Our MP Robert Courts, yet again (Debate)

Sun 24 Jul 2022, 08:22

Wow, Liz. I find that totally shocking. Yet another reason to get rid of him ASAP! 

Tue 19 Jul 2022, 16:23

GOV BEIS has now issued their Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) consultation, which includes proposals for replacing Pay-as-clear with Pay-as-bid. This is the bit where currently gas alone determines the electricity price. Interestingly it also includes a suggestion for localised pricing, where consumers near a wind or solar farm could potentially pay lower prices. And we have a solar farm near Charlbury... I won't get involved in that though as I don't think localised pricing is a good idea (it is done in Sweden and it is a mess). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091526/review-electricity-market-arrangements.pdf

I will probably never know if our MP had a part in highlighting the Pay-as-clear issue in Rema. All I know is that Greg Hands said no in a letter in May to him answering my concern. But now it is in. That is a good thing. Because pay-as-clear is wrong.

Mon 18 Jul 2022, 13:49

A new venture: https://www.robertcourtswatch.com/on-climate

 What I learned about Robert Courts and climate change has really shocked me. 

Thu 14 Jul 2022, 09:47

Christine, I thank you for your assessment of Badenoch; I had lazily taken the view of her that "a new face may be a *decent* face" ... how wrong I was.

As far as Courts is concerned, I have the same view of him as I have with Trump: if he thinks something is "good", then it is undoubtedly BAD, and vice versa. 

And listening to Sunak arrogantly bulldozing his way past the interviewer on the Today Programme this morning showed me that if he becomes PM he will be a Johnson clone in almost every respect ... with the level of lying that he attains still to be determined.

Wed 13 Jul 2022, 18:49 (last edited on Wed 13 Jul 2022, 18:50)

So Courts transferred his allegiance in the Tory leadership election from Shapps to 'culture warrior' Kemi Badenoch -- also not likely to win. She is the "anti-woke" candidate who campaigns against identity politics and 'social justice', as well as for a smaller State (i.e. less money for the NHS & welfare). 

Shapps, Courts' original choice, transferred his support to Rishi Sunak, but I was confident that Courts would want somebody more right-wing than Sunak -- so no surprise there, at least as far as I am concerned.

 I wonder who Courts will pick after Badenoch is eliminated from the race. He evidently prefers right-wing candidates, so perhaps Liz Truss??

Tue 12 Jul 2022, 11:29

It would seem that Courts' support for Shapps was the kiss of death, as Shapps has pulled out of the race! 

Sun 10 Jul 2022, 18:16 (last edited on Sun 10 Jul 2022, 22:58)

BoJo in front of the House of Commons Liaison Committee - 6 July 2022. 2 hours highly entertaining. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zopEUw7gUMg

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 19:04

Robert Courts has put forward the name of Grant Shapps (his boss) to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. 

This certainly does not increase my respect for Courts (or Shapps, for that matter), although I can see that it was a nomination that appealed to the Daily Express. 

As far as Shapps is concerned, one could choose various things to remind people about -- including the fact that he had a second job as a “multimillion-dollar web marketer” under the pseudonym Michael Green for at least year after he first became an MP. Shapps went out of his way to deny this fact, but was eventually exposed as having lied about it: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/15/grant-shapps-admits-he-had-second-job-as-millioniare-web-marketer-while-mp

Wouldn't it be great if the next Tory Party Leader didn't have a proven history of lying! 

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 18:06

Thanks Alice, I see no reference to that announcement in the FT (although they should have mentioned it). That is huge though - well done to Kwasi. 

https://www.evwind.es/2022/07/07/vattenfall-wins-contracts-for-difference-for-norfolk-boreas-offshore-wind-farm/86876

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 14:13

Odd that Mr. Courts didn't mention two big announcements made by Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday.    Firstly, that contracts for difference will be awarded for 11 gigawatts of offshore and onshore wind to, amongst the winners, Ørsted, Vattenfall and Scottish Power.  The guaranteed minimum price is still in place for 15 years and the developers pay back to "the pot" when electricity prices are high.  It doesn't say whose pot.  If all these projects are built it is equivalent to the total capacity of all the UK's offshore wind operating today.  

Secondly, that the National Grid has a plan for £54bn to upgrade the UK's electricity network.  Mostly to facilitate the huge growth in offshore generation as a result of these new.

Sorry Malcolm, it's all behind the pink paper paywall but I'm sure since it was a government announcement that it'll be viewable in Gov.UK.   

Fri 8 Jul 2022, 00:05

So that's what he sounds like .......

There's a game where the most boring person has to leave the room and everyone else has to guess who's left. 

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 23:38

Hans, you mention an article of yours in the dread Pink Paper. Isn't that behind a Paywall? Could you be so kind - being yours, assuming a right - to post it up her for us who can't afford paywalls? As an old "energy policy campaigner" from the 70s be most interested in modern developments.

