Shadow Energy Secretary & Shadow Minister for Equalities Claire Coutinho has written to Ed Miliband regarding several inaccurate statements made in the House of Commons.
Ms Coutinho posted to X:
Ed Miliband and his ministers have repeatedly, and likely knowingly, misled the House about people’s energy bills.
I have raised questions in Parliament and in writing, yet they have continued to do so. Enough is enough.
Next week, they must correct the record.
Ms Coutinho's letter to Ed Miliband in full:
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SW1A 0AA
The Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
55 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2HP
Dear Secretary of State,
14th December 2024
I am writing to you regarding several inaccurate statements made in the House of Commons by you and your Ministers relating to the National Energy System Operator's report on achieving Clean Power 2030.
On the floor of the House on 26th November, you said:
"If she reads the NESO report, which is the advice given to us from the independent body, they show that this will lead to lower electricity bills."
On the floor of the House on 12th November, the Minister for Energy said:
"The report published by the independent Energy System Operator laid out not only that reaching our Clean Power mission is entirely achievable, but that it will bring down bills. In a Delegated Legislation Committee on 3rd December, the Minister for Energy Consumers said: "The NESO put out its publication on Clean Power and validated this. This will reduce costs in the system and, critically, it will bear down on bills."
The NESO report itself, on page 11, states:
"How costs translate to customers' electricity bills will depend on policy design and market dynamics that we do not attempt to predict in this report."
Responding to a question on whether the NESO report is proof that Clean Power 2030 will bring down bills, the CEO of the NESO, Fintan Slye, told the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee on 11th December:
"What we did not set out to do, and what is not our role, is to determine what bills are for consumers. That's a matter of policy."
Nowhere in the report, nor its technical annexes, does it say that the move to your Clean Power system will reduce bills, and now the CEO of the NESO has directly rebutted your claims in Parliament. The Ministerial Code is clear that "it is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity", and that "Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister."
With this in mind, will you and your Ministers correct the record and apologise for misleading the House? Yours sincerely,
The Rt. Hon. Claire Coutinho MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
https://twitter.com/ClaireCoutinho/status/1867968374925672539
