Red Ed faces backbench revolt over ban on North Sea oil and gas drilling – as growing number of Labour MPs demand he ditch Net Zero agenda to tackle cost of living and lower bills
A backbencher rebellion fueled by public pressure is turning the screw on Ed Miliband’s refusal to tap untapped energy reserves in the North Sea.
A growing number of Labor MPs are calling on the Energy Secretary to tone down his Net Zero agenda to tackle the cost of living and reduce bills.
This coincided with a poll showing voters wanted Labor to urgently lift the drilling ban to prevent households being hit with the cost of the Middle East crisis.
The research, carried out by Lord Ashcroft for The Mail on Sunday, found that half of voters think Mr Miliband should, in the words of Donald Trump, ‘taste, baby, drill’.
As fuel stocks dwindle amid the conflict, pressure is mounting on the Government to lift the ban on new exploration in the North Sea.
Unions are piling further pressure on Labor, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves also sparking speculation of Cabinet discord by saying she was ‘very happy’ to see drilling. And now Labor MPs have publicly called on Mr Miliband to allow new discoveries.
Henry Tufnell is leading the backbencher campaign for the Government to issue new drilling licences.
He said drilling was ‘vital for our own domestic energy security and good for the economy due to increased tax revenues and jobs’.
A growing number of Labor MPs are calling on Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (pictured) to tone down his Net Zero agenda to tackle the cost of living and cut bills
Global energy prices have skyrocketed since Iran began blockading the Strait of Hormuz following US and Israeli attacks. Image: File photo of an offshore oil and gas platform
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Labor MP Luke Akehurst agreed, saying there was ‘no contradiction’ between ‘developing renewables and nuclear and exploiting our remaining oil and gas reserves in the North Sea’.
The policy is already backed by Reform Britain and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who on Saturday called on Sir Keir to rein in the ‘dogmatic Energy Secretary’.
Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar, the SNP, Tony Blair’s think tank and the Labor-backing GMB also voiced their support.
But some Labor MPs on the Left are strongly against this, with Uma Kumaran saying: ‘The climate crisis is very real… We can’t keep going back to oil and gas.’
Green industrialist Dale Vince, one of Labour’s biggest donors, told Times Radio it would be ‘wrong’ for Labor to allow new discoveries.
It follows reports that Mr Miliband may approve the development of the Jackdaw gas field but opposes Rosebank, the UK’s largest undiscovered oil field.
But sources insisted the decision was always meant to be made in the autumn. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: ‘These decisions will be made appropriately and in a timely manner.’
