Labour has confirmed its plans to block all North Sea oil and gas projects if it wins the next general election. The party plans to invest in renewable energy sources such as wind, tidal and nuclear power instead.
“This isn’t about shutting down what’s going on now”, shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday’s show. “We will manage those sustainably.”
“We know we’ve got to move to more renewable sources of energy. It’s important for our climate change commitments, but it’s also the way in which we can bring energy bills down for consumers.
“What we’ll be doing in the coming weeks is outlining how we want to invest in the green jobs of the future, to bring bills down, to create a more sustainable energy supply.”
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Labour leader Keir Starmer is expected to set out the proposals to ban new North Sea oil and gas licenses on a visit to Scotland in June.
A party source told The Guardian: “We are against the granting of new licences for oil and gas in the North Sea. They will do nothing to cut bills as the Tories have acknowledged; they undermine our energy security and would drive a coach and horse through our climate targets.
“But Labour would continue to use existing oil and gas wells over the coming decades and manage them sustainably as we transform the UK into a clean energy superpower.”
