Starmer Calls Just Stop Oil’s North Sea Demands ‘Contemptible’

Rishi Sunak accused of creating 'cultural wedge'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media during a visit to Shefford, England, on July 22, 2023. Jacob King/PA

The Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has described Just Stop Oil’s demands as “contemptible” and said his government would not tear up any existing oil and gas drilling licences.

With a general election looming in the next 18 months and the Conservatives keen to position themselves as the motorists’ party, especially in the wake of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election result—which was seen by many as a referendum on ULEZ—Mr. Starmer has taken a tough stance on Just Stop Oil.

In an opinion piece in The Times, Mr. Starmer said: “The likes of Just Stop Oil want us to simply turn off the taps in the North Sea, creating the same chaos for working people that they do on our roads. It’s contemptible.”

“So is saying you want clean energy as we move away from fossil fuels and then opposing nuclear power, even though it is vital to any viable plan to lower energy bills and deliver energy security for working people,” he added.

Labour was criticised last month by Energy Secretary Grant Shapps for accepting a donation of £1.5 million from Dale Vince, the founder of sustainable energy firm Ecotricity, who is an admirer of Just Stop Oil and has given them funding.

But Mr. Starmer made it clear he would not tear up hundreds of new drilling licences for oil and gas fields in the North Sea recently announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and would only ban new licences.

He said: “On the North Sea, Labour’s plan is pragmatic and fair. To secure a managed transition, we will need our existing oil and gas fields for decades to come.

“We won’t revoke any licences issued by this government because, unlike them, we take investor certainty and legal obligations seriously,” he added.

Sunak Accused of Creating ‘Cultural Wedge’

Mr. Starmer criticised Mr. Sunak for trying to create a “cultural wedge” between motorists and those fighting for climate change.

Mr. Sunak must call an election by January 2025 at the latest and the most recent opinion polls have Labour at 45 percent and the Tories at 28 percent.

Screengrab from a video posted by Just Stop Oil of one of their activists being dragged off the street at Harleyford Street, just off Kennington Park Road, London, on Oct. 29, 2022. PA Media/Just Stop Oil

He accused the Tory Party leader, who is facing a landslide defeat if the polls are accurate, of sacrificing Britain’s “long-term interest for short-term political gain.”

Last month Mr. Sunak ordered a review of low-traffic neighbourhood schemes and accused Labour councils which had pushed them through as being “anti-motorist.”

After Labour’s candidate Danny Beales narrowly lost the Uxbridge by-election, Mr. Starmer called on the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to review his plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) later this month.

Earlier this week Mr. Khan announced a major expansion of financial support intended to ease the financial impact of the ULEZ expansion on ordinary people.

He extended the £2,000 scrappage grant to all Londoners.

Starmer Says Drivers Want to Tackle Climate Change too

In the article on Friday, Mr. Starmer said, “British people overwhelmingly both drive cars and want to tackle climate change.”

Britain faces an energy challenge with rising gas prices pushing up inflation and, like much of Europe, political leaders keen to avoid reliance on Russian gas supplies.

Announcing the new North Sea licences recently Mr. Sunak said: “We have all witnessed how Putin has manipulated and weaponised energy, disrupting supply and stalling growth in countries around the world.”

“Now, more than ever, it’s vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalise on that independence to deliver more affordable, clean energy to British homes and businesses,” he added.

But the Green Party and Just Stop Oil want Britain to write off the remaining gas and oil reserves in the North Sea like it did the residual coal deposits in the north of England, Scotland and south Wales.

Just Stop Oil, which was spawned by the Extinction Rebellion protests in 2018, has promised to continue its campaign of “civil resistance” until the British government halts new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

It emerged recently the cost of policing Just Stop Oil protests in London over the past 13 weeks had risen to £7.7 million.

The Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told LBC 23,597 officer shifts had been taken up by the policing of 515 JSO marches in London, at a total cost of £7,729,086.20.

“We added up the number of officers we have had to deploy for the 13 weeks of action Just Stop Oil has undertaken to disrupt London. All of those 23,500 shifts could have been better spent helping local communities in London,” he told Mr. Twist.

PA Media contributed to this report.