Rishi Sunak criticises Sir Keir Starmer over ‘weird’ North Sea oil and fuel ban

Labour’s proposal to ban new oil and fuel developments within the North Sea is “bizarre” and can solely profit Vladimir Putin, Rishi Sunak has stated.

The prime minister accused Sir Keir Starmer of letting “ecozealots” at Just Stop Oil write his power coverage after it was revealed the occasion had acquired £1.5m from Dale Vince, one of many group’s largest backers.

Labour is because of lay out its plans to dam all new home oil and fuel developments and put money into renewables as a substitute throughout a go to to Scotland this month.

Asked whether or not the occasion wanted to “come clean” about how its insurance policies have been being formed, Mr Sunak instructed reporters: “It does appear that these kind of ecozealots at Just Stop Oil are writing Keir Starmer’s energy policy and, not content with disrupting our summer and cherished sporting events, they are essentially leading us into an energy surrender.

“My view is we must always concentrate on power safety, not weak spot and dependency which appears to be the Labour Party’s coverage.

“They are putting ideology ahead of jobs, ahead of investment, and ahead of our energy security – I think that is wrong and it’s not the right policy for the UK.”

He added: “It’s a very weird coverage which says ‘we cannot ban oil and fuel, we’ll simply ban British oil and fuel’.

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“The solely folks that profit from Keir Starmer’s power coverage are dictators and autocrats like Vladimir Putin.”

The Labour chief’s plans are available in stark distinction to the federal government’s coverage, which is to proceed to licensing new oil and fuel fields within the North Sea to spice up the UK’s power safety, regardless of warnings it might compromise local weather targets.

But Sir Keir’s proposal has confronted criticism from the occasion’s commerce union backers, who’re scared of the influence the transition to inexperienced power may have on jobs.

The Labour chief tried to allay union considerations on the GMB congress in Brighton on Tuesday, wherein he stated his occasion wouldn’t repeat the errors which “decimated” coal mining communities within the Eighties along with his plan to part out new oil and fuel drilling.

The Labour chief pledged to work with unions to “seize the opportunities” of inexperienced power to stop mass job losses.

During a Q&A on the GMB congress, it was put to him that his plan to finish new oil and fuel extraction “is a threat to Scottish jobs and UK energy security”.

The Labour chief responded: “I want to be absolutely clear: oil and gas are going to be part of the mix for decades to come, into the 2050s.

“What I’ll by no means let occur is a repeat of what occurred in coal mining, the place an trade got here to an finish and no one had deliberate for the longer term”.

Sir Keir’s look in Brighton got here days after the union’s common secretary, Gary Smith, known as his coverage on oil and fuel manufacturing “naive” and lacking in “mental rigour”.

He was joined in his criticism by Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, who said Labour must be “very clear that they won’t let staff pay the value” for the transition to renewable power.

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The Labour Party has repeatedly defended the donations Mr Vince, whom it has described as a “completely respectable individual” to take money from.

Shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said his party had been “extraordinarily clear on our views on Just Stop Oil”.

“Indeed, Keir Starmer has stated of them ‘simply go residence’ as a result of they don’t seem to be truly selling the reason for tackling local weather change,” he stated.

“What they are doing is entirely counterproductive and the only debate it’s provoking is about our public order laws.”

But he stated Mr Vince – who’s the chairman of League Two soccer workforce Forest Green Rovers – is a “successful businessman” primarily based within the UK.

“He’s a perfectly legitimate person to take money from.

“If he needs to provide cash to different causes that is as much as him, however it may hardly be stated that this impacts our views as a Labour Party on Just Stop Oil.”