MP, Labour’s Shadow Climate and Net
Zero Secretary, commenting on the government’s plans for
North Sea oil and gas, said:
“Every family and business in Britain has paid the price of the
Conservatives’ failed energy policy which has left Britain as the
worst hit country in Western Europe during the energy crisis.-
and is making the same mistake all
over again.
“Rishi Sunak's weak and confused policy will not take a penny off
bills - as his own Party Chair has admitted - will do nothing for
our energy security and drive a coach and horses through our
climate commitments - while continuing to leave us at the mercy
of fossil fuel dictators like Putin.
“That is why senior business leaders and Conservative politicians
are lining up to point out that Rishi Sunak’s failed energy
policy is economic illiteracy.
“Only Labour has a plan for energy security, lower bills, and
good jobs by making Britain a clean energy superpower and
delivering a phased and responsible transition in the North Sea.”
Ends
Notes
Background:
By prioritising expensive oil and gas over cheap, homegrown clean
power, the Conservatives are signing a monumentally bad deal for
Britain.
Every respected expert, from the International Energy Agency to
the Climate Change Committee has warned the government of the
dangers of this policy.
-
WASTE OF MONEY: These
billions of rip-off subsidies for oil and gas companies are a
staggering waste of taxpayer money- lining the
pockets of the very companies profiting from the energy crisis
and signing up to a monumentally bad deal for Britain.
Despite making record profits, the government wants to bung a
further £11.4bn of public money at the oil and gas giants.
Office for Budget Responsibility warned doubling down on fossil
fuels would increase our long-term debt and damage our GDP.
-
WON’T CUT BILLS:New exploration
of oil and gas will not cut bills for British people by a
single penny, as the government itself has
repeatedly admitted because oil and gas is traded on the
international market. So taxpayers are
being asked to chuck billions into oil and gas wells for
literally no gain.
When he was energy minister, , current Chair of the Tory party
said: “MYTH: Extracting more North Sea gas lowers prices”; “FACT:
UK production isn’t large enough to materially impact the global
price of gas” (Feb 2022).
As Energy Secretary, said the same: “additional
North Sea production won’t materially affect the wholesale price”
(Feb 2022).
-
BAD FOR ENERGY SECURITY:New
exploration of oil and gas instead of accelerating to
renewables will keep us reliant on petrostates and dictators
because they are sold on international markets.
Our reliance on oil and gas means household energy bills in the
UK over the last year have been the highest in western Europe,
leaving 7 million households in fuel poverty despite billions of
pounds spent on an energy price cap.
Last year 81% of UK oil production and 61% of UK gas supply were
exported abroad.
-
BAD FOR JOBS:This will not
create good long term jobs. The companies are
only willing to make these investments with the incentive of
enormous taxpayer subsidies. That’s because there is a massive
risk of stranded assets as the world gets off fossil fuels.
There is also a risk it will divert supply chain resources from
renewable power, a point forcefully made by , the Tories own net zero
tsar.
Job creation in clean energy industries can exceed the number of
displaced oil and gas jobs by more than three times.
-
CLIMATE DISASTER:This is a
disaster for the climate- as everyone from the
International Energy Agency to the UN, to the IPCC, and the
Climate Change Committee have told us, with global warming
spiralling to a catastrophic 3C if every country follows this
Government’s approach, leaving a bill our children and
grandchildren will have to foot.
New fields will be disastrous for the climate - as 700 leading
scientist warned recently -
even before the terrible failures on value for money, energy
security, and jobs. The Tories own former ‘Net Zero Tsar’
said: “There is no such thing as a new net zero oilfield”.
-
THERE ARE BETTER ALTERNATIVES: These
resources could be so much better used for a sprint for cheap,
clean, homegrown power - to truly cut bills, cut imports,
create jobs and lead the world in climate action.
