Starmer vows to stop oil and gas communities withering

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to protect communities from "decimation" after being warned Labour's policies would lead to job losses in oil and gas.

Labour has pledged to ban new licences for oil and gas production in the UK

Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB, said Labour's policy risked creating "a cliff-edge" for jobs.

But speaking at the union's conference, Sir Keir promised to prevent a re-run of what happened when coal mines closed, in oil and gas communities.

"What I will never let happen is a repeat of what happened in coal mining where an industry came to an end and nobody had planned for the future," the Labour leader said.

"We're still living with the consequences, we cannot allow that to happen."

A 2019 report by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust found former mining communities were more socially disadvantaged, with higher than average unemployment and ill health.

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Labour has pledged to achieve zero carbon energy in the UK by 2030 if elected.

At last year's Labour conference, Sir Keir said he would make the UK the first major economy in the world to generate all of its electricity without using fossil fuels. An emergency back-up capacity of 0.7% of fossil fuel electricity production would be kept on standby.

The party has said a Labour government would also stop issuing new licences for oil and gas production in the UK - a move which has prompted fury from both the industry and unions.

GMB leader Gary Smith said it would be "a huge mistake to put all the nation's eggs in one energy basket"

Sir Keir has been keen to portray Labour as the party prepared to seize the future.

But some of Labour's big union funders, including the GMB whose members include workers in the fossil fuel industries, are concerned by some of the green plans.

He was forced to defend his energy policy after being asked by a delegate what he had to say to communities that would be "decimated" by the end of oil and gas production in the North Sea.

"Oil and gas are going to be part of the mix for decades to come, into the 2050s. I don't think that part of our argument is heard loud enough or clear enough," he said.

He told the GMB conference in Brighton there was a "race on" across the world "to seize the next generation of jobs, in new nuclear, in renewables".

"If we don't seize that opportunity, I genuinely think that future generations will never forgive us for repeating the mistake that was made when the coal mines were closed down," he added.

Defining policy

Labour had estimated there were "hundreds of thousands of jobs" to be created in renewable energy, including 50,000 in Scotland, Sir Keir said.

In his speech to the GMB, he said: "For too long, Britain has allowed the opportunities of the new energy technologies to pass us by.

"Without a plan, the energy industries that we rely on will wither and decline."

There are some in Labour's ranks who believe the party's entire energy plan - its defining policy- is not being communicated loudly or clearly enough

Some senior figures have expressed fears that Labour's opponents will focus on the long-standing pledge to borrow £28bn a year to fund its drive for green energy. Meanwhile there are concerns the party leadership has not argued strongly enough for the benefits.

The North Sea Transition Authority estimates the UK oil and gas industry directly employs about 30,000 people and indirectly supports 100,000 jobs.

The oil and gas industry was estimated to be worth £28bn in 2022, according to the OEUK - the UK offshore energy industry body.

'Thinking jobs'

Sir Keir used his speech to make the same case President Joe Biden did in his flagship Inflation Reduction Act, that green jobs are a boon to working people.

He told the conference: "President Biden once said: 'When I hear climate change, I think jobs.'

"When Labour sets out our mission for Britain to become a clean energy super power, we are thinking jobs too."

Sir Keir also promised Labour would use public procurement to help create "unionised jobs" in the UK.

"There's a framework for public procurement, at the heart of which is dignity and respect, and we expect to see unionised jobs, and support unionised industries".

The Labour leader backed calls to force Amazon to recognise the GMB after the union signed up more than 600 people to stage walkouts over pay at a factory in Coventry.

"We will strengthen the role of trade unions in our society, and I want to see Amazon and businesses like it recognise unions," he said.

GMB sources suggested members were heartened by Sir Keir's vision for employment and the economy.

But the union would keep pressing for what sources called "a proper understanding" of the nation's energy challenges, they said.

It looks like the Labour leader will have to expend some energy to keep some in the wider labour movement onside.