After confirming his intention to run in the event of a Labour leadership contest, the man who could be Britain’s next first-amongst-equals has stressed ‘pragmatism’ as key to national growth.
This includes a promise to back the highly controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil fields.
Acknowledging the need to ‘do controversial things’, Wes Streeting told a London press conference that the UK has ‘barely any low hanging fruit’ in an economic sense. As such, any projects that could offer comparatively cheap returns should be prioritised.
‘The central route to energy security is not more oil and gas,’ he said. ‘It’s cheaper and cleaner electricity… but Britain will still use some gas during the energy transition.’
Streeting continued by stressing the importance of being able to develop ‘existing fields’ without posing a risk to the country’s climate obligations. ‘There is a pragmatic case for producing our own gas, rather than importing from abroad. Especially where it supports jobs, tax revenues, and supply chain capability.
‘The right approach is not to pretend North Sea oil and gas is our future, or to treat every remaining project as a moral catastrophe,’ Streeting added. ‘It is to manage decline responsibly, to apply strict climate tests but also channel the proceeds that will cut bills and cut emissions. ‘It’s also to protect the workers in oil and gas who have seen the words like ‘just transition’ translate into ‘someone else, somewhere else’.’
Net zero policies are coming under increasing fire from political critics, with right wing MPs and commentators in particular encouraging the public to question viability and affordability of decarbonisation at speed and scale. According to Streeting, there is a very real need for government to prove that economic growth is not only possible under a reduced emissions framework, but can actually be supported by cutting carbon output.
‘The best example we can set is that net zero is compatible with the pro-growth agenda,’ said Streeting. ‘The worst example would be to lose support for the net zero agenda, handing the country to Nigel Farage and allowing Reform to destroy the renewables industry.’
This comes just after a new analysis by Ecologi and Business Green found that 90% of British businesses are now feeling tangible fallout from the climate crisis. Of that figure, 40% are now seeing the environmental and ecological crises eating up 6% of annual turnover or more.
Image: Julia Taubitz / Unsplash
More on Energy: