End of day summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day:
A taskforce has been launched to ensure the UK has the right skills in the nuclear industry as part of government plans to drastically scale up nuclear capacity. The panel will work to ensure roles are filled in the rapidly expanding defence and civil nuclear sectors, the Ministry of Defence said.
The government’s plan to triple Britain’s nuclear power generation capacity by 2050 badly lacks the strategy to actually achieve it, according to a report published on Monday. In the report, the science, innovation and technology committee backed the decision to look to nuclear power as a way to meet the UK’s electricity needs amid the race to net zero but ministers need to be clear on how they propose to get there in order to encourage investment, the committee said.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves as he revealed a new round of intensive North Sea drilling, which experts said could be catastrophic for the climate. Unveiling a plan to authorise more than 100 new North Sea licences on a visit to north-east Scotland, the prime minister also indicated he would approve drilling at the UK’s largest untapped reserves in the Rosebank field, which hold 500m barrels of oil.
Opposition parties say the government is failing to act as oil companies continue to rake in massive profits, despite oil and gas prices coming down from last year’s highs. The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to keep the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
Climate activists have sprayed part of the Scottish parliament building red in a protest against the prime minister announcing plans for 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea. Protesters from the This Is Rigged pressure group sprayed the entrance red.
A billionaire global investor has led international condemnation of the UK’s new oil rush, saying he would pull his major investment from the country if the prime minister pursued “clickbait” fossil fuel policies.
A UK government minister has said he “cannot put a timeframe” on when the Home Office will open a controversial giant barge meant to house asylum seekers, which has been further delayed for checks. The initial plan had been to move people on to the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset, from this week, with numbers due to rise over the coming months until the vessel held about 500 men.
Jeremy Hunt oversaw the signing of a low-tax treaty with San Marino championed by a leading Tory donor, who with his companies has given more than £700,000 to the party and £30,000 to the chancellor. Maurizio Bragagni, a prominent businessman and diplomat for San Marino, was present in No 11 when a “double taxation” treaty between the UK and San Marino was signed in May.
We’re closing this liveblog now. Thanks so much for joining us and for all the comments and emails.
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Billionaire investor threatens to pull out of UK amid global outcry at new oil rush
A billionaire global investor has led international condemnation of the UK’s new oil rush, saying he would pull his major investment from the country if the prime minister pursued “clickbait” fossil fuel policies.
The Australian mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest, who also runs the Minderoo Foundation philanthropic organisation, threatened to move his investments out of the UK over Rishi Sunak’s swivel towards new oil and gas drilling.
Forrest told Bloomberg News:
I am a major investor here. If I see this country steering itself over a cliff backing fossil fuel, I am going to start pulling out. I will push my investments over to North America … I must invest where I know I have proper leadership, not leadership which is on a clickbait cycle.
The prime minister’s announcement that more than 100 new oil and gas drilling licences would be granted for the North Sea in the autumn has sparked condemnation from climate scientists, energy experts and some within his own party.
The push for oil and gas is in direct conflict with international experts including those at the International Energy Agency and the International Institute for Sustainable Development who say oil and gas exploration must stop if the world is to stay within safe limits of global heating and meet the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
The return to fossil fuel drilling puts the UK at odds with a string of European countries including Ireland, Denmark and Spain, who have already announced bans on new oil and gas exploration in order to tackle climate breakdown.
Michael Bloss, a Green MEP from Germany, said the UK had lost all credibility:
The UK has lost its leadership on this issue. The International Energy Agency said in 2021 that there must not be new fossil fuel exploration in order to try and keep [the goal of limiting heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels] alive.
Read more from my colleagues Sandra Laville, Oliver Milman, Nina Lakhani and Ajit Niranjan here:
