Net zero dogma won’t keep the lights on: Britain must drill its own oil and gas, writes Andrew Bowie MP
The government says we are in an energy crisis – and yet rather than exploiting our oil fields and potential in the North Sea, Labour would rather call last orders on the North Sea and leave our oil and gas supplies at the mercy of the Ayatollah.
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Unlike both Labour and Reform, the Conservative Party has a genuine plan to tackle this head on. That is why we have taken the rare step of publishing a Get Britain Drilling Now Bill
Our aim is to promote investment in oil and gas, tackle net-zero lawfare and Get Britain Drilling Now, to protect 200,000 jobs, create security of supply and raise billions in tax.
We will do this by removing downstream emissions - the hypothetical CO2 produced by burning the fuel that’s extracted – from consideration in granting permission to extract oil and gas. It is a major obstacle to investment, as permission is often denied on these grounds, leaving Britain dependent on large quantities of oil and gas from abroad.
Our legislation would give companies the confidence they need to invest in oil and gas in the North Sea, by taking it out of the hands of judges and ideologically driven ministers to decide if they have met arbitrary bureaucratic requirements.
Britain relies on oil and gas for around three-quarters of its energy needs, and we will need oil and gas for decades. Choosing not to produce oil and gas here in Britain won’t mean we use any less, we will just import more, with higher associated emissions, from foreign countries instead – sending jobs, tax revenue, and investment abroad while Britain’s economy suffers.
This was a terrible idea before the war in Iran, but Labour blocking domestic energy production during an energy supply crisis is unforgivable.
This builds on our enhanced Cheap Power Plan to which will remove VAT from household energy bills for the next 3 years, Axe the Carbon Tax and scrap Ed Miliband’s old renewable subsidies, saving families £200 a year
Unlike Reform, the Conservatives have a fully funded plan. Our Cheap Power Plan will be funded by scrapping various taxpayer-funded Net Zero schemes, including Ed Miliband’s GB Energy, heat pump subsidies, and abolishing the Renewable Obligation subsidies.
The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to secure cheap, reliable energy for the long term, supporting families and businesses and providing the power to Get Britain Working Again.
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Andrew Bowie MP is the Conservative Shadow Energy Minister
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