Rishi Sunak insists Britain should ‘not take lectures from anybody’ on green policies as he defends bid to boost North Sea oil and gas production – and PM says he’s confident he can win over his climate-conscious daughters
- PM insists his plan to grant new oil and gas licences is ‘the right thing to do’
Rishi Sunak today claimed Britain should not ‘take any lectures from anbody’ on green policies as he defended his move to boost the UK’s oil and gas production.
The Prime Minister insisted his plan to grant more than 100 new licences for oil and gas exraction in the North Sea was ‘the right thing to do’.
He also stressed he was confident about winning over his climate-conscious daughters – Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, 10 – about his bid to ‘max out’ the UK’s fossil fuels.
Mr Sunak said his girls were not ‘eco-zealots’ and are ‘open to sensible, practical arguments’.
The PM has faced a backlash from climate campaigners after he this week vowed to push ahead with North Sea oil and gas drilling.
It has opened up a fresh dividing line with Labour after Sir Keir Starmer’s party vowed not to grant licences to explore new fields if it wins power.
Rishi Sunak claimed Britain should not ‘take any lectures from anbody’ on green policies as he defended his move to boost the UK’s oil and gas production
The Prime Minister insisted his plan to grant more than 100 new licences for oil and gas exraction in the North Sea was ‘the right thing to do’.
Mr Sunak also stressed he was confident about winning over his climate-conscious daughters – Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, 10 – about his bid to ‘max out’ the UK’s fossil fuels.
Speaking to LBC radio this morning, Mr Sunak was quizzed about a claim by United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres that countries increasing fossil fuel production are ‘truly dangerous radicals’.
‘What I would say, not just to him but more generally, is let’s look at the record,’ the PM replied.
‘Which G7 country out of the large countries of America, Italy, France, Germany, us, Canada, Japan – which of those countries has decarbonised fastest over the past years or decades? Which one? It’s the UK, right?
‘So, we should not take any lectures from anybody about our record. Our record is fantastic.’
Mr Sunak added: ‘I 100% believe that what I’m doing is right’.
Asked how he had sold his plans to his daughters, whom he has previously called the ‘experts’ in his household on climate change, the PM said he has not yet spoken to them about it.
‘I’m sure it’s something we’ll be discussing,’ Mr Sunak said, joking that he has a ‘ready-made focus group at home’.
He added: ‘I’ll explain it to them in exactly the way I have, and we have good chat around our table about all these things.
‘We are going to get to net zero, that’s my commitment. But even when we’re there, we will still need fossil fuels.
‘So is it better to have them from here at home, supporting people’s jobs, the economy, public services like the NHS, and being less reliant on Vladimir Putin?
‘And by the way, fewer carbon emissions rather than shipping things to here from halfway around the world?
‘I think those are all just sensible, practical reasons. So yes, that is the right thing to do.’
Asked if he is confident he can win over his daughters, Mr Sunak rplied: ‘I am, because I think on this topic, like most people they don’t approach it as some kind of – they’re not eco-zealots.
‘They actually, I think, are open to sensible, practical arguments.’
The PM stressed, even if Britain meets its target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a quarter of UK energy will still come from fossil fuels.
‘The question you have to ask yourself is, given that, where would we prefer to have that energy come from?,’ he added.
‘I’m pretty clear it’s better to have it from here at home.’
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