Britain needs an Energy Resilience Strategy - Conservatives set out new strategy
|
On Sunday 15th March, the Conservative Party will set out an Energy
Resilience Strategy. Ed Miliband's dogmatic Net Zero ideology is a
threat to our national security, leaving Britain exposed and
vulnerable in times of crisis. Britain needs an Energy Resilience
Strategy. The world is getting more dangerous. The conflict in Iran
has shown us that failing to get serious about our energy security
will make us weaker, poorer, and less able to defend ourselves in
the event of...Request free trial
On Sunday 15th March, the Conservative Party will set out an Energy Resilience Strategy. Ed Miliband's dogmatic Net Zero ideology is a threat to our national security, leaving Britain exposed and vulnerable in times of crisis. Britain needs an Energy Resilience Strategy. The world is getting more dangerous. The conflict in Iran has shown us that failing to get serious about our energy security will make us weaker, poorer, and less able to defend ourselves in the event of conflict. Ed Miliband's obsession with Net Zero is seeing us shut down our own oil and gas production, just to import more from Norway who are drilling in the exact same fields we could be developing ourselves. Last year Norway drilled 49 exploration wells. Britain drilled zero for the first time since 1964. At the same time, Labour's policies are increasing Britain's dependence on Chinese energy technology, despite warnings from our own intelligence services and national security chiefs across the West. And the Carbon Tax is driving heavy industry, refineries, factories, and productive capacity offshore to countries with lower energy costs. Britain now imports more of the goods it once produced domestically, often from countries with weaker environmental standards and higher emissions. Higher global emissions, fewer British jobs, a shrinking industrial base at home, and less resilience to global instability. The war in Iran will not be the last crisis of this kind. The question is whether Britain is ready for the next one – or whether Ed Miliband and Keir Starmer have the backbone to respond. The Conservatives believe Britain needs a clear Energy Resilience Strategy.
Every molecule of gas we extract from the North Sea goes into our pipes, making up 50% of our gas supply. Shutting down our own domestic energy production just to import more from the Middle East at higher cost and higher emissions is beyond reckless. Labour's policies are already putting the sector at risk. Industry leaders are warning that Britain is losing 1,000 jobs a month, £50 billion of investment and £15 billion in tax revenue – all while increasing global emissions by importing more gas from halfway across the world. The North Sea sector supports around 200,000 jobs across the UK, yet Labour has committed to ban new licences to explore new oil and gas fields. A Conservative Government would end the crippling Energy Profits Levy, scrap Ed Miliband's ban on new oil and gas licences, end all Net Zero mandates strangling the sector and back the North Sea.
If we want people to use electric cars or electric heating so they are less exposed to oil and gas price shocks, then we need to make electricity cheap. Ed Miliband is so focused on eliminating the 10 per cent of emissions that come from our electricity supply that he is making electricity itself unbearably expensive – making it impossible to decarbonise the 90 per cent of emissions that come from oil and gas in the rest of the economy. The Conservatives' Cheap Power Plan would cut electricity bills by 20 per cent, or £165 for the average household, easing pressure on the cost of living and making it much easier for people to adopt electric products if they choose to. Ed Miliband's plan is to make electricity ruinously expensive and then use bans, taxes, and mandates to force people to electrify. That is completely backwards.
Ed Miliband's plans to decarbonise the electricity system with wind and solar power make us dangerously reliant on Chinese supply chains for cables, batteries, and critical minerals, leaving our electricity grid vulnerable to Chinese interference. Nuclear, by contrast, has the most secure supply chain of any power source – with fuel imported from our allies in Australia and Canada, then enriched here in Britain. A Conservative Government would adopt all recommendations of the Fingleton Review of nuclear regulation in full to make nuclear much cheaper and faster to build. Labour dragged its feet on the Fingleton Review and watered down key habitats changes, scrapped the Conservatives' ambitious 24GW nuclear target, and cancelled our plans for a third large-scale nuclear power plant at Wylfa in Wales, meaning there is now no pipeline of projects after the two we started at Hinkley Point and Sizewell.
