Kemi Badenoch has said fuel rationing should not be the government’s first response to rising energy costs, as she urged for more drilling of domestic oil and gas in the North Sea instead.
The Conservative Party leader has pushed for Britain to capitalise on its own oil and gas reserves in an effort to shield UK households from rising energy costs amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is continuing to push up oil prices across the globe, sparking concerns about the impact on supplies in the coming weeks and months.
However, Mrs Badenoch said rationing oil and gas reserves is not the first thing the government should be doing, as she instead called for the drilling of Britain’s own resources in the North Sea.
“Rushing out to say the government should be rationing fuel, that’s not the first thing I would be doing,” she told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips.
“The first thing they should do is start drilling our own oil and gas in the North Sea, it’s important for our energy security, our economic security, our national security – and they’re not doing that.”
The Conservative Party leader will launch her “Get Britain Drilling” campaign on Monday, as she calls for Britain to maximise the use of its resources.
As part of a three-point plan to boost production, she will propose an end to the moratorium on new oil and gas licences, scrapping of the windfall tax on energy profits, and more financial support for the fossil fuels industry.
“Labour’s ban on new oil and gas drilling licences was stupid when they put it in their manifesto; in the middle of an energy crisis, it’s completely crazy,” she said earlier.
“Drilling our own oil and gas is about energy security, it’s about financial security, it’s about national security. It’s more jobs, good for business and provides tax revenues that could be used to bring down bills.”
She added: “We need to get Britain drilling. A strong economy relies on cheap, abundant energy.”
When challenged on Sunday on how she would explain her party’s abandonment of its net-zero targets to King Charles, who is famously keen on green principles, she said people should “stop putting words in the King’s mouth”.
“The fact is, net zero is a slogan, it is not a plan, and it is bankrupting our country. His Majesty does not want to see the country bankrupt because of a slogan,” she told Sky News.
Despite mounting fears of growing energy costs, chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted living costs will be coming down in the next week due to her fiscal policies.
“While critics snipe from the sidelines, wanting us to repeat the mistakes of the past, we are taking the responsible approach – supporting our partners in the Gulf and taking decisions to keep bearing down on the cost of living while protecting the public finances,” she wrote in The Independent.
“And it’s thanks to this government and the decisions I have taken that costs for working people will be coming down this week.
“This week people will see an average of £117 off energy bills.
“The state pension will increase by up to £575 this year. Commuter train fares will stay frozen for the first time in 30 years. And the National Living Wage will rise for millions of people, so they have more money in their pockets, more to spend in their communities.”
The Tories plan to announce further measures in the coming week, aimed at both bringing down living costs and energy bills for businesses.
But Tessa Khan, executive director of campaign group Uplift, branded the announcements as a “vapid, political game at the expense of ordinary people” and said Ms Badenoch was “peddling a dangerous fantasy”.
“Politicians who refuse to acknowledge the reality of the declining North Sea are endangering our security and economy,” she said.
“Not only that, they are betraying workers who need long-term, secure jobs – which will only now come from renewables, not some pipe dream.
“This is vapid, political game playing at the expense of ordinary people.”
At PMQs this week, Sir Keir Starmer insisted it was for the energy secretary to decide whether or not to approve new licences for drilling in the North Sea, including at the Rosebank and Jackdaw sites.
To which Ms Badenoch replied: “The real reason Labour are refusing new licences is that Ed Miliband is now running the government.”
But she herself has faced criticism from the prime minister, after having initially called for Britain to join America and Israel in their war against Iran.
Chair of the Labour Party Anna Turley said Mrs Badenoch’s energy policy “has completely fallen apart”.
“She’s been forced to admit her central energy intervention won’t bring people’s bills down,” she said. “And she can't say whether she'd support families who might need help.”
“Badenoch wanted to send British troops head first into a war without thinking about the consequences. Now she’s putting forward energy plans that she freely admits won’t help Brits struggling with their bills. She is completely out of her depth and proving once again that she’s unfit for high office.”
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