Miliband vows permanent shutdown of the North Sea

Labour is to ban new oil and gas fields in Britain, making it far harder for any future government to reopen the North Sea.

A legal prohibition on new drilling will be included in the energy independence bill, part of the raft of new legislation set out by the King in his speech opening Parliament on Wednesday.

The bill will make Ed Miliband’s temporary moratorium on new drilling permanent, ensuring it would be far harder for a future government to reverse the ban. Labour also plans to legally ban onshore fracking.

A detailed note released by the Energy Secretary’s officials after the King’s Speech said the bill would “meet [Labour’s] manifesto commitment not to issue new licences to explore new fields, including delivering the commitment to ban fracking”.

However, the timing is controversial because the Iran war has choked off supplies of fuel from the Middle East and created a global oil crisis. Leading executives, including the bosses of British Gas and Octopus Energy, have urged Mr Miliband to rethink his North Sea policy as a result.

The Energy Secretary’s plan won praise from environmental campaigners but generated a backlash from his political rivals, the offshore industry and Sir Tony Blair’s think tank.

Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said the policy would “amount to the wilful destruction of our own domestic energy supplies and people’s livelihoods”.

She added: “It is utterly shameful and we Conservatives will fight them every step of the way.”

Richard Tice, Reform’s energy spokesman, called the plan “ludicrous”.

The fate of the energy independence bill is uncertain given that Sir Keir Starmer is fighting to save his premiership. However, Mr Miliband is expected to be among the challengers seeking to replace him in any Labour leadership contest. If successful, Mr Miliband is very likely to push ahead with the legislation.

Under the plans, existing licensed oil and gas fields will be allowed to keep going till depleted. However, the fate of the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields – two significant North Sea oil and gas projects that the Energy Secretary has yet to approve – remains uncertain.

Enrique Cornejo, at Offshore Energies UK, said: “It makes sense for the UK to make the most of its entire homegrown energy mix – the oil and gas it continues to need, plus wind and other renewable sources of energy alongside nuclear power.

“Events in the Middle East are showing very clearly that the UK must reduce its reliance on energy imports, but the nation is set to depend on shipments from places like the USA and Qatar for half its gas by 2035.”

Tone Langengen, at The Tony Blair Institute, said: “As the Climate Change Committee makes clear, oil and gas will remain part of the mix for decades. Maintaining domestic supply where it makes sense is vital to reducing exposure to volatile global markets.”

Mr Miliband insisted that rapidly moving to renewable energy was “the only way to bring down bills for good and take back control of our energy”.

Tessa Khan, the executive director of Uplift, which campaigns against the fossil fuel industry, praised the Government’s plans.

“Spending tens of billions propping up a broken fossil fuel system is clearly not the answer, nor is more drilling when we know it won’t lower bills and the UK has already burned through most of its gas reserves,” she said.

The energy independence bill will also contain a raft of other measures, such as requiring landlords to invest in home upgrades, and creating a dedicated “warm homes agency” to deliver a £15bn programme of electrification and energy support for vulnerable families. It will also enable the removal of charges on power that households export to the grid, for example, from solar panels.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]