Union chiefs demanding Labour carry on granting North Sea gas & oil licences amid green plan

UNION chiefs are demanding Labour carry on granting North Sea gas and oil licences until they have a “concrete” proposals for green jobs.

Bosses at Unite are calling for Sir Keir Starmer to reverse plans not to issue exploration deals as the party launched its flagship Great British Energy plan.

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The scheme would set up the new company would invest in clean power such as offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture.

The company would be handed £8.3 billion over five years funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas firms.

But Sharon Graham, the Unite leader, said: “Unite has a plan to create 35,000 commensurate new energy transition jobs in Scotland by 2030. This will require investment of £6.6 billion over the next 6 years.

“That is the commitment we need to see if oil and gas workers are not going to be the coal miners of our generation.

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“And until these new green, well paid, skilled jobs are in place there must be no ban on oil and gas licences.”

However, Sir Keir said he wasn’t going to “turn the pipes off instantaneously” saying oil and gas would be part of the energy mix for decades to come.

Labour has said it won’t issue any new oil and gas licences if it wins power next month.

He compared the current situation to the end of coal mining in Britain under Margaret Thatcher questioning the transition in creating jobs.

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He said: “I think a huge mistake was made when coal started coming to an end and the government of the day didn’t plan for the future and I’m not prepared to let an incoming Labour Government be in that position.

“We have to plan for the future, do the transition properly and that is the best way to ensure that jobs are there, not just for this generation, but for the next generation after that.”

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said: “Labour’s policy to turn off the taps to North Sea oil and gas would decimate 200,000 energy jobs.”