Archived press release

Maverick backbencher sabotages energy efficiency bill

3 July 1998

Friends of the Earth today condemned Tory MP Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst) after he again blocked a Bill which could save new home owners £200 a year. Mr Forth's actions mean the Energy Efficiency Bill has run out of time, and cannot become law this year.

The Bill, which requires mortgage lenders to carry out an energy efficiency survey as part of any survey they require before granting a mortgage, would have provided information to new home owners on how to save money on their fuel bills and cut pollution. Following the advice would have enabled the average household to save around £200 a year [1]. The Bill was supported by front-benchers from all three major Parties.

The Bill was blocked by a single shout of "object" by Mr Forth. It is the second time he has blocked the Bill, and his actions are totally at odds with his own party policy. Conservative party spokesmen have declared themselves "enthusiastic" about the Bill, which was originally introduced to Parliament by Conservative Environment spokesman Tim Yeo MP[2].

Mr Forth has given a number of differing reasons for his actions. Initially he claimed he was opposed to the method of legislation rather than the issue itself, saying the Bills had not had enough time to be properly debated [3]. He also claimed the Bill may need to be amended at its Report Stage. These arguments however are nonsense. Mr Forth could not even be bothered to turn up to debates on the Bill, which actually finished early because no further MPs wanted to speak. Furthermore, it was impossible for the Bill to be amended at its Report Stage as not a single MP - including Mr Forth - tabled any amendments to the Bill.

More recently, Mr Forth has claimed the Bill is "thoroughly silly" and went on to claim it is"the sort of thing I and my Party are against" [4]. This statement is at odds both with his earlier pronouncements, that his objection was to the procedure the Bill was following, and to his Party's "enthusiastic" welcoming of the Bill.

Ron Bailey, Parliamentary Coordinator at Friends of the Earth said

“Eric Forth does not have a single coherent argument for his behaviour - yet he has

chosen to act like a petty dictator and block a Bill that could save homeowners £200 a year. His first argument, that the Bill did not have time for adequate debate, fell apart when it was revealed that he had not bothered to take part in the debates. The argument that the Bill may need amendments collapsed when he failed to put any amendments before the House. Mr Forth then took to claiming his party were against the Bill - when quite clearly they were not. I suspect house buyers across Britain will resent these antics, which cost Mr Forth nothing, but could cost them dearly”

NOTES

[1] According to the Energy Saving Trust

[2] Tory spokesman John Taylor MP welcomed the Bill in a debate on 6 February saying"I intervene briefly on behalf of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to welcome the Bill...We are enthusiastic about the Bill." Hansard 6/2/98 col. 1381. Tim Yeo MP, Tory Environment spokesman previously introduced a very similar Bill, the Energy Conservation (Provision of Information) Bill in June 1996. He is also a sponsor of the current Energy Efficiency Bill.

[3] Bromley Times, 7th May 1998

[4] The Week in Westminster, Radio 4, 25 June 1998

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust