Red Wall Chair Joins Labour MPs Calling For Net Zero Rethink
4 min read
The chair of the Red Wall caucus of Labour MPs has called on ministers to keep British oil and gas in the energy mix as the government's net zero policy comes under backbench pressure.
Jo White, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, told PoliticsHome that North Sea reserves should be kept in the picture until the UK has shifted to homegrown green energy.
“We need an energy policy that lifts the foot off the throttle for UK growth and jobs by ensuring that the severe impacts of rising costs from imported energy are mitigated through targeted interventions, a faster shift to home-grown green energy production, and keeps UK oil and gas in the mix until that point is reached," said White, whose caucus is made up of Labour MPs representing seats in the North and the Midlands.
The government is under pressure to take more action to protect household bills from the effects of the Iran war on global energy prices.
At the same time, questions over Keir Starmer's future in No 10 have given rise to debates about the direction of government policy, such as the net zero agenda.
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, is opposed to new drilling for gas and oil in the North Sea, arguing that it would not bring down energy bills as some of Labour's political rivals claim.
However, this position is coming under pressure from within the Labour Party. Andy Burnham, who is expected to launch a bid to become prime minister if he wins the Makerfield by-election, recently said he's got "something of an open mind" and no "fixed position".
Earlier this week, Gary Smith, General Secretary of the Labour-supporting GMB union, compared the government's net zero agenda to the deindustrialisation policies of Margaret Thatcher, saying it is “closing factories, hitting investment and hitting jobs". He told Times Radio that the policy of phasing out North Sea oil and gas was "economic madness", warning that it would result in thousands of job losses.
Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, said the government must "listen carefully” to Smith's intervention and take a “pragmatic” approach to energy policy.
"I do think ministers need to listen carefully to what the GMB, one of Labour's largest affiliates, is saying about the industrial and employment impact of our energy policies, and take a pragmatic approach that safeguards well-paid, unionised jobs in the oil and gas sector," he told PoliticsHome.
"The promised 'green industrial revolution' hasn't involved enough job creation yet here in the UK. My constituents don't get any jobs from the mass import of solar panels from China."
Jonathan Hinder, MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, added: “Britain must be pragmatic in our energy transition. We need oil and gas, and will do so for many decades to come. It is common sense to use our own resources as much as possible, supporting jobs and tax receipts in the process, rather than relying on foreign imports.”
Last month, former Labour prime minister Tony Blair urged the government to slow down its net zero agenda and prioritise cheap energy over clean energy. He told the News Agents podcast that China's president Xi Jinping "is not sitting there in Beijing saying: ‘I wonder what that Ed Miliband thinks it [about global energy policy]'."
Henry Tufnell, Labour MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, said the government "must take stock and change course if we are to protect British Industry and the communities and livelihoods that it sustains".
"UK energy prices that are four times more expensive than the USA and six times more expensive than Texas cannot support a competitive industrial base," he told PoliticsHome.
In a sign of the divide within Labour, Miatta Fahnbulleh, the former energy minister who is helping Burnham build policy ahead of a bid to replace Starmer, recently told PoliticsHome that Blair was "wrong" about net zero in his intervention.
“There is a global industry that is building up around the green transition around renewables,” she said.
“China is at the absolute forefront of that. Why the hell would we not want a piece of that? Why would we not want to be on the front foot?”
