Keir Starmer urged to ditch plan to ban new North Sea oil and gas licences

Keir Starmer is being urged to ditch his plan to ban new oil and gas licences without a “viable” plan to replace North Sea jobs.

Trade union Unite branded the policy “premature and irresponsible” and claimed it will create a “cliff-edge” for oil workers.

Labour has vowed to stop issuing new offshore licences if it wins power at Westminster in a bid to tackle fossil fuel emissions - although it will honour any that are granted before the general election.

That includes the controversial Rosebank oil field off Shetland - the largest untapped development in the North Sea - which was green-lit by the Tories last year.

Launching its new campaign dubbed ‘No Ban Without A Plan’, Unite - the largest union for offshore workers - claimed the policy would only lead to greater fossil fuel imports while threatening North East jobs.

Instead, it’s calling for a plan from Labour to create 35,000 new “energy transition jobs” in Scotland by 2030.

That could include in sectors like wind power manufacturing and operations, hydrogen, carbon capture and oil rig decommissioning.

Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham says: “Labour needs to pull back from this irresponsible policy.

“There is clearly no viable plan for the replacement of North Sea jobs or energy security.

“We should not be letting go of one rope until we have hold of another.

“These types of transitions must have workers at the heart. Unite will not stand by and let these workers be thrown on the scrap heap.

“North Sea workers cannot be sacrificed on the altar of net zero.”

We previously told how green jobs in Scotland have so far fallen far short of the 130,000 posts by 2020 promised by the SNP government.

The Record revealed in January how Scotland failed to hit a target for domestic offshore wind jobs by a massive 90 per cent.

Experts say far too much of the wealth and too many jobs in areas like renewables manufacturing are being outsourced overseas instead of creating opportunities in Scotland.

Unite claimed it would require an investment of just £1.1billion a year to create 35,000 green jobs, compared to £36billion in profits oil giants made from the North Sea last year.

And it said transitioning North Sea workers would need “good union jobs” with pay and conditions that are “commensurate with their current roles”, saying: “The jobs they move into can’t leave them worse off.”

The union also called for Starmer’s party, if elected, to focus on delivering a “self-sufficient” energy system, calling for 75 per cent of our energy to be homegrown and an end to overseas “profiteering”.

Labour previously ditched a pledge to splash £28billion a year on the clean energy revolution.

But the party still claims it will make major investments if it comes to power, including the creation of a Scotland-headquartered public energy company called GB Energy.

And Starmer has said his plans will create 50,000 direct and indirect jobs in clean power by 2030.

Ed Miliband, Labour's Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “Labour has a non-negotiable commitment to a proud future for the North Sea.

"We will deliver the most significant investment in the North Sea in a generation, as we pursue our mission for energy independence and lower bills. If the Conservatives in Westminster and the SNP in Holyrood are re-elected, they will continue to sell out workers and communities by leaving the industry without a plan for the future, as they have done for the last 14 years.

“We agree with anyone who says that there needs to be a comprehensive plan- and that is exactly what Labour will deliver with our world-leading agenda: Great British Energy; a National Wealth Fund; our British Jobs Bonus; and the New Deal for Working People."

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