Treasury and Work and Pensions

What my hon. Friend says makes complete sense. We need to reinvest in public transport, which is why the Bill mentioned in the Gracious Speech that will extend the rights of old age pensioners to free bus travel is also a helpful contribution. As I was saying, we need to put a proper price on carbon, and the effect will be similar to the oil prices hikes of the 1970s and 1980s. At first, when they occurred, everyone felt that they would be a complete disaster. However, in the end, the western economies benefited significantly and became far more efficient. In 1990, I was sent by what is now the Department for International Development to Prague to advise the transitional Government in Czechoslovakia on its energy crisis. It was facing a situation rather like the one in Ukraine last year. I found an economy that had been protected from the real costs of energy. It was hopelessly sluggish and old fashioned. Forests were dying because of acid rain and every building that one went into—whether a private home or an office—was completely stifling. There were no thermostats, so one could not switch the heating off. Industry also used out-of-date stock. By introducing proper energy pricing, all that has changed. The Czech and Slovak Republics now have dynamic economies. They are growing modern democracies and full participants in the European Union. Being green is often a synonym for being naive and perhaps rather foolish. However, I hope that, with the Government’s programme of action set out in this Queen’s Speech, being green will, in fact, be about the rejuvenation of the British economy.