‘Eco-Zealots’ Drive Labour’s Energy Policy, Says Sunak

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meeting U.S. CEOs, including General Motors boss Mary Barra, at the Business Roundtable during his visit to Washington on June 8, 2023. (Niall Carson - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Labour’s energy policy is written by “eco-zealots” who are leading Britain into an energy surrender, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.

The Conservative Party leader accused his counterpart Sir Keir Starmer of allowing the Just Stop Oil group, that stages disruptive protests, to affect Labour’s policies.

“Not content with disrupting our summer and cherished sporting events, they [Just Stop Oil] are essentially leading us into an energy surrender. My view is we should focus on energy security, not weakness and dependency which seems to be the Labour Party’s policy,” Sunak told reporters during his visit in Washington.

“They are putting ideology ahead of jobs, ahead of investment, and ahead of our energy security. I think that is wrong,” he added.

Sunak’s comments come amid media suggestions that Labour would promise to halt new oil and gas production in the North Sea and Starmer’s statements about a shift from oil and gas to nuclear and renewables.

“It is a completely bizarre policy which says, ‘we won’t ban oil and gas; we will just ban British oil and gas’,” Sunak told the press.

Green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, a major donor to Just Stop Oil, has also given Labour more than £1.4 million.

Labour has called Vince “a perfectly legitimate person to take money from,” and rejected the suggestion that his donations affect the party’s view on Just Stop Oil.

Last week Vince revealed he had a telephone conversation with the Labour leader in May, during which Starmer thanked him for the donation “that’s not been made yet, but the commitment’s been made.”

Conservative Party Chairman Greg Hands questioned whether Labour remained unaffected by Vince’s interests and truly opposed the actions of Just Stop Oil.

“So ‘clearly opposed’ that when Sir Keir phoned Just Stop Oil founder Dale Vince last week to thank him for the donation to Labour, they didn’t discuss Sir Keir’s opposition to the direct action tactics,” Hands wrote on Twitter, following the news of the phone conversation.

Vince, however, told The Guardian that he doesn’t want to “influence policy by doing the things that I do.”

Concerns Over Energy Policy

Labour’s key economic policy is the Green Prosperity Plan that aims to create jobs in green energy sectors and set up a new, publicly-owned clean energy company called GB Energy.

Sunak said that Starmer’s energy policy would only be beneficial to “dictators and autocrats like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”

Labour has repeatedly said that oil and gas will be “part of the mix for decades to come, into the 2050s.”

Speaking to GMB trade union members earlier this week, Starmer vowed to secure jobs as Labour progresses in its mission to decarbonise Britain’s economy.

Starmer said now is the time to “seize the next generation of jobs in nuclear and renewables” across the country.

Trade unions, including GMB and Unite, have expressed concerns with the plans to halt new oil and gas production.

Labour’s policies will create a “cliff edge with oil and gas extraction from the North Sea,” said GMB leader Gary Smith, arguing against the replacement of domestic production with imports.

Meanwhile, Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham asked for clarification on Labour’s policy.

“Labour must now be very clear that they will not let workers pay the price for the transition to renewable energy. When it comes to jobs we can’t have jam tomorrow,” Graham said last week.

Labour has vowed to make Britain a clean power by 2030 by harnessing renewable energy and ensuring the long-term security of nuclear power. The party’s plan, which is expected to include a ban on new oil and gas projects, is set to be unveiled next week in Scotland.