Reform UK
promises to reverse ban on new North Sea oil drilling if elected
Party
spokesperson says policy has ‘clear benefits for securing jobs and energy
independence’
Jillian
Ambrose Energy correspondent
Fri 23 May
2025 16.02 BST
Reform UK
has promised to reverse the government’s ban on fresh North Sea oil and gas
drilling as a “day one” priority if elected to power, with the taxpayer taking
a stake in the projects.
Richard
Tice, the party’s deputy leader, has met with senior UK oil executives in
recent weeks to pledge the party’s support for the industry, which has been hit
hard by the government’s windfall tax and moves to block fresh North Sea
exploration licences.
Tice told
the energy bosses to expect a reversal of the government’s ban alongside
billions of pounds of public investment in their projects if the party comes to
power in the 2029 election.
The public
investments would effectively hand taxpayers an equity stake in North Sea
fossil fuel developments, which have stalled in recent months after Labour
swept to power with a manifesto that promised to end fresh exploration licences
for new oil and gas fields.
“As long as
there’s oil in the North Sea, we should be drilling for it,” a spokesperson for
Reform UK said. “There are clear benefits for securing jobs and energy
independence.”
Reform’s
early move to curry favour with the UK’s oil industry, first reported by the
Financial Times, has coincided with calls from Donald Trump for the UK
government to “get their energy costs down” by ending “costly and unsightly
windmills” and “incentivise modernised drilling in the North Sea, where large
amounts of oil lay waiting to be taken”.
The US
president’s claims have been rebuffed by green groups, which argue that
volatile global energy market prices are at the root of the UK’s high energy
costs, while renewable energy can offer a cheaper alternative to fossil fuel
generation.
Reform said
it would reveal further details of the party’s energy policies at a later date.
These could include plans to reverse all renewable energy subsidies, the
spokesperson said. This would effectively dismantle the government’s net zero
agenda, which includes goals to double onshore wind, triple solar power and
quadruple offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade.
“If people
want to invest in renewables without subsidies they’d be welcome to do that,”
the Reform spokesperson added.
Tice warned
earlier this month that the party plans to block “net stupid zero”
infrastructure including renewable energy projects in areas of Lincolnshire
where the party took control of the county council in the recent local
authority elections.
“We will
attack, we will hinder, we will delay, we will obstruct, we will put every
hurdle in your way. It’s going to cost you a fortune and you’re not going to
win. So give up and go away,” Tice said.
The party
founded by the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has gained popularity in recent
months on its twin pledge to take a hard line against immigration and net zero
policies.
Tice told
the Financial Times: “There’s about to be a sea change in less than four
years.” He added that the executives “should be getting their licence
applications ready for Reform to fast-track when it comes into government … I
want these firms to know they are working with a shadow government that is
willing to tick the box as soon as we get in.”
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