Kemi Badenoch erupts at Ed Miliband in furious North Sea row - 'deliberate stupidity!'

Kemi Badenoch accused Ed Miliband of "deliberate stupidity" in a row over North Sea oil and gas drilling. The Energy Secretary, who is leading Labour's net zero push, insisted that more drilling would not bring down energy bills for Britons.

But hitting back on X, the Tory leader said: "Yes it will. Here’s how: Step 1: Drill oil & gas in the North Sea. Step 2: Oil companies pay tax as usual (~£2.5bn/yr). Step 3: Use that revenue to cut household bills. Result: Lower energy bills. Miliband pretending not to know this is deliberate stupidity to avoid a U-turn."

Mr Miliband had argued that the only way to slash energy bills is by moving away from fossil fuels.

He told ITV News: "We are using the North Sea and the North Sea is going to be with us for decades to come.

"We're using existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime, we are saying we're going to be tie-backs to have production in adjacent fields.

"Some people tell you if we did more drilling it would somehow cut bills. But Kemi Badenoch after going out and saying that then admitted it wouldn't cut bills.

"What I'm interested in is tackling the cost of living crisis that people are facing and there is only one way to do that and that is to get off these fossil fuels and onto clean homegrown energy we control."

He added: "Those people who say new exploration licenses will somehow create huge amounts of energy for us. I mean, they're just wrong."

The Tories are calling for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as the Iran war pushes up fuel prices.