Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset has voted to support annual licences for oil and gas production in the North Sea, saying, “To rely more on our own gas and oil … is a necessity and full of common sense. It is a fact that we will be relying on fossil fuels for decades to come—a point that no one in this place denies.”
In a speech in the House of Commons during the debate on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, Drax praised the UK’s record so far, saying, “we have cut our emissions by half; we are a world leader and have a record to be very proud of, “ adding, “normally, when the whole House agrees on something, I think that something is wrong, but in this case I have no doubt that the whole House is right: we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. What we are debating today and arguing about in this place is how we can get there in the most pragmatic way.”
The Bill, which aims to safeguard the homegrown energy supply, is essential, said Drax. “I do not have to rehearse why I feel that in my lifetime we are facing the most dangerous times on our planet. If we do not have the power to drive our economy and our homes, it would be strategically—quite apart from anything else—insane. We are an island nation, and I do not have to remind anyone in this House how significant energy independence is going to be in the event of a catastrophe.”
“It shocks me to the core that it has taken a war in Europe for the west to prioritise both energy and food security.”
“The Bill says that this will safeguard more than 200,000 jobs, enhance our security, reduce dependence on higher-emission imports from overseas and significantly prevent families and businesses from being unduly burdened, which to a certain degree they already are through the green taxes that everyone faces. So what’s not to like, you may ask…?”
Drax did, however, question what he described as “punitive taxation” faced by the oil and gas sector, which “discourages and disincentivises all those who need to spend hundreds of millions of pounds, or more, to get the oil and gas out of the ground?”
Finally, Drax said, “The Bill has a lot going for it, not least a most welcome return to our old and absent friend: common sense. I urge the Government to find pragmatic solutions to the transition to net zero and allow the private sector to do what it does best, which is provide jobs and prosperity.”
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho told the Commons on Monday evening that those opposing the Bill are "putting the interests of extreme climate ideologues over the interests of ordinary workers"
In fact, she said, the Bill supported an economy-wide transition to low carbon energy that climate science says is necessary and also inevitable. That, in turn, would support the oil and gas industry and protect 200,000 jobs directly and indirectly connected to the offshore fossil fuel industry.