BRITAIN needs greater energy sovereignty.
Wars in Iran, Ukraine and threats from autocratic regimes means that energy security is needed more now than since World War II.
Households are suffering under a cost-of-living crisis centred on energy and fuel bills.
Rural communities in Pembrokeshire, whom I serve as Member of Parliament, suffer disproportionately because many are often off-grid and rely heavily on heating oil.
The Chancellor and Energy Secretary deserve credit for acting swiftly and decisively with financial support and market intervention to support families on top of the wider £150 off energy bills.
However, in the face of further geo-political turmoil now is the time to alter our approach to energy to protect families.
While hard working families suffer, our economy is flatlining and exposed.
Economic growth is minimal and our debt is mounting.
Drilling in the North Sea and scrapping carbon taxes on British manufacturing would kickstart economic growth, tackle unemployment, and economic inactivity in some of the poorest areas of our country as well as prevent further deindustrialisation.
Offshoring our carbon emissions might give some a sense of moral superiority or perhaps relief from guilt, but the fight against climate change is global.
Importing oil and gas from foreign facilities that are less carbon-efficient and require long-distance shipping is simply displacing the problem elsewhere and impoverishing our own communities.
Pragmatism and realism must win through – drilling in the North-Sea would be a boon for tax revenue while British manufacturing would become competitive again and prevent corrosive deindustrialisation.
The difference between an unjust or just energy transition for my community is the difference between poverty and aspiration.
Pembrokeshire is home to one of the UK’s last four oil refineries, which employs around 1,000 workers.
If our refinery closes due to oppressive green levies, we will lose the heart of our community.
Generations of expertise will disappear and opportunities for a just transition to renewable energy will be lost as the skill base moves elsewhere. Similar community stories are numerous on the shores of the North-Sea.
The Labour Party is the party of industry and the unions. We were created in the fire of the industrial revolution. Now is the time to act like it.
