Chancellor Rachel Reeves has signalled support for drilling in the North Sea for oil and gas in a blow to Ed Miliband – as the boss of the Unite union calls on Keir Starmer to sack the “disastrous” Net Zero Secretary. The Telegraph has more.
Rachel Reeves has suggested Labour will soften its crackdown on North Sea oil in a blow to Ed Miliband’s Net Zero ambitions.
Speaking at Labour’s annual conference, the Chancellor pledged to support “homegrown energy” and said this included oil and gas extracted from the North Sea.
Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is under increasing pressure to water down a proposed ban on North Sea oil and gas licences amid Britain’s increasing dependency on costly imports from abroad.
Last week it emerged that Mr Miliband was considering weakening the ban by allowing energy companies to drill new oil and gas fields adjacent to existing ones.
In a speech to businesses on Monday night, Ms Reeves said: “I talked about homegrown energy, and that is renewables but it is also in the North Sea as well.
“Ahead of the Budget, we should be publishing our North Sea strategy, which I hope will give some certainty to [the sector] to be able to invest in the UK.
“We are going to be reliant on oil and gas for many years to come, and I would prefer us to be using oil and gas from the UK than importing in from overseas.”
During the discussion on Monday, Ms Reeves told executives she was “not a zealot of green energy”, adding: “I am really committed to boosting our energy security, because increasingly energy security is national security, so investing in homegrown energy is really important.”
Exploration of the North Sea continues despite the Government’s plan to stop drilling. Shell said on Tuesday that it had opened a major new gas field west of Shetland, which at its peak will have enough capacity to supply around 2% of the UK’s homes and businesses.
However, along with the Government’s imposition of a higher windfall tax and uncertainty over whether major developments such as the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields will be approved, Mr Miliband’s proposed licensing ban has been blamed for accelerating an exodus of companies from the North Sea.
Reeves’s shift towards energy realism comes as Sharon Graham, the boss of the Unite union, demands that Starmer sack Miliband over his “disastrous” approach to Net Zero.
Sir Keir Starmer must sack Ed Miliband over his approach to Net Zero, the boss of the Unite union has demanded.
Sharon Graham called the Energy Secretary’s Net Zero plan a “disaster” and accused him of being “completely irresponsible” with Britain’s energy security.
It was confirmed this morning that one of Britain’s last remaining oil refineries would close despite hopes that Mr Miliband would step in to save it.
Lindsey oil refinery is the source of 10% of the UK’s petrol. Its closure will leave Britain even more dependent on foreign imports.
It is the second refinery to shut in a year after the closure of Grangemouth, Falkirk. Overnight, 125 job losses were announced at Lindsey, affecting almost a third of its workforce.
Both news reports are worth reading in full.
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