Trump’s man in London hits out as UK’s clean energy deal
Donald Trump’s representative in the UK has criticized the clean energy deal backed by Ed Miliband, claiming it “will not solve the UK’s energy needs”.
US Ambassador Warren Stephens has called on Sir Keir Starmer’s Government to benefit from North Sea oil and gas instead of the agreement reached between the UK and European countries. His remarks echo Mr Trump’s criticism of Britain’s intention to move away from fossil fuels.
The Hamburg Declaration, which Mr Miliband signed on Monday with counterparts from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway, was described as “historic” by the Department for Energy Security ad Net Zero.
The agreement means the North Sea countries will deliver 100 gigawatts of joint offshore wind projects, including projects linked to multiple countries.
Mr Miliband, the Energy Secretary, said the deal would help “get the UK out of the fossil fuel vicissitudes and give us energy sovereignty and abundance”.
But on Tuesday Mr Stephens said: “The Hamburg Declaration signed yesterday will not solve Britain’s energy needs.
“The reality is that wind energy is an unreliable method of meeting the needs of the people of this country.
“The US wants the strongest partner in the UK. This starts with taking an ‘all of the above’ approach to energy policy, including taking bold steps to tap North Sea oil and gas reserves and expand nuclear power.”
American firms are involved in the North Sea oil and gas industry, and the US is also the UK’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Mr Trump used his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month to criticize Britain’s North Sea policy.
He said: “The UK produced only a third of its total energy from all sources in 1999 – think about it, a third – and they sit on the North Sea, one of the largest reserves anywhere in the world, but they are not using it and that is one reason why their energy has reached catastrophically low levels at equally high prices.”
The UK Government has committed to not issuing new licenses for oil and gas exploration and has a target of a clean electricity system by 2030.
