Workers are being 'failed' by government's net zero plan as union boss urges Labour to 'be more Labour'
Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to hold firm on Labour’s green policies in the face of growing political pushback domestically, while campaigners warn against further drilling in the North Sea
A leading union figure has accused the government of betraying workers in its push for net zero, warning that energy and industrial jobs are being sacrificed without a credible plan to replace them.
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Speaking after a series of talks with Labour's secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Ed Miliband, Unite general-secretary Sharon Graham said the drive to end North Sea drilling had been handled recklessly.
"We all want net zero. My members want net zero too. But workers have been completely missed out of the equation, and we are failing those workers," she told LBC's Lewis Goodall.
"You cannot say you're going to stop drilling in the North Sea, but have absolutely no plan in terms of how you're going to replace that energy or indeed replace those jobs.
"We are buying wind turbines from Denmark. We very shortly are going to be a shell that we absolutely make nothing.”
Read more: BP slashes net-zero spending by nearly £4bn in renewed oil and gas focus
Read more: Starmer's race to net zero risks destroying rural Britain
'It's getting harder to justify that affiliation.'
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@UniteSharon explains to @lewis_goodall why Labour is falling short of being 'the voice of workers'. pic.twitter.com/5sdpQ659Jz
Asked if she believe Sir Keir Starmer was a "good prime minister", Ms Graham declined to endorse him, stressing that leadership should be judged on substance, not personality.
"I don't want to get into the individuals," she said. "It's about policy. Look, do I think they're moving on the right policies? No, I don't.
"People are really hurting out there. They're on their knees and they're being kicked.
"You've got record profits, Tesco, £3.1 billion in one year. And you've got food going up by nearly 40%. You've got to do something about these types of things, otherwise workers will leave Labour in droves and that's what they're doing.”
Ms Graham warned that Sir Keir needed to reconnect with workers and Labour supporters or risk losing them as voters.
She said: “What I want them to do is to be more Labour. I think what's happening out there are people are scratching their heads, genuinely scratching their heads and saying; look, we don't feel we've got a Labour government in power.
"What they need to do now is do what it says on the tin, do what they said they would do on the doorsteps and be Labour, do Labour things.”
It comes after Donald Trump repeatedly urged the UK government to increase North Sea drilling, despite critics of such a move saying resources are largely exploited and the oil field is in decline.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said it is “impossible” for the UK to meet its net zero target to cut climate pollution to zero overall by 2050 and pledged to “maximise extraction” of oil and gas in the North Sea.
Reform leader Nigel Farage has also vowed to fast-track North Sea oil and gas licences and scrap net-zero targets if the party wins the next election, claiming it will save £30 billion a year.
Nonetheless, climate action is increasingly seen as an economic imperative, with UK businesses and cities holding the line on net zero ambition, according to public net zero commitment data covering nations, regions, cities and major companies.
