Mr Redwood’s intervention during the Statement on the European Council, 10 March

Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): Will the Prime Minister now seek fundamental changes in EU energy policy? Some member states are far too dependent on Russian gas, and the rest of us are far too dependent on intermittent, dear and scarce sources of energy, owing to EU directives. Do we not need to get control of our power to be able to reply?

The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron): My right hon. Friend is entirely right. Here in the UK, we are not reliant to any significant degree on Russian supplies of gas, but some countries in Europe receive 60% or 70% more of their gas from them. As a European Union we need to think about how to make ourselves more resilient as a group of countries, and part of that will be by completing the European energy single market, which will make a difference to those countries. This is clearly a good moment to press that concern in Europe and get more done.

1 Comment

  1. lojolondon
    March 14, 2014

    Good point John.

    David Cameron needs to realise he is not the EU, he is the Prime Minister of the UK. So, when considering the effect of disputes with Russia, he needs to concern himself with OUR energy supplies, that is his responsibility.
    Saying that we only use little Russian gas is neither here nor there, because when the gas supply is restricted, the cost of oil, coal, nuclear etc. will all go up as the rest of Europe struggles to re-balance their consumption. We need to be self-sufficient. That means fracking and nuclear. Simples.

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