Sir Keir Starmer sets out Labour's green energy strategy

1. Sir Keir Starmer says Labour will end new North Sea oil and gas exploration
2. Speaking in Leith, the Labour leader vows to "cut bills, create jobs and provide energy security"
3. Sir Keir also says that his party will help communities profit from clean power projects
4. Labour will set up a UK-wide publicly-owned green energy company, which will be based in Scotland
5. The Tories say Labour's plan to block all new oil and gas developments will put tens of thousands of jobs at risk
6. The SNP says Labour's proposals are "too little, too late"

Labour to end North Sea exploration - the headlines

Keir Starmer plans for a 'British jobs bonus' incentive for new investment

That's all from us on the live page today. Here's a reminder of the headlines:

• Sir Keir Starmer was in Edinburgh this morning launching Labour's green energy strategy
• He says it will end new North Sea oil and gas exploration and will help communities profit from clean power projects

• Sir Keir vowed the plan would "cut bills, create jobs and provide energy security"
• The Labour leader also said a previously announced publicly owned green energy company will be based in Scotland
• Sir Keir is under pressure from environmentalists and the oil industry over the scale and pace of change
• Climate campaigners have criticised the party for rowing back on a pledge to invest £28bn a year in green industries
• First Minister Humza Yousaf said he did not trust the Labour Party on the green economy or renewables, "when only two weeks ago they dumped their £28bn green prosperity fund"
• The Scottish Tories said the plans were "economically and environmentally illiterate"
• The Scottish Greens said "Labour does not understand the climate crisis"

Today's editor was Catherine Lyst and the writers were Bryn Palmer, Thomas Mackintosh and Craig Hutchison.

Greater clarity needed on phase-out date for fossil fuel use -FoE

Friends of the Earth (FoE) said it was right for Labour's "strong rhetoric" on climate change to focus on the UK's huge potential for cheap, homegrown renewables.

Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research, said: “Enabling communities to benefit from local clean power projects, lifting the ban on onshore wind and committing to develop a homegrown industry to build offshore wind turbines, will all boost green growth, create new jobs and ensure people feel ownership and reap the rewards of the shift to a clean energy system.

“The UK is veering dangerously off track for meeting its legally binding climate targets at home and global commitments to cut carbon emissions."

He added: “A world-leading and credible climate plan also needs greater clarity on the phase out date for fossil fuel use and there can be no rowing back on the pledge to stop new oil and gas extraction.

"A fully funded green prosperity plan is needed, with urgent investment in a street-by-street insulation programme, alongside a swift and fair transition to renewables.”

Labour plans 'on right path towards real climate leadership' - Greenpeace

The environmental group Greenpeace has welcomed Labour's plans on green energy but warned that allowing new oil fields like Rosebank "would do nothing for bills, our energy security, or our economy".

Ami McCarthy, a campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said ensuring clean power by 2030 while protecting workers, creating new jobs, giving people warm homes and ending new North Sea oil and gas licences "are policies we desperately need".

"If Labour makes good on these commitments, it would be on the right path towards demonstrating real climate leadership, in stark contrast to the current government," she said.

But she said the party must "make sure it brings communities along with it with proper consultation" on policies such as unlocking onshore wind and grid developments, as planning processes were currently holding them back.

Ms McCarthy also warned that there was "already more than enough oil in existing projects to ensure a safe transition to net zero, with no cliff edge".

"Only by setting out a clear timeline for phasing down fossil fuel extraction can we ensure workers and communities can have their say and truly benefit from the green jobs of the future," she added.

'A great British sell-out of Scottish energy jobs' - Salmond

PA Media

Alex Salmond has derided Labour’s plans to halt North Sea oil and gas investment as “a great British sell-out of Scotland”.

He says: “Labour’s plans are nonsensical, anti-green energy and anti-Scottish."

The leader of the Alba Party warns the plans would cost "thousands of skilled jobs in Scotland".

