Sharma vows to rebel over Sunak’s North Sea oil and gas legislation
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Sir Alok Sharma has vowed to rebel against the Government in a vote on plans to boost oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
The former Cop26 president hit out at the “smoke and mirrors” legislation to promote new drilling licences, arguing it would reinforce the “unfortunate perception” that the UK is “rowing back from climate action”.
Tory disquiet over the proposals is growing after Chris Skidmore, the former energy minister, said he was resigning the whip and stepping down as an MP in protest.
He said “the future will judge harshly” anyone who backs the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. If passed, it would mandate annual licensing rounds for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
The vote was set to be held on Monday evening, but was postponed after other business – including a statement about the Horizon Post Office scandal – overran. It will be heard within the next two weeks, MPs were told.
Mr Skidmore formally tendered his resignation on Monday by writing to the Chancellor to request the stewardship of either the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northcliffe – the archaic procedure by which MPs quit their seats.
He used his letter to condemn the legislation, claiming it “achieves so little but does so much to destroy the reputation of the UK as a climate leader”.
“The choice before us is whether to invest in the industries of the future, or to be tied to the industries of the past,” he said.
“No-one has ever denied that we will not need the oil and gas we are using today, but to seek to open up future new sources of fossil fuels, that will be sold on international markets and owned by foreign companies, will do nothing for our energy security.”
Sir Alok, who headed the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, said the legislation “frankly changes nothing” because the North Sea Transition Authority “can already grant licences when they think it is necessary”.
But he said it was still damaging because it reinforced the “unfortunate perception about the UK rowing back from climate action”, and as such he will not vote for it. He did not specify whether he would abstain or vote against.
Sir Alok also accused the Government of “chopping and changing” on climate policy, claiming it was not serious about meeting its international commitments.
He told the BBC: “It is actually a smoke and mirrors Bill, which frankly changes nothing. The North Sea Transition Authority, which is the body that actually grants oil and gas licences, can already grant licences when they think it is necessary and the energy department has made pretty clear that in respect of this Bill that will not change.
“But what this Bill does do is reinforce that unfortunate perception about the UK rowing back from climate action. We saw this last autumn with the chopping and changing on some policies and actually not being serious about meeting our international commitments.
“Just a few weeks ago at Cop28 … the UK Government signed up to transition away from fossil fuels. This Bill is about doubling down on granting more oil and gas production licences – it is actually the opposite of what we agreed to do internationally, so I won’t be supporting it.”
Sir Keir Starmer also described the plans as a “waste of time”, with Labour set to vote against the legislation on Monday. Should the Bill pass, the party intends to override or repeal the relevant clauses if it wins the next general election, rendering them obsolete.
The Labour leader told broadcasters: “It isn’t going to make any difference at all. Zero impact on energy bills. That is not me saying it, that is Government ministers, or ex-Government ministers. They have described it as smoke and mirrors.
“What you have got is a Government that is wasting its time trying to pass legislation to create a dividing line with the Labour Party rather than to solve the problem.”
Asked whether Mr Sunak agreed with Sir Alok, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No, we need oil and gas for decades to come.
“Even when we reach net zero in 2050, there is data from the independent Climate Change Committee which shows that. So the Government believes it is common sense to make the most of what we can produce here rather than shipping in more fuels from foreign regimes with higher emissions.”
Sam Hall, director of the Conservative Environment Network, also stressed that oil and gas will be needed during the transition to net zero - albeit in “shrinking amounts”.
But he said the “energy security and long-term economic benefits” of the legislation “shouldn’t be overstated”, given the price volatility of international fossil fuel markets and the fact North Sea reserves are “in terminal decline”.
“The priority for both energy security and for tackling climate change is to rapidly reduce our demand for oil and gas through building more renewables, improving energy efficiency, and electrifying more of the economy,” he said.
“Insulating more homes would have an even greater impact on reducing gas imports than new licences, which is why the government should introduce tax breaks to encourage more homeowners and landlords to improve their properties’ energy efficiency.”
The Government has argued that the legislation is necessary to boost domestic energy security and to ensure a smooth transition to cleaner power.
Its net zero pledges have already proved controversial with backbenchers, with Rishi Sunak previously having faced a major rebellion by MPs who opposed quotas on the sales of electric cars.
