Blow to Miliband as Reeves Signals Support for North Sea Drilling and Union Boss Calls for Him to Be Sacked
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.
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The last oil refinery in the UK is to close. The destruction of British industry is proving to be one of the real success stories of Kneel’s government.
Trebles all round.
Madness isn’t it – a G7 economy with (net) ZERO refining capability… words fail me
Labour building strong foundations,, and jobs for working people. What a joke
Just to recall, only five people voted against the uncosted Climate Change Act. Christopher Chope, Philip Davies, Peter Lilley, Andrew Tyrie, and Ann Widdecombe.
That Act has been used in the past to stop oil exploration licenses from being issued and I have no doubt the green fanatics will again oppose any attempt by this government to get out more oil.
But how is it us that in the relatively short time they have been in office this Labour government has done so much to reduce output from the North Sea yet now they are so desperate they are reported to be considering the reverse.
The government looks too much like a push-me pull-you.
I know it might not be popular to suggest that the destruction of this country is due to incompetence rather than design, but I think many in the traditional Labour party would be genuinely horrified if you actually explained to them how their policies are destroying what is left of British industry. Of course, there will be a significant contingent that says ‘well, if we don’t decarbonise we will all die, and what good will industry be then?’, but I think a lot of their MPs are either very trusting of the weird narrative that energy prices will come down, or are just genuinely stupid (I know my MP fits in the latter camp).
I have always favoured incompetence rather than some devious plot given that the vast majority of them are truly stupid and that starts at the top with Two Tier and Rachel from Accounts.
A doctor I once knew described this sort of thing as a CONSPIRACY OF INEPTITUDE
To me, it’s a blend of widespread incompetence, greed and credentialism, along with a few bad actors who know how to make them dance to their tune.
Design, incompetence, or perhaps indifference.
If you only care about the esteem of others at your dinner party then the fate of those ‘outside’ is of little concern.
Aaaand reality starts to bite….
This is really quite big news, right?!
There’s apparently 200 years worth of coal in the ground, and most of it is better than Lignite quality.
Mine that, and build power stations that can burn it as clean as possible.
Stop cutting forests down in North Carolina (or wherever) and shipping across the Atlantic to burn at Drax, and convert Drax back to clean-burn coal.
Obviously sack mad Ed, but its doubtful there is anyone in the awful labour ranks that would be much better, just maybe someone slightly less stark raving bonkers!