Yesterday (Tuesday 14th March 06) John Hemming MP was granted permission to ask an 'Urgent Question' in the house.  His question sparked an interesting and long overdue debate on the current gas situation.  

John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley, LDem)

The country is on a knife edge. What will the Secretary of State say to the 7,000 people who may lose their jobs in the plastics industry? What will he say to domestic consumers, who have seen price increases and are likely to see more? What have the Government done since long-term storage went out on 16 February?

If there is too little storage, as I think we all accept, why do we not import more on mild days? Why is the trigger for a gas balancing alert so high? On Sunday 319 GWh was taken from short-term storage, but there was no gas balancing alert. Had the same rate been taken on Monday and today, we would be in a gas emergency now. How can the Government expect UK industry to cope with energy prices in this country that are 50 per cent. greater than those in the United States of America?

Why do the Government do so little about energy security and reducing demand? The Prime Minister says, "Not me, guv--nothing we can do." Cold weather is now predicted. Short-range storage has approximately 50 million cu m and the Hornsea facility has 48 million cu m. Why do the Govt not do something about demand and supply?

The full transcript of the subsequent debate can be read here: They Work For You