Andrew Bowie is MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Networks.
Britain’s energy should come from Britain. We will need oil and gas for decades to come. These are two irrefutable facts. With that in mind, why not exploit the maximum amount of our own oil and gas reserves to power British homes and industries – from British waters, employing British workers, and generating revenue for the British Government to invest in schools, hospitals, and roads?
Of course, this Government is committed to Net Zero. We passed the legislation to achieve it, becoming the first in the world to do so, back in 2019. We have a great story to tell – going further and faster than any comparable country in cutting emissions by 50 per cent – and developing our renewable capacity.
The first to fifth largest windfarms in the world, right now, are generating power off the coast of Britain. We’re investing in bolstering our nuclear capacity, which will meet 25 per cent of the UK’s energy demand by 2050. But even when we reach Net Zero, we will still be reliant on oil and gas for some of our energy needs for years ahead. It is Net Zero, not absolute zero.
Our position is clear. Our pragmatic approach will bolster Britain’s energy independence, harnessing the power of the North Sea and reducing both our dependence on energy from other countries and our carbon emissions by using UK oil and gas which has emissions four times lower than that of LNG imported from abroad.
The SNP’s position is also clear. It’s whatever Labour’s position is. Except maybe it isn’t today. But it was yesterday. And probably will be tomorrow. After the last few weeks, you would be forgiven for being confused on where Labour or the SNP stand on energy policy. Let’s run through what we do know.
We know that Labour doesn’t have a plan for how they would pay for their energy policy. Despite U-turning on their botched £28 billion green spending spree, and despite failing to explain how they will pay for their unfunded £130 billion energy efficiency plans, Labour has said they’re still committed to decarbonising the grid by 2030, a commitment which industry leaders have called unachievable and warn could lead to blackouts.
We also know that Labour, just like the SNP, have abandoned the North East of Scotland and the North East of England. True to form, the Labour is more concerned with virtue signaling and winning over their friends in Just Stop Oil with their North Sea proposals than they are with the economic reality. The SNP cares more about placating their Green puppetmasters than being serious or credible on oil and gas.
The rank hypocrisy of Humza Yousaf, claiming to be a friend of the industry that his government partners want to shut down, speaks volumes about him and the disdain the SNP has for our oil and gas workforce. Fortunately, voters can see right through the SNP and their hollow words and false protestations of support.
Labour, like the SNP, had promised to work with the sector. But, despite this, they have since confirmed their plans to bring about a cliff-edge end to North Sea production. A move that more than a thousand business leaders and trade unions have warned would obliterate hundreds of thousands of jobs, throw away billions in economic value, and decimate communities in the North East.
The North Sea oil and gas sector generates around £15 billion for the Treasury annually. This is money that we have been able to spend on supporting the most vulnerable households with the cost of living this winter. On top of this, UK offshore energy companies have said they will invest a further £200 billion in homegrown energy production across the UK in this decade alone.
Labour and the SNP’s failure to grasp the economic realities of the transition to Net-Zero is not only a hammer blow to our country’s finances, nor simply a public display of self-flagellating virtue signalling. It is a genuine threat to our nation’s energy security. Electing either party would take us back to square one.
The post Andrew Bowie: Unlike Labour or the SNP, the Conservatives have a serious plan for Britain’s energy security appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: Andrew Bowie
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