Thu 7 Jul 2022, 23:27

Rather amusing interview with Robert Courts on Newsnight just now. He had absolutely nothing of interest to say for several minutes until the very end (despite the collapse of the government and Johnson's resignation today). He said he thought his boss Grant Scapps would be a great candidate for PM ha, ha!

Wed 6 Jul 2022, 22:17

Mister Courts will probably have a place in the cabinet as Minister for Not Very Important Stuff by tomorrow. 

After all, Johnson has lost most of the "big" names!
... or sacked them!

Wed 6 Jul 2022, 22:05

Useful management proverb: 'If you're doing something wrong, you usually do it badly.' (Robert Heller).  

Wed 6 Jul 2022, 18:24

My cunning plan to rewrite the wholesale electricity market is formally on hold until further notice.

Wed 6 Jul 2022, 15:48

The Minister for Aeroplanes could be Foreign Secretary by the end of the day.....

Wed 6 Jul 2022, 14:01

Now that Captain Boris is in an irrecoverable tailspin, will the Minister for Aviation bale out?

Sun 3 Jul 2022, 10:28

It is not easy to unwrap the detailed mechanism of the wholesale electricity market. Most of that is not in the public domain. I also understand that there are longterm contracts for solar and wind - these were setup when those technologies were much dearer, with a guaranteed £/kWh. But that is no longer needed with the cost falling rapidly. Nevertheless it should be possible to unwrap the pay-as-clear with these in place. Because all we want to do is to unlink the cost of gas to the whole supply mix. Big article in the FT about this the other day https://www.ft.com/content/13a04723-ca1b-49d3-b396-16c29726c69f where the journalist reckons 5 years for a complete reform. I reckon there is a possibility to do things in stages. Kwasi Kwartem was asked about in a select committee on Tuesday, and I quote loosely "We are progressing the matter at pace. We have two ways to doing it which we are considering". My guess is something before the next price cap in the autumn. Why? Because it is an easy thing to do in the whole scheme of things.

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 23:24

Agreed Hans that the future will see a revised reform of the wholesale energy market.  I had misunderstood your reference to a £400 saving if the reforms are made, since we can all expect a £400 grant from October.  I admire your optimism that this change can take place so quickly. I didn't think it was so easy because of the long term contracts in place for wind and solar energy supply to the market.  Also surprised that the quantity of energy produced to the market under the pay as clear method is so significant.   I shall watch with interest.

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 19:07

Yes Alice, there is a £ 400 one off to ease the cost of rising energy bills. What I am banging on is a reform of the wholesale energy market - the merit order or pay-as-clear method. I explained what that is about in an earlier post. That if implemented may  take back electricity prices to close to what they were a year ago - hence the £ 400 p.a. I am unhappy being positioned as a government agent - where I am nothing of the sort. All I am trying to do is to work with the government in charge at the moment to change a market anomaly where there is excessive profit to the tune of £ 6-7 Bn a year paid by us consumers. Isn't that laudable? The reason the windfall tax on electricity generators is being considered for exclusion is that it would not be needed if my proposal were to be implemented. I appreciate these are perhaps somewhat complex matters and not something that is being discussed in main stream medias. But - please would we all keyboard warriors spend some time analysing the topic being debated before the we lash out in attack mode based on gut feeling?

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 18:12

I’m afraid it is a one off grant non repayable.  They haven’t worked out how to pay for it yet.  The first proposal was a windfall tax on all energy producers excluding solar.  I think that proposal has been shelved.  We shall see.  

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 17:47

I agree with all that Alice. Let me be clear I think Brexit was a terrible mistake. The £ 400 would not be a one off though. 

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 17:12

The value of the £ in our pockets has fallen by 15% since the Brexit vote.  UK business investment remains at 2016 levels and trails behind other industrial countries. 

The UK's current account deficit is 8.3% of GDP in the first quarter or 2022, down from an average of 2.6% across of all of 2021 when the UK fully left the EU single market and border controls were introduced.  Our exports have crashed.

The UK is forecast to have lower growth in the G20 apart from sanctioned Russia.

I'm afraid being given a one-off £400 reduction on our energy bills feels like having a rock bun thrown at us from a great height.

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 12:37

People may have mistaken me for being something I am not in terms of political opinion when reading my post. We have what we have for the next two years (although change of leader might happen before). So we have to work with what we have. It would be futile to try to convince another political party to address this issue at the moment, because they would not have the powers to do anything about it. The issue is being written about in the Times and FT. I think we should be grateful for a £ 400 saving p.a., and perhaps £ 1,500 if one does not have gas. I sense the political will is there to do something before the next price cap in the autumn. That said, there are complexities here to do with energy security, the desire to grow renewables and a grid that needs to be massively upgraded. 

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 09:41

Indeed Gareth, and it also begs a question ...

Which is more frightening? A leader (?) of the nation for whom lying is standard currency? Or a local representative who supports that leader (?) unconditionally, and above, before, and (arguably) at the expense of those who he is meant to represent?

