Labour doubles down on green energy with oil and gas crackdown

The Labour government will bring forward legislation to end new onshore oil and gas licensing in England, and it plans to ban fracking permanently.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed these plans in a statement on Wednesday 1 October, alongside the announcement that Great British Energy would now begin to roll out more solar power across military sites, NHS sites, and schools in the United Kingdom.

This includes a new partnership between Great British Energy and the Ministry of Defence which will see solar panels and micro-wind turbines deployed across a range of military sites.

The legislation the government plans to introduce includes a halt on all new licences for onshore oil and gas in England, as well as licences that could be used for fracking. It said this ban would help make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect current and future generations.

Fracking has been debated and suspended at many points over the past few years, with serious concerns raised over its environmental impact.

This crackdown on oil and gas licensing comes after Miliband’s speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, where he said that, ahead of legislating to ban fracking entirely, he wants to launch a national campaign against the practice.

“Let’s ban fracking and send the frackers packing,” Miliband said, contrasting the promises made by Reform UK at its recent conference, where it said it would bring back fracking and reduce reliance on renewable energy if it was elected to government.

As part of its clean energy strategy, the Labour government aims to meet 95% of total electricity demand in the UK with clean power by 2030, and to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

The government also said that it will ensure UK workers benefit from investment into clean energy.

To this end, worker representation on the boards of Great British Energy will be mandatory, and a new Fair Work Charter will be introduced to ensure companies that benefit from public funding pay their workers a decent wage and protect their rights.

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