There’s nothing quite so satisfying as when an Anti-European asks a questions and gets the opposite answer to what they expected…

In our local case the St Albans Tory MP asked a good, decent question which has been recorded in Hansard:
“How much an average household would save each year by 2020 if the Energy Company Obligation, EU Emission Trading Scheme, Carbon Floor Price, Renewables Obligation, Green Deal and feed-in-tariffs were removed and electricity market reform discontinued.”

Of course her assumption is Europe = Bad, that regulation must have a negative impact. But sometimes regulations are there for a reason.  The ideas coming out of the EU are the same as you or I would try to make a positive difference.

The response from the Tory Minister of State on Energy and Climate Change?

“DECC estimates that energy and climate change policies will lead to average household energy bills that are 7% lower in 2020 than they would be if these policies were never introduced. This net saving includes the impact of the energy company obligation, EU emission trading system, carbon price floor, renewables obligation (RO), Green Deal, feed-in tariffs (FITs) and electricity market reform (EMR) as well as other policies.”

A reminder that the Liberal Democrats push for a better environment for all is as valid now in the hard times as it was in the good times.