The former first minister calls on all parties to commit to "enforcing a carbon capture network across all the North Sea installations, by making it a condition of all new licences".

“What Scotland needs is its own public energy company - a Scottish National Renewables Corporation - to secure the public benefit from our people’s offshore renewable resource," he adds.

Must move towards cleaner heating for all - WWF

Gina Hanrahan, head of policy at WWF Scotland, says the plan will eliminate the remaining carbon emissions in Scotland’s electricity supply and make full use of the country's "abundant" renewable energy.

She also says it will help cut energy bills as well as climate emissions.

"However, our biggest demand for energy is heat for homes and businesses, so it’s vital to our climate targets and energy security that we move towards cleaner heating for all," she adds.

“Plans for a joined-up approach to investment in renewables are also welcome, as targeted policies and investment in infrastructure like ports are needed to increase Scotland’s share of the economic benefits from new projects.”

Labour plans 'economically and environmentally illiterate' - Scottish Tories

Getty Images

The Scottish Conservatives have also been reacting to Sir Keir Starmer's speech on Labour's "national mission" on clean energy.

Liam Kerr MSP, the party's shadow secretary for net zero, energy and transport, called the plans "an economically and environmentally illiterate policy that betrays north east Scotland".

“Despite his desperate attempts at re-spinning it in recent days, the Labour leader is sticking stubbornly to his disastrously-received and catastrophic position of banning all new oil and gas projects," Mr Kerr said.

“That would cost tens of thousands of skilled jobs and destroy communities across the north east."

Mr Kerr said Labour's position was "madness when we know that renewable sources don’t yet cover our energy needs" and would lead to "costly foreign imports of fossil fuels, increasing our carbon footprint".

He claimed Sir Keir's plan would give Russia "even more influence over UK and European energy markets".

OEUK warns Labour plan will cost jobs

"Labour’s proposed ban on new oil and gas exploration licences in UK waters will undermine the UK’s energy security, jobs and attempts to reach net zero," says Offshore Energies UK’s chief executive David Whitehouse.

Offshore Energies UK represents more than 400 companies involved in producing energy from oil, gas and wind in UK waters.

Mr Whitehouse says new licences remain a useful tool and "Labour’s proposed ban on new exploration licences is too much too soon".

"It would be damaging for the industry, for consumers and for the UK’s net zero ambitions," he adds.

“The figures are clear. The UK has 283 active oil and gas fields but 180 will shut down by 2030.

"If we don’t replace them with new ones, then production will decline much faster than we can build low carbon replacements. It means the UK will become increasingly reliant on imports."

Labour policy 'could put workers in the north east on the scrapheap'

The first minister says any UK government has to consider three factors when it considers whether to grant any new oil and gas exploration licences.

1. Climate obligations - which should be the "primary, determining factor"
2. Workers - "it is so important that no government does to the north east what Thatcher did to the mining and steel industries", he says
3. Energy security - not just domestically but as a global market

The SNP leader says there is "absolutely a danger" that Labour could "put workers in the north east on the scrapheap if they decide to turn off the taps tomorrow."

Mr Yousaf adds: "That is a really dangerous proposal and a really dangerous policy."

The Scottish government has a "more nuanced approach", he says, which is focused on renewables rather than unlimited oil and gas exploration.

'Why would we trust Labour on Scotland's green potential?' - Yousaf

BBC

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has been reacting to Labour's energy plan and their pledge to end North Sea oil and gas exploration.

"First and foremost, I don't trust the Labour Party on the green economy and renewables, when only two weeks ago they dumped their £28bn green prosperity fund," he tells BBC Scotland.

"Why would we trust whatever they have got to say on unleashing Scotland's green potential?"

Mr Yousaf says that in terms of oil and gas exploration, the Scottish government has been clear and consistent in its position.

"We don't believe Scotland's future is in indefinite or unlimited extraction of oil and gas," he says.

"We are far better focusing - as we have been - on unleashing the economic potential and energy potential of Scotland's renewables sector."

