LONDON – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced fresh criticism of his plan to expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea after a senior Conservative MP said he plans to rebel against legislation to implement the policy amid questions over its impact and efficacy.
“I will not be voting for this Bill,” former business secretary Alok Sharma told BBC Radio on Jan 8. “What this Bill does do is reinforce that unfortunate perception about the UK rowing back from climate action.”
The criticism from Mr Sharma, who as COP26 president led the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow in 2021, comes just three days after former science minister Chris Skidmore announced he was quitting his parliamentary seat in protest over the plan, saying he could “no longer condone nor continue to support a government that is committed to a course of action that I know is wrong”.
It is a fresh headache for Mr Sunak, who is trying to unify his fractured Conservatives ahead of a general election he has indicated is likely in the second half of the year.
Under pressure from the right wing of his party, he has rowed back on green measures in recent months, pushing back a deadline on banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and easing rules on replacing gas boilers for domestic heating. However, those retreats, and the oil and gas plan, have served to alienate party moderates.
Under the legislation, which would have its first vote in the House of Commons on Jan 8 evening, the government plans to facilitate hundreds of new licences for oil and gas production.
Mr Sunak has argued that fossil fuels are still an important part of Britain’s energy mix and that he wants to reduce reliance on overseas imports by promoting domestic production.
However, given the oil and gas is drilled by private firms and sold on international markets, it is unclear what effect it would have on Britain’s energy security.
In December, the government said it was “not desirable to force private companies to ‘allocate’ oil and gas produced in the North Sea for domestic use”.
Defending the policy on Jan 8, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman Max Blain said: “It’s clearly preferable to have an international market that has more oil and gas from the UK and other countries which are stable and which are not authoritarian regimes.”
He added that the extra drilling would contribute to a market “that is otherwise reliant on energy from foreign regimes with higher emissions”.
The think-tank E3G was critical of the drilling plans, saying they would not decrease prices for households or create new jobs.
“Any new oil will be destined for export rather than the domestic market and so brings no benefits to consumers,” said Ms Beth Walker, a senior policy advisor at E3G.
“It also further damages the UK’s international green credentials and sends confusing signals to investors as the government is propping up a declining industry.” BLOOMBERG
