‘nonsense’: Miliband Attacks Blair As Former Pm Backs North Sea Oil Drilling

The Government should overturn the ban on North Sea oil and gas licences as part of a “reset” in the UK’s energy strategy, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair’s think tank has said.

A new report by the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) says the North Sea basin should be treated as a “home-grown strategic national asset” worth up to £165bn and that the windfall tax on oil and gas companies should be axed, as well as reversing the ban on new exploration licences.

Sources close to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described the proposals as “nonsense” and said they would not reduce electricity bills for homeowners.

The TBI report said the changing geopolitical landscape, with superpowers like China and the US placing energy production at the heart of their “hard power” capabilities, is leaving the UK increasingly reliant on energy imports.

North sea drilling would support ‘energy security’

This means energy should be placed at the heart of the government’s growth strategy, which would be “the most effective contribution the UK can make to tackling climate change.”

A ban on new exploration licences for oil and gas in the North Sea was introduced by Keir Starmer’s government in November.

But the TBI report says reversing the decision would “support energy security and generate revenues for the transition”.

The report, Why Britain Needs an Energy Strategy Reset, says Britain’s net zero commitments for 2050 “must stand firm” and that climate change is “real and dangerous”, but argues decarbonisation alone is not sufficient.

“This is not a departure from the UK’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050 [but] a recognition that delivering it now depends on building an energy system that is affordable, reliable and capable of supporting electrification at scale.”

The paper’s author and energy policy adviser for the TBI, Tone Langengen, said: “A reset in Britain’s energy policy is the most effective contribution the UK can make to tackling climate change.

“At the moment, its narrow focus on whether power is clean means the system has lost sight of whether it is cheap, secure, and capable of powering a modern economy.

“Energy policy is drifting away from the fundamentals that it must serve. It should be measured by the outcome that really matters: abundant, affordable electricity that sustains growth, enables electrification, and maintains public consent for climate action.”

‘Clean energy the route to lower bills’

A source close to Miliband said the plans were “nonsense” and that the report itself admitted that new North Sea oil and gas licences would not affect electricity prices.

Issuing new licences to explore new fields would also only accelerate the worsening climate crisis, sources said.

And a Labour source said: “The mainstream, centre ground position, backed by the economics and British business, is that getting off expensive fossil fuel markets controlled by petrostates and dictators, and onto clean home-grown power is the right choice for Britain.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Our clean power mission is the only way to bring down bills for good.

“The alternatives leave Britain dependent on petrostates and dictators whose control of fossil fuel markets helped drive the cost of living crisis, and are not in the interest of the British people.

“The route to energy sovereignty, lower bills and thousands of good jobs in our communities is becoming a clean energy superpower.”

Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, the UK fossil fuel transition group, said: “This report appears to be little more than a rehash of the oil and gas industry’s talking points. This is an industry that has been lobbying to be allowed to make maximum profit for as long as it can, regardless of the consequences heaped on the rest of us from our changing climate.

“The North Sea is in terminal decline and new drilling would do little to boost UK energy security – most of what’s left is oil, the majority of which is exported. It is no longer, and will never be again, a significant source of revenue. In fact, generous tax breaks mean that the Treasury could even make a net tax loss on a field like Rosebank.”