The British government has given the green light to new oil and gas projects in the North Sea amid the energy crisis fuelled by sanctions on Russia.
A Downing Street statement pledged that more than 100 new drilling licences would be granted by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) to "boost British energy independence" and "reduce reliance on hostile states."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also announced two new carbon capture and storage projects in northeast Scotland the estuary Humber, which he said were vital to "realise our net-zero target" for carbon dioxide emissions.
Speaking ahead of a visit to Scotland on Monday, Sunak claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin had "manipulated and weaponised energy" — when in fact the UK and other Western nations had imposed embargoes on Russia, while the US has been blamed for the September 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.
"Now more than ever, it's vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalise on that independence to deliver more affordable, clean energy to British homes and businesses," Sunak said, admitting that "even when we've reached net zero in 2050, a quarter of our energy needs will come from oil and gas."
In a swipe at the opposition Labour party, which wants a ban on new gas and oil drilling in a bid to achieve the 'net zero' target by the end of the decade, the PM claimed there were "those who would rather that it come from hostile states than from the supplies we have here at home."
Labour shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband accused Sunak of waging a "culture war" against global warming orthodoxy — while also blaming the Conservative government for failing to make the country more energy self-sufficient.
"Every family and business is paying the price, in higher energy bills," said Miliband. "It is absurd that having left this country so exposed, the Conservative Party is asking the public to believe they can fix it." He said Sunak "lurches desperately towards a culture war on climate to appease his split party, losing track of what he believes from day to day, depending on which faction he's met with."
The Tories have already accused Labour of being in the pocket of the Green lobby after it emerged that it had received £1.5 million in donations from renewable energy entrepreneur Dale Vince — who has also bankrolled the Just Stop Oil direct action campaign.
Stephen Flynn MP, Westminster leader of the secessionist Scottish National Party (SNP) which hopes North Seal fossil fuels will bankroll a future independent state, said Labour's demand for a moratorium was "silly."
But he also attacked the government's plan as "a little bit morally bankrupt," arguing that "every single drop of oil or indeed a molecule of gas that we take out of the North Sea will have a concurrent impact on climate change."