Labour calls on Liz Truss to explain her involvement in decimating UK’s gas storage capabilities
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Labour has called on Liz Truss to urgently explain her exact
involvement in the Government’s decision to shut down a key gas
storage facility that has left Britain with dwindling supplies
during the cost of living crisis. The decision to shut down Rough
natural gas storage facility, taken in 2017, weakened the UK’s
energy security supply ahead of the current crisis and has left
Tory ministers scrambling to reverse it. Truss’ team have refused
to deny her...Request free trial
Labour has called on Liz Truss to urgently explain her exact involvement in the Government’s decision to shut down a key gas storage facility that has left Britain with dwindling supplies during the cost of living crisis. The decision to shut down Rough natural gas storage facility, taken in 2017, weakened the UK’s energy security supply ahead of the current crisis and has left Tory ministers scrambling to reverse it. Truss’ team have refused to deny her involvement, raising serious questions that Labour says need answering. The storage facility closed after the Government refused to support it financially. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss was responsible for agreeing or denying major spending requests. Truss took over as Chief Secretary on 11 June 2017 and Centrica confirmed closure on 20 June 2017, making the closure of the site one of the first big events to take place in her early days on the job. After months of warnings of an impending energy related economic crisis, the Conservative Government has recently u-turned and asked for the facility to begin filling up within the next few weeks. The facility is believed to hold enough gas to meet the UK’s winter demand for around 10 days when full, although it is only expected to fill up to one quarter of its capacity this winter. Whilst Austria have 230 days’ worth stored, Netherlands with 103 days, Italy with 75 days, and so on – the UK falls far behind with only four days’ worth stored. All other European countries have been filling their storage over the summer to prepare for the critical winter to come, but Tory decisions over the last 12 years have left us insecure and families exposed to higher bills. Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Climate Change and Net Zero, said: “We are facing an energy crisis because of 12 years of Conservative failure on energy security - on renewables, on storage, on insulation and on regulating the market. “Liz Truss needs to urgently explain what her involvement was in shutting down the Rough gas storage facility and plummeting the UK into close to zero storage stocks. The decision shows a blatant disregard from this government to protect our energy supply and keep bills down. “Labour will not stand by and let people suffer any more. Our fully-funded plan to freeze the price cap will make sure households don’t pay a penny more this winter, as well as investing in sustainable energy for the future – providing the foundations for a stronger, more secure economy. "Whilst the Conservatives protect the big oil and gas companies, Labour stands up for the working people of Britain. Only Labour can give Britain the fresh start it needs.” Ends Notes to editors A campaign spokesperson for Liz Truss said in response: “As Prime Minister, Liz would drive forward efforts to secure the UK’s long term domestic energy supply and keep families’ bills low. She would reduce the UK's dependency on foreign energy supplies and leverage private sector investment to embrace transition energy methods like gas and nuclear.” Rachel Reeves cautioned against the initial closure with questions on the implications when she was Chair of BEIS Select Committee. See attached. Gas capacity
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