Kemi Badenoch will visit an oil rig on Monday as she launches a campaign to “get Britain drilling”. The Tory leader has branded Labour’s refusal to grant new oil and gas drilling licences as “stupid” and “completely crazy” as global markets are rocked by the conflict in Iran.
The future of Britain’s remaining oil and gas reserves in the North Sea is now one of the key dividing lines in UK politics, and the Conservative leader is adamant the country should “maximise” domestic production. Mrs Badenoch said the “real reason Labour are refusing new licences is that [Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary] Ed Miliband is now running the government”.
In a new advertising campaign, the Tories will claim Labour’s “ban on new oil and gas licences” has “left 2.9billion barrels in the ground and risks 200,000 jobs”. The party is also demanding an end to the energy profits levy – the so-called windfall tax – which it blames for stopping investment. Under its plans a new North Sea Authority would have a “single focus on maximising oil and gas extraction”, replacing the North Sea Transition Authority.
Pushing for a change in direction, the Tories state: “Continuing down this path of higher energy bills, job losses, and lower economic growth will make us a warning, not an example, to the rest of the world. We must put cheap, reliable energy and a stronger economy first.”
The party argues the UK could be “importing as much as 82% per cent of its gas by 2035, leaving bill-payers vulnerable to shifts in oil price”. There is further concern Britain could suffer another blow to energy security if transatlantic supplies of liquified natural gas (LNG) were curtailed.
Mrs Badenoch said: “Labour’s ban on new oil and gas drilling licences was stupid when they put it in their manifesto; in the middle of an energy crisis it’s completely crazy. Drilling our own oil and gas is about energy security, it’s about financial security, it’s about national security. It’s more jobs, good for business and provides tax revenues that could be used to bring down bills.”
She added: “We need to get Britain drilling. A strong economy relies on cheap, abundant energy.”
There is concern across the political spectrum about Britain’s dependence on energy imports.
When approached earlier in the week, a spokesman for the GMB union said: “It is absolutely critical for the UK’s national security that we have a strong manufacturing base and secure supply of domestic oil and gas. Relying on imports from other countries for the essential elements that power our economy and keep the country going leaves us worryingly exposed.”
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