Sat 2 Jul 2022, 08:15

So Johnson’s saying it will happen?  What better proof that it won’t.

Sat 25 Jun 2022, 10:18

Further news about my issue with electricity pricing. This was mentioned by Boris Johnson on the Today programme this morning. I am pleased that I have been able to put an issue I care about at the very top of the decision maker tree. A small change, only about £ 10 Billion. But it's the principle.  

Wed 15 Jun 2022, 14:47 (last edited on Wed 15 Jun 2022, 14:49)

You can't really send electricity made here to Europe at scale, the interconnects don't have enough capacity. Oil and LNG is a different matter of course. 

At present natural gas contributes 45% on an annual average basis, but that is in 2021 with very little wind. It was 35% in the years before, and falling rapidly due to wind installations at great scale, I think we are leading in the UK?

Agree on insulation Fully. I am after all Swedish and we would perish if we insulated our houses to the UK standard.

Wed 15 Jun 2022, 13:37

Very clear thank you Hans.  My limited understanding is that refusing to pay private companies the market price for energy, however produced, means that they look to higher payers elsewhere in the world.  That is their responsibility to their shareholders.  Electricity doesn’t travel well but doesn’t most of our total annual electricity consumed get made from imported gas?  I mean both domestic and industrial combined.  I suspect cutting the renewable production cost input would have a tiny impact on price and would result in a reduction in investment in renewables.

Another problem.  Government’s have an incentive for energy prices to be high.  They might get some tax receipt or be able to negotiate with the private company to offset their tax obligation by investment.  BP haven’t paid any UK tax for some years.  Investment by multi-nationals doesn’t bring energy security but it brings tax receipts from the individuals working there and useful jobs.  Furthermore high energy prices allow private companies to invest in high cost methods like fracking now being sold to us as home grown energy for energy security through an Australian based multinational.  Help!

It’s like the old joke “well I wouldn’t start from here”.  Home insulation is the only way for domestic consumers.  Mr Courts could perhaps argue for a reintroduction of the zero carbon housing standards scrapped by Conservatives the week after they were free from the LibDem coalition.

Wed 15 Jun 2022, 12:10

You may be missing the point Alice. The pay-as-clear method is designed by the EU to favour renewables. An example: Energy demand is 100 GWh, 98 can be supplied by renewables at an average cost of £ 1/GWh, and the remaining 2 by natural gas at a cost of £ 80/GWh. All suppliers get paid the highest cost of 80/GWh, so that they invest in renewables. I am obviously very much in favour of renewables, but at present the pay-as-clear method creates huge cost inbalances for consumers. I think it should be parked at the moment, and reinvoked if an when gas prices are back to normal.  I am copying the argument Spain and Portugal has enforced for a year, where the suppliers get paid their cost depending on the technology used - instead of an arbritarily high cost. As we consumers pay in the end. Yes, generating costs have gone up, but not to match the 2.5 - 3 times higher bills we pay. Mr Courts gave the impression he agreed with me and that is why he took it to BEIS.

Wed 15 Jun 2022, 11:58

Agreed - crazy.  But energy is managed by huge multi-nationals and the price will always be the highest price to the highest bidder who maybe anywhere in the world.  BEIS are powerless.  Energy security can only be achieved by you and I owning the energy production.  Looking forward to Mr Courts arguing for nationalisation of BP.  

Tue 14 Jun 2022, 19:02

I asked him to look in the wholesale electricity pricing market - regulated through the pay-as-clear method, where the most expensive method of generating electricity determines the price for all methods. Crazy, and a big part of the reason our electricity prices have gone up close to three times in a year. It also means £ 10 Billion in the pocket of the electricity generators (generally not the companies you pay to). Mr Courts took the matter to BEIS where the responsible Minister Mr Greg Hands responded to say that such a change could have large impacts on energy security. But he did not rule it out. I think this was very well done by Mr Courts. 

Mon 13 Jun 2022, 18:18

At least you got a reply Charlie. I have a feeling I'm on his sh*t list!

Mon 13 Jun 2022, 12:02

I’m baffled.  Mr Courts is a barrister.  How can he square with himself or his clients supporting national and international law breaking and accepting funds from foreign states with documented hostile intentions?  Even if it was from the wife of the oligarch who was able to buy her UK passport.

Does anybody out there really believe that 180,000 deaths is a good result from the pandemic?  Is it only Mr Johnson giving UK arms to Ukraine, or might others be more involved? 

Fri 22 Apr 2022, 18:28

I wrote to him on this very topic; I display his pathetic - and typical - reply.

Thu 21 Apr 2022, 17:29

I knew our MP had accepted a donation from a Russian donor with British citizenship.

I read today that person is linked to a sanctioned oligarch:

Tory donor’s 'link' to sanctioned oligarch’s secret London property https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61080537