'Transparent badge of the UK union'

Chris Mason

Political editor

Labour folk tell me privately that their plan for a publicly owned “national champion” as they call it, Great British Energy, polls very well – particularly with former Conservative voters.

Keir Starmer compares his plan to what other countries have – such as Ørsted in Denmark and Vattenfall in Sweden.

The crux of it is attempting to ensure there is a proper economic dividend – ie jobs – to the revolutions that are coming in green energy.

And by placing GB Energy in Scotland – the precise location is not yet known – it is also a transparent badge of the UK union; making the case for the benefits of the United Kingdom, as opposed to an independent Scotland, the SNP’s dream.

But, Sir Keir still has some persuading to do over his plans for North Sea oil and gas.

He wouldn’t grant any new exploration licences. Trades unions and others fret that this will cost jobs now, because it will put off companies investing in the future, conscious a Labour government might be close.

Labour insist “there is no cliff edge,” there will be oil and gas extracted from the North Sea for decades, and they want to manage a smooth transition from oil and gas to greener alternatives.

“We are not going to decimate communities,” says Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland, drawing a parallel with what happened to some places when coal mines closed.

But there are some jitters about Labour’s plans, including among some of those often loyal to the Labour cause.

Thousands of jobs in the north east at risk, says business body

Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce warns against a "cliff-edge end to oil and gas".

He says: “Labour’s big ambition on renewables, grid infrastructure and de-risking new technologies is hugely welcome.

“However, it is completely overshadowed by a position on oil and gas which is not grounded in the realities of the energy transition and will drive away the very companies they want to partner with to make the UK a clean energy superpower."

He adds: “Their failure to meaningfully engage with the people, companies and regions delivering the energy transition is evident in this naïve policy, which has now placed jobs, investment and energy security at risk.

"It is an irrefutable fact that oil and gas will remain a key component of our energy mix into and beyond 2050, so an energy plan that is cognisant of that is essential.

"We believe all parties, including Labour, should adopt an explicit position on hydrocarbons, which is that if the alternative is importing oil and gas from overseas, at a greater carbon cost, then we must favour domestic production.

"It’s simple, it’s measurable, and it ensures that the fossil fuels that we do use are extracted with minimum impact on our climate goals."

Labour to end North Sea exploration - the headlines

PA Media

If you are just joining us now here are the key lines from Labour's energy plan launch:

• Labour says it will end new North Sea oil and gas exploration
• It will help communities profit from clean power projects
• Sir Keir Starmer vowed to "cut bills, create jobs and provide energy security"
• The Labour leader also said a previously announced publicly owned green energy company will be based in Scotland
• Sir Keir is under pressure from environmentalists and the oil industry over the scale and pace of change.
• Climate campaigners have criticised the party for rowing back on a pledge to invest £28bn a year in green industries

Read more from our Scotland Editor James Cook here.

'Failure to stop Rosebank shows Labour does not understand crisis' - Greens

Sir Keir Starmer’s admission that Labour will not roll back any Conservative decision to grant a licence for the proposed Rosebank oil and gas field (see 11:43 post, below), shows they "do not understand the climate crisis", say the Scottish Greens.

“Unless Labour is willing to state categorically that it will scrap Rosebank then they will have lost all credibility on our climate," said the party’s climate spokesperson, MSP Mark Ruskell.

He said if the Tories lose the next election, "only Labour are capable of stopping this environmental disaster from going ahead - but they have said they won’t".

The planet is "teetering on the brink of no return because of decisions just like this", Mr Ruskell added, saying the Scottish Greens would "stop Rosebank in its tracks and reverse any licence issued if we had the power".

The problem with Labour is you simply cannot trust them...Labour will never be the party of the environment as long as they help the Tories prop up oil and gas."

Mark Ruskell MSPScottish Greens climate spokesperson

'This will not go down well in Europe's oil and gas capital'

Kevin Keane

BBC Scotland environment correspondent

This is not a plan that will go down well in Europe’s oil and gas capital.

