A British Conservative MP, Chris Skidmore, announced his resignation on Friday to mark his opposition to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s policy on the exploitation of oil and gas deposits in the North Sea. Despite criticism, Rishi Sunak chose to grant a plethora of new oil and gas exploration permits, citing in particular the country’s energy security in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
In particular, at the end of September, the government granted “development and production authorization” to the Rosebank oil and gas field, presented by one of its operators as the largest undeveloped field in the United Kingdom. In a long press release published on law which must be examined next week by the deputies.
A Statement pic.twitter.com/XugtbnCYlV
— Chris Skidmore (@CSkidmoreUK) January 5, 2024
“I cannot vote for this text”
“Next week, the government will introduce the offshore oil licensing bill into the House of Commons,” writes the MP, whose upcoming departure will trigger a new by-election. “As the former Secretary of State for Energy who signed the inscription of the commitment of the United Kingdom to carbon neutrality by 2050 in law, I clearly cannot vote for a text which clearly promotes oil and gas production,” he adds.
“I cannot vote for this text”, “the future will judge harshly those who do so”, he continues, “we simply do not have any more time to waste by promoting the future production of fossil fuels which are the cause ultimate environmental crisis we face. This is not the first time that Rishi Sunak has faced a resounding resignation over this issue.
A Secretary of State had already slammed the door last June
Last June, Secretary of State for Climate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zac Goldsmith left the government accusing the Prime Minister of not being interested in the environment. Despite the postponement of key measures in the fight against global warming, such as the postponement until 2035 of the ban on the sale of new thermal cars, Rishi Sunak insists that his decisions will not prevent the objective of carbon neutrality in 2050.
A winning data for the next elections next year, the Labor opposition announced that it would ban any new oil and gas projects, without reversing the licenses that would be granted before it came to power.