Our industrial power is our hard power – it's the power we turn to in times of war. Yet Britain has been deindustrialising in the name of Net Zero, only to import back from other countries the goods we used to produce ourselves. Cheap and reliable energy underpins the entire economy. From advanced manufacturing and refining, to AI and financial services, every modern sector depends on secure and affordable power. A country with expensive energy weakens its economy and, ultimately, its national security. Britain lost a third of its oil refineries last year and we have completely lost our ability to make fertiliser or explosives from scratch in Britain – two things vital in the event of conflict – because of sky-high energy prices and the Carbon Tax. The Conservatives would reverse this trend by scrapping Labour's EU-linked Carbon Tax arrangements that will impose additional costs on British industry. We oppose plans to extend Carbon Taxes to shipping, which would increase the cost of all goods imported by sea. We would also scrap green reporting requirements on businesses helping them to save billions of pounds. Even companies in the sector say ESG reporting rules have become excessively complex. We will scrap all ESG reporting requirements, instruct financial regulators to remove green requirements, and more closely monitor ESG regulations. Just three existing reporting requirements alone cost British businesses £300 million a year. Scrapping these rules would lift a significant burden from companies and allow them to focus on driving growth and strengthening the economy. Most importantly, the Conservatives' Cheap Power Plan would cut electricity costs for businesses by around 20 per cent, restoring the competitive energy prices Britain needs to rebuild its industrial base and strengthen its economy. Energy security is national security. In a more dangerous world, Britain cannot afford policies that weaken domestic production, drive industry offshore and deepen reliance on supply chains that route through hostile territories. Britain needs an Energy Resilience Strategy fit for a more unstable geopolitical world, delivering a reliable, strong economy. Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said: “Labour's rush to Net Zero is deindustrialising our country and forcing up energy bills. If we are serious about protecting ourselves from global energy shocks, we need to get rid of carbon tax on bills, start drilling in the North Sea again and get invest properly in new nuclear. “Energy policy is economic policy. With their eco-madness, love of taxes and anti-business policies, it's no wonder that Labour are failing on energy and the economy. The Conservatives make sure we make bills cheaper, use our natural resources and back the businesses that create economic growth.” Claire Coutinho MP, Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “We are entering a more dangerous world, yet Labour's energy policy is making Britain weaker. Shutting down the North Sea while importing more energy from abroad is industrial self-harm. “Britain needs an Energy Resilience Strategy that backs domestic production, makes energy cheap, doubles down on nuclear and makes our country stronger and more secure.” ENDS Notes to Editors:
Back the North Sea:
Make electricity cheap:
· The Conservatives will repeal the Climate Change Act 2008. The Climate Change Act established legally binding, five-yearly carbon reduction targets. These policy changes would likely not be possible if we had to stick to our legally binding climate targets under the Act. This is proof that the Climate Change Act forces Ministers to make decisions that increase the cost of energy and make people poorer. (Climate Change Act, accessed 26 September 2025, link). Double down on secure nuclear power:
Stop the deindustrialisation of Britain: · We will repeal the Climate Change Act 2008, to allow us to repeal expensive net zero levies which have added hundreds of pounds to households bills. The Climate Change Act established legally binding, five-yearly carbon reduction targets. The Climate Change Act forces Ministers to make decisions that increase the cost of energy and make people poorer (Climate Change Act, accessed 26 September 2025, link). · The Conservatives will exempt new nuclear from swathes of red tape, to support new nuclear power stations to bolster our energy security. New nuclear in Britain has been held down by red tape. That is why we have committed to exempting it from habitats regulations, environmental impact assessment regulations and to protecting it from judicial review (Planning and Infrastructure Bill, accessed 7 August 2025, link). · The Conservatives will scrap green reporting requirements on businesses helping them to save billions of pounds.The majority of businesses, including those working in the sector, believe that ESG reporting requirements are too complex. That is why we will scrap all ESG reporting requirements, instruct financial regulators to remove green requirements and more closely monitor ESG regulations. The cost of just three reporting requirements to business is £300 million a year (Mitie, News, 22 March 2024, link; BEIS, Impact Assessment, 18 July 2018, link; BEIS, Impact Assessment, 31 October 2023, link; BEIS, Impact Assessment, 1 October 2021, link). |