Tories challenge Keir Starmer to return £1.5 million to Just Stop Oil backer Dale Vince as the Labour leader tries to distance himself from the eco group
- Sir Keir hit out at JSO for causing ‘chaos’ for the public with high-profile stunts
Tories have challenged Sir Keir Starmer to return £1.5 million in donations from Just Stop Oil backer Dale Vince after the Labour leader condemned the protest group’s actions as ‘contemptible’.
Sir Keir hit out at the eco-activists for causing ‘chaos’ for the public with high-profile stunts in which they disrupted major sporting events and blocked roads in their quest to ban new oil and gas licences.
He said a Labour government would not revoke any existing licences but would instead block new oil and gas developments in the North Sea.
Experts have said blocking all new developments would be likely to make tens of thousands of oil workers jobless.
They said such a move would also likely undermine UK energy security, making Britain more reliant on imported energy.
Tories have challenged Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) to return £1.5 million in donations from Just Stop Oil backer Dale Vince after the Labour leader condemned the protest group’s actions as ‘contemptible’
Writing in The Times, Sir Keir said: ‘The likes of Just Stop Oil want us to simply turn off the taps in the North Sea, creating the same chaos for working people that they do on our roads. It’s contemptible.’
He added: ‘On the North Sea, Labour’s plan is pragmatic and fair. To secure a managed transition, we will need our existing oil and gas fields for decades to come.
‘We won’t revoke any licences issued by this government because, unlike them, we take investor certainty and legal obligations seriously.’
Tory Party deputy chairman Matt Vickers last night [mon] accused Sir Keir of being beholden to the protesters, and called on him to hand back the cash from green entrepreneur Mr Vince.
He said: ‘Slippery Starmer will clearly say or do anything so long as the politics suits him.
‘They can try and hide it, but Labour are so caught up with Just Stop Oil they have these eco-zealots writing their energy surrender plan for them.
Sir Keir hit out at the eco-activists for causing ‘chaos’ for the public with high-profile stunts in which they blocked roads in their quest to ban new oil and gas licences
‘If Sir Keir is serious about trying to distance himself from these loons he should hand back the £1.5 million he pocketed from Just Stop Oil’s funder-in-chief Dale Vince.’
Roads minister Richard Holden said the Labour leader had ‘sold out’ the hundreds of thousands of people working in the oil sector.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer calls Just Stop Oil’s demands to ‘turn off the taps’ in the North Sea ‘contemptible’ as he distances himself from eco-group – and says Labour would not tear up Rishi Sunak’s 100 new drilling licences
Just Stop Oil previously described Labour’s plan to ban future North Sea oil drilling as a ‘victory’ in their campaign, and the Daily Mail revealed last week that senior protesters boasted about shaping the party’s policy.
But the group appeared to take issue with Sir Keir’s latest intervention on the subject.
They wrote: ‘We’re not demanding the taps are turned off overnight.
‘We are (also) demanding a managed decline of North Sea oil, starting with no more licences for new projects.
‘It’s the bare minimum our politicians should do. We have to stop new oil and gas.’
Rishi Sunak vowed last week to ‘max out’ North Sea oil reserves.
The Prime Minister said the Government was gearing up to issue ‘hundreds’ of licences for domestic oil and gas extraction in defiance of both Labour, Just Stop Oil and Scottish protest group This Is Rigged.
But senior figures within Labour said the party would not revoke new drilling licences despite opposing them.
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