Proposed Ban On Burning Of House Coal And Wet Wood

EDM number 1711 in 2017-19, proposed by Ronnie Campbell on 17/10/2018.
Categorised under the topic of Energy.

That this House is concerned that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is currently considering a ban on the sale and burning of house coal in farms and homes across the UK; notes that many of the 3.7 million people who live off the gas grid in the UK rely on coal as their primary source of heating; further notes that if people are forced to burn other types of fossil fuel, it is likely their heating bills will double as a bag of briquettes is twice the price of a bag of coal on the garage or supermarket forecourt; notes that many such people off grid are elderly living in border line fuel poverty and so are unlikely to be able to afford such a fuel bill increase; notes that if house coal is banned such householders may have to burn locally sourced wood which is even more polluting, and so would be counter-productive; notes that such a ban restricts consumer choice; and notes that house coal is used by the heritage railways in the UK and banning house coal would mean that the 790 heritage steam locomotives in the UK would not be able to run and provide tourism services, and would therefore effectively shunt the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman into the sidings.

This motion has been signed by a total of 8 MPs.