Tony Blair Institute (TBI) has accused Energy Secretary Ed Miliband of taking an “ideological” approach to net zero, urging the UK Government to approve new North Sea oil and gas developments and reform the Energy Profits Levy.
A new report today from the TBI calls for a “two-track approach” - expanding clean energy while accelerating domestic oil and gas production to reduce reliance on volatile global markets.
The think tank argues the UK is facing a “systematic energy crisis” and should approve licences for projects including Jackdaw and Rosebank.
Tone Langengen, TBI policy adviser and author of the report, warned: “If the government doubles down on the wrong parts of the system, the UK will remain exposed to the same vulnerabilities.
“But this is also an opportunity to reset — including by accelerating domestic supply to reduce reliance on volatile imports and support UK jobs and tax revenues.”
The report adds: “By contrast the UK debate remains too ideological, with the government focused on decarbonising power supply only and the opposition on expanding domestic oil and gas.
“Neither confronts the central challenge: only around a fifth of UK energy demand is currently met through electricity, leaving the wider economy heavily dependent on fossil fuels.”
It also states: “The war in Iran has focused the nation’s attention on energy supply and prices, but the UK is not facing a temporary energy shock.
“It is operating in a world where volatility is structural and where energy security can no longer be treated as a narrow question of supply.
“The response cannot be limited to accelerating clean power alone, nor to expanding fossil-fuel production in isolation. Both approaches fail to address the underlying vulnerability.”
The intervention comes amid growing pressure on ministers to back new North Sea projects as global energy instability drives price volatility.
A UK Government spokesman said: “We are taking action to bear down on the cost of living, including taking £117 off average energy bills this month and supporting de-escalation in the Middle East.
“The lesson of yet another fossil fuel crisis is the UK needs to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and on to clean homegrown power we control.”