Earl Russell — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Statutory Instrument 23 June 2025

Contracts for Difference (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2025

I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Bennett and Lady Finn, and the noble Lords, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, Lord Sikka, Lord Lilley and Lord Birt, and the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for their contributions, and I thank the Front-Benchers for their summing up. We are where we are with this. We have to pl…

Lords Committee Stage 17 June 2025

Pollution Prevention and Control (Fees) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025

My Lords, this may appear to be a narrowly focused measure but it speaks to some wider strategic choices being made—or not being made—by this Government on energy, the environment and industry. It revises the fees charged by OPRED for its regulatory oversight. The current fees have been in place for…

Lords Oral Questions 16 June 2025

Social Energy Tariff

There is a levy for the warm home discount, but that works out at only £1.50 a month per household, which is not that high considering how many people it takes out of fuel poverty.

Lords Debate 13 June 2025 3 contributions

Environmental Targets (Public Authorities) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I rise to speak in support of this Bill, as I did at Second Reading. I too will oppose the amendment put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton of Epsom, because it removes crucial provisions relating to climate adaptation and environmental recovery objectives. The truth is that, despit…

My Lords, very briefly, I thank the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, for bringing his amendment, which seeks to remove Great British Nuclear from the Bill. I just remind noble Lords that the Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, seeks to install an environmental recovery obligation and adaptation for p…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Oral Questions 12 June 2025

Wildfires

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Caithness for securing this debate on government action on wildfires. I am sure he is also grateful for the attention that this debate has attracted. It is a pleasure to hear the maiden contributions of my noble friends Lord Jack of Courance and Lord …

Lords Committee Stage 21 May 2025

National Policy Statement for Nuclear Energy Generation

My Lords, noble Lords will know that I always welcome every opportunity to talk about nuclear power in all its forms. I echo the appreciation by the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, of the Minister’s support for the nuclear industry. Of course, I endorse all the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, abou…

Lords Statutory Instrument 19 May 2025 3 contributions

Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2025

I apologise—the amendment. This seeks to broaden the scope of these regulations to include alternatively fuelled vehicles that are not zero-emission. I question the perceived need for such a change, to be honest, and what benefits would flow were it to be passed. The Government’s policy, which we s…

My Lords, I was not making that point at all. I was saying that if the noble Lord’s ministerial car broke down at a roundabout and he was hit from behind by a 3.5 tonne vehicle and a colleague was hit by a 4.25 tonne vehicle, the latter would involve 20% more energy transfer and therefore 20% more p…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Oral Questions 19 May 2025

Nuclear: Small Modular Reactors

My Lords, we are well aware that both AI and data centres will lead to a major increase in electricity demand. We are also aware of experience in the US, and interest in this country, in linking these AI data centres to nuclear development. The EN-7, the siting policy for nuclear sites, which we are…

Lords Oral Questions 19 May 2025

Public Transport: Expansion and Electrification

My Lords, we are looking for opportunities to provide diesel-free solutions to rail travel. That includes not only electrifying more of the network but looking for infills such as bi-modes, or some of the battery trials we have seen in places such as Greenford and on Merseyrail, to supplement non-el…

Lords Oral Questions 14 May 2025

Water: Supply and Infrastructure

I thank the noble Earl for his question. He brings our attention to a really important aspect of the water supply. He is absolutely right that we have had dry weather; I believe it has been the driest start to the year in the north of the country since 1929. Drought plans must be produced by water c…

Lords Committee Stage 13 May 2025

Methane (Environment and Climate Change Committee Report)

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, on securing this debate, and all members of the Environment and Climate Change Committee on their excellent report Methane : Keep up the Momentum . In particular, we on these Benches appreciate the detailed and pragmatic approach and the opp…

Lords Oral Questions 8 May 2025 2 contributions

Climate Change: Wildfire Strategy and Action Plan

My Lords, outdoor fires, especially wildfires, are expected by many academics to increase in frequency and impact, predominantly driven by climate change. The Home Office, as the former lead government department for wildfire, worked closely with Defra, its agencies and other stakeholders to identif…

My Lords, the noble Earl is right to raise this important issue. The numbers he highlighted are worrying. We are working closely with the NFCC. We continue to fund the national resilience wildfire adviser, who is tasked with reviewing capability and approaches across the fire sector. We are also pro…

Lords Proceedings 6 May 2025

Energy Grid Resilience

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement on the power outages across the Iberian peninsula. Our thoughts are of course with the 55 million people across Spain, Portugal, Andorra and parts of France who were affected. The Statement rightly highlights the highly resilient nature of Great Brit…

Lords Committee Stage 6 May 2025

Infrastructure Planning (Onshore Wind and Solar Generation) Order 2025

I apologise to the Minister for missing the first moments of his speech, but as somebody who was taken to a tribunal by those who do not believe in climate change for daring to suggest that we had in effect banned onshore wind, I feel very strongly that this is an ideal moment to say how important o…

Lords Proceedings 6 May 2025

Energy Prices: Energy-intensive Industries

My Lords, our industrial energy prices are too high and our transition to net zero must not come at the cost of specific industrial sectors. The Minister has noted that the original Question in the Commons was in relation to our pottery industry. It is clear that the energy supercharger is helping, …

Lords Oral Questions 6 May 2025

Climate Change: Progress

My Lords, the noble Earl is absolutely right. The Committee on Climate Change said: “There is … unequivocal evidence that climate change is making extreme weather in UK, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and wildfire-conducive conditions, more likely and more extreme”, and the points he raised ar…

Lords Statutory Instrument 30 April 2025

Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2025

My Lords, the present financial crisis that farmers face was an inevitability the moment we voted for Brexit—I said so at the time. It was a question only of when it was going to happen. HM Treasury knew that there was a budget set in Brussels and that it could get its sticky mitts on to it; once th…

Lords Debate 30 April 2025

Great British Energy Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Alton and Lord Offord, and the noble Earl, Lord Russell. I totally agree with the point that we have reached what I call a strong consensus around this issue. I am grateful to noble Lords for supporting the process of reaching agreement across the House and in…