Keir Starmer ordered to stand up to Ed Miliband over North Sea oil as energy bills rise

Pressure is mounting on Sir Keir Starmer to end the ban on new North Sea oil and gas exploration, with fewer than three out of 10 people backing the Government’s stance. Half of Britons want the ban lifted as the country faces rising fuel bills and concern mounts that energy supplies could be cut off in wartime.

Polling commissioned by Lord Ashcroft found 86% of people who backed Reform UK at the last election, and eight out of 10 of those who voted Conservative, want new exploration in the North Sea. Among Labour voters, 44% wanted the ban to remain but 35% supported lifting it.

The polling uncovered strong support for the Government stepping in to help households if the war in Iran continues to mean higher energy prices. More than half of Britons (53%) want the state to subsidise people’s gas and electricity bills if prices rise significantly. However, 31% argued the country could not afford to “keep bailing people out” as such action would result in “more debt, higher taxes and less money for other things”.

The Conservatives have pledged to “get Britain drilling” and maximise oil and gas production while axing Britain’s “carbon tax” regime. Reform UK has promised immediate action to provide “energy security and job security” for workers in Scotland.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Britons support “higher taxes on energy companies to help subsidise household bills”, with only 15% opposed.

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice turned his guns on the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, saying: "Ed Miliband is totally out of step with the common-sense thinking great British public. Due to years of net-zero obsession and policy failures by both Labour and the Conservatives we now face higher energy prices. We have decades of oil in the North Sea and 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas under our feet. High energy prices are a political choice taken by Labour and the Tories. Only Reform will do our patriotic duty to use our energy treasures to bring down energy bills, protect jobs and enhance energy security."

The polling makes difficult reading for Sir Keir Starmer, with fewer than one in 10 (9%) Britons saying the Government is doing a good job. Only 22% of those who backed Labour in the last election thought the Government is performing well.

However, when voters were asked who would make the best prime minister and given a straight choice between Sir Keir and the Conservatives Kemi Badenoch, people opted for the Labour leader by three points. And when asked for choose between him and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, voters chose the present PM by 15 points.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero defended the Government’s energy policy, saying: “Tackling the affordability crisis is the government’s number one priority. That is why we are acting to bring bills down now and for the long term, with clean homegrown power.

“Issuing new licences to explore new fields cannot give us energy security and will not take a penny off bills. Regardless of where it comes from, oil and gas is sold on international markets, which set the price for British bill-payers – making us a price taker.”

Environmental campaigners have strongly opposed reports the Government is considering allowing exploration in the North Sea’s “Jackdaw” field, with Greenpeace warning the only path to “real security” is leaving fossil fuels behind. It is claimed there is a divide at the cabinet table, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves in favour of new drilling.

Claire Coutinho, the Tories' Shadow Energy Secretary, said: "The public know that getting more oil and gas from the North Sea is a no-brainer - it is better for our economic, energy, and national security. Yet Labour would rather we became more dependent on foreign imports with higher emissions from places like Qatar instead. It is simply mad. We must end Labour's mad ban on new licences, reverse their crippling tax rises, Get Britain Drilling, and use the billion of pounds in tax revenue that would bring in to cut people's bills."