the right thing. That is why we will reverse the national
insurance increase, and that is why we will keep corporation tax
low, because ultimately we want investment right across our
country. We want new jobs and new opportunities, and that is what
I will deliver as Prime Minister.
Extract from oral
answer (Lords) on North Sea Gas
(Lab): I thank the
Minister for what I consider to be quite a positive Answer.
However, does he agree that it is not alarmist to point out the
bad decision of the then Chief Secretary, a former Shell employee,
in 2017 to refuse the public contribution to maintaining the
modest amount of gas storage in the Rough field? On the other
hand, if it can be reopened this winter, Centrica was not telling
the truth in 2017 about the safety and economic aspects of it.
They cannot both be right. Is it not the case that we relied on
the stock market and just in time, and this has cost the UK dear?
We have a very low level of storage, as the Minister said, and
Rough would give us an extra 10 days, compared to Italy which has
157 days. We are miles behind, and it is much better to have some
security rather than the minimal amount that we have now. My
final question is: can we stay part of the EU system for gas
networks, if only for the fact that Ireland gets its gas via the
UK?
(Con): The noble Lord
has made a number of points that deserve an answer. First, it was
a commercial decision for Centrica to close the Rough storage
facility. Secondly, the reason that the UK has traditionally had
lower levels of underground storage than the likes of Italy or
Germany is precisely because 45% of our own capacity is from our
own domestic resources, which is essentially a huge gas storage
facility. We also have 20% of all the LNG unloading facilities in
Europe, and in fact the UK has been taking the opportunity during
the summer to help the EU, including Germany and other countries,
to refill their storage capacities using our LNG import
facilities, because they did not have enough of them. So it is a
complicated picture, but energy security is a great priority for
us, and we are well placed for it.
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