Aberdeen is a city where jobs are entirely reliant on hydrocarbons and yet there’s still nothing which would anchor any of these alternative energy industries in the north east of Scotland.

What could have softened the blow is saying that GB Energy – the publicly owned company Sir Keir Starmer plans to set up – will be headquartered in the granite city.

That might well be what happens but not saying so creates yet more uncertainty for a sector and a city where there is no shortage.

Banning new exploration licences is largely symbolic. It’s an act which will only slow the decline of a sector which is already diminishing.

Making sure there’s a new industry in Aberdeen to replace the thousands of jobs in oil will not be as easy as it sounds.

'We have to seize this moment'

The next question comes from a Guardian journalist asking if the Labour leader is a hypocrite, because he's asking other countries to stop oil and gas production while the UK continues.

Sir Keir refutes this, arguing: "We have to seize this moment."

Clean power by 2030 is a massive ambition, he says.

The Labour leader insists the UK will get ahead of other countries with our obligations.

'If you were PM now, would you give Rosebank the go-ahead?'

ITV Border asks Sir Keir, if he was PM today, would he give the go-ahead to the controversial Rosebank oilfield to the north west of Shetland?

The Norwegian state-controlled oil company Equinor has said if production started in 2026, it could account for 8% of the UK's total oil production between then and 2030, but environmental campaigners have argued the development would be a "total betrayal" of the UK's climate goals.

The Labour leader says the party's position is that they would say no to any new exploration licences, but not interfere with any already granted, or any granted between now and the next election.

"Rosebank is probably up for decision very soon and if it is granted, it falls into the category of existing licences," he reiterates.

If the current government had taken some of the steps outlined in his speech in the last 10 or 15 years, "we wouldn’t be where we are now," he adds.

'We've got to be absolutely clear the transition is on' - Starmer

BBC

The BBC's Scotland editor James Cook asks Sir Keir to confirm that a Labour government would no longer issue exploration licences for the North Sea, but would allow drilling licences to continue to be issued.

He says oil industry bosses and trade unions seem to be united against Labour's plans.

Sir Keir replies: "Our policy is directed at exploration licences.

"Oil and gas are going to be part of the mix for decades to come under existing licences."

He goes on to say: "We've got to be absolutely clear the transition is on."

Sir Keir says this is a "massive opportunity" for lower bills as renewables are cheaper.

Starmer says SNP and Tories have failed in government

Anas Sarwar joins Sir Keir Starmer to take questions from the media.

Beth Rigby from Sky News says the Labour leader has already U-turned on the £28bn per year investment into a green transition.

She asks if this shows he cannot be trusted to keep his promises.

Rigby reminds us that Napolean said you need to be a lucky general and Sir Keir is just that.

"Surely you can't possibly blow it now?"

Sir Keir replies: "On the £28bn we are doubling down, we are not backing off."

He goes on to say: "There's a reason the SNP and the Tories are imploding and it's failure in government."

Union says ban on new licences 'ignores reality'

Getty Images

Reacting to the speech, the GMB union said it had warned about the dangers of "cliff-edge policies" on North Sea oil and gas.

“The inconvenient truth for some is that the UK is still going to need oil and gas until 2050 and well beyond, and a ban on new licences ignores this reality," it said.

“If our country is going to have an energy future where we can win the race for good jobs, meet the net zero challenge and secure our own supply, then we need proper plans, not bans.”

The whole of the UK is looking at Labour - Starmer

Sir Keir finishes his speech by saying working people in Scotland and across the rest of the UK are looking at Labour.

"They want to know if we get this and want to see if the fire of change still burns inside the Labour belly, and this is our chance," he says.

"It’s the race of our lifetime for jobs, for growth, for protecting our planet, national security, the aspirations of working people, getting our future back and uniting our country again.

"Some nation is going to lead the world in offshore wind, why not this one?

"Some nation will win the race for new hydrogen power, why not us?

"Some nation will become a clean energy superpower, why not Britain?"