Hitchin & Harpenden MP Bim Afolami: Lowering energy is "essential"

Bim Afolami MP was speaking during a debate on the energy profits levy, as Parliament considered the Chancellor's Autumn statement.

The MP said: "We must start to take seriously the issues of delivering much more renewable energy on our own soil, and of exploring oil and gas in the North Sea to the maximum we can.

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"A lot of the other economic debates we have are largely irrelevant in the context of that energy challenge."

Speaking of how lowering the cost of energy can help to control inflation, Bim Afolami MP continued: "The inflationary and cost of living challenges that we are currently dealing with have a number of underlying causes, but at their heart is an energy price spike which is impacting economies the world over.

"In Parliament, I have been working on renewable and sustainable energy policy for some time and as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Renewable and Sustainable Energy and a recently-elected member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, I can see the potential for sustainable projects to help us tackle inflation with reliable cheap energy and the broader need to ramp up our production of homegrown energy supplies.

“It is clear that tackling the cost of energy is at the core of tackling inflation. And without tackling inflation we cannot expect to generate the money from the private sector and private enterprise that the Government needs to deliver investment in public services.

"Therefore it is absolutely essential that the Autumn Statement delivers on driving down energy costs as a central mission.”