Many thanks for writing to me regarding the proposed Rosebank Oilfield.
The next UK Labour Government will have a mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, creating jobs, cutting bills, boosting energy security and ensuring that we play our part in tackling the climate crisis.
Bills are spiralling because of thirteen years of failed Tory energy policy that has left us overly reliant on fossil fuels like oil and gas – wherever they come from. The war in Ukraine has strengthened calls to ensure security of supply and the cost of living and energy crisis has brought home the impact of volatile fossil fuel market. The only way to free ourselves from this for good and deliver energy security for the long term is to decisively move to clean, affordable homegrown power.
That is why Labour is focused on a sprint to clean power by 2030 and competing for secure, well-paid jobs in the growth industries of the future, such as onshore and offshore wind, tidal, green hydrogen, solar and carbon capture and storage.
Oil and gas production in the North Sea will be with us for decades to come, and Labour will ensure a phased and responsible transition. We cannot allow a cliff edge for energy production and workers but every additional pound of investment or tax subsidy that is spent on oil and gas production is a pound that isn’t spent embracing a competitive global race, which is why Labour will not issue licences to explore new fields.
Any new field would involve huge amounts of public money – the UK will spend £11bn in the coming years in tax breaks designed by Rishi Sunak – while taxes go up on hard working people struggling to get by, the NHS is in crisis and national debt has skyrocketed. As the Tories own ‘net zero tsar’ says: “There is no such thing as a new net zero oilfield”
We have opposed Rosebank consistently, as poor environmental choices and poor value for money, but Labour are not in government now. If it is consented before the election we will honour that decision and would not revoke that consent, because that would create uncertainty for investors and could leave the government exposed to legal challenge and compensation claims.
Instead Labour’s focus will be on building our clean power system so that we can have net-zero electricity by 2030, with a public energy company GB Energy, headquartered in Scotland, and at least 1,000 local energy projects across Scotland with communities sharing in the profits and benefits of the energy generative on their doorstep. The UK Tory Government support Rosebank for the wrong reasons, prioritising shareholder profit over local jobs and climate action but Labour know that there will be a global leader in the clean energy revolution and we are determined that it will be Scotland and the UK.
Once again, thank you for writing to me regarding the Rosebank oilfield.