Hon. Members from across the House should congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on bringing the issue of energy prices to the forefront of public attention and on placing it at the top of the political agenda. Despite what has been said, he has done so because we face a cost of living crisis. At the centre of that crisis is the inability of millions of people to pay their energy bills because their wages have gone down and they have fewer opportunities—1 million people are on zero-hours contracts—and because prices have gone up.
It is time to bring the big six to account. We can talk about the different ways of doing so, but the Opposition have shown clarity of purpose in saying that we want a freeze and then regulation, and in saying that we are pro-competition. Obviously, since we made our proposals, the Government have scampered around and scratched their head to think of an alternative, but they have just given a rendition of what we are saying.
In any case, we need to take action, and there are more radical approaches with which we could threaten the marketplace. The reality is that we are worried about the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price. Some Labour party members in my area are talking about the case for nationalisation of the retail side, or at least some form of intervention. For example, one of the retailers could become publicly owned in order to enforce price competition on other retailers so that at the end of the day we can have proper, competitive retail prices. I am not advocating that, but hon. Members from across the House should think constructively about ways of getting prices down.
Basically, the Labour party has got the whole debate going. Part of that debate relates to the need for security, as the hon. Member for Warrington South (David Mowat)
mentioned, and another part is the need for diversity, as my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith) said.
I want to comment on the Swansea lagoon initiative, which is being pushed as a way to provide wave energy. I have asked questions on the record about how we can balance what is best for our environment locally and nationally, and what is best for our economy locally and nationally. I have raised concerns about sewage outfall into the lagoon, the impact on the Gower beaches, the possibility of toxic waste being dug up, and the impact on tourism and the iconic view. Tidal Lagoon has come back with changes in its plans. Welsh Water has said that it wants the sewage to go outside the lagoon, and that may now happen. The company has come back on the concerns that I had about the concrete rock armour. It has now sourced denser granite to ensure that there will be natural rock armour, which will look better.
It started off as a green power station six times the size of Cardiff bay, stuck in Swansea bay, that had no benefits for Swansea in terms of energy costs and that might have undermined the tourism industry. The company has come back and provided a visitor centre and suggested berthing for cruise liners, which might help us to take advantage of the momentum from the Dylan Thomas centenary and our ambitions from the city of culture bid. In that way, the green offer might be combined with a tourism offer and an economic offer, and, hopefully, with sustainable energy prices, which is what this debate is all about.
I have been concerned, as colleagues will know, about sand movements and the muddying of the golden beaches of Swansea and Gower. A lot more work needs to be done by the Planning Inspectorate on contamination, waste and the carbon impact of the project. I am glad that it has taken the matter on and I will support whatever decision the jury reaches.
I make that point because we need to think about diversity of supply. There are issues with fracking, which some people are very concerned about. The Welsh Affairs Committee recently produced a report on fracking. Although we were cautiously optimistic, it is important that we focus on issues such as how contaminated water will be treated and disposed of, and the environmental risks in areas of outstanding natural beauty.
It is difficult to balance the environmental and economic issues. Although we all like to see robust exchanges across the Chamber, it is important that we have a greener, more secure and increasingly cost-effective solution to meeting our energy needs. That is why I welcome this debate. I hope that we see progress and action sooner rather than later on getting the cost of people’s bills down.
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