Sammy Wilson: Stephen Farry and well-heeled Alliance supporters can maybe afford to pay for green fantasies but working people cannot

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Stephen Farry MP demonstrated just how out of touch he is with the problems ordinary people face in paying their energy bills.

Despite soaring diesel and petrol prices, caused by a shortage of supply on the world market, and Britain’s increasing reliance on imports of oil and gas from Russia and unstable middle eastern states, he demanded that the UK government put a ban on extracting oil and gas from our own deposits in the North Sea.

Either Stephen Farry does not understand the basic laws of supply and demand or he doesn’t care about the rising costs of fuel and transport for ordinary people.

The obvious solution to our current energy crisis is to exploit the resources we have on our own doorstep. Increase in supply would bring down price and stop us being held to ransom by Russia.

Maybe Stephen Farry and his well-heeled Alliance supporters can afford to pay for his green fantasies but for hundreds and thousands across Northern Ireland, his middle class virtue signalling to the Green lobby will mean fuel poverty, a choice between heating their homes or feeding their families and for many businesses it will mean bankruptcy due to rising energy costs.

Farry’s nonsensical energy policy might endear him to the type of green zealots who are blocking roads around London but they will cause real anger amongst ordinary working people who this year are facing a £400 increase in their energy bills.

Sammy Wilson, DUP MP, East Antrim

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