𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Ed Miliband is “ready to cry betrayal” as divisions from within the cabinet over drilling in the North Sea continue to mount. It is reported that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves is in favour of easing restrictions on drilling for oil in the North Sea, as the ongoing war in Iran continues to cause havoc in the UK economy.

The move is strongly opposed by Energy Secretary Miliband who has pushed ahead with a range of ambitious net zero initiatives in his 22 months in the role. One source supportive of Britain exploiting more resources in the North Sea told The Times: “I think, like a lot of government decisions, we will get to a compromise that they will leave too late to get credit for, but Miliband is winding his people up into overdrive to try and stop it, and cry betrayal after it happens.”

The burgeoning rift comes as the Government faces calls to relax restrictions on North Sea drilling to ease the shortage of fuel gripping countries across the world by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has blasted the government’s handling of the crisis which is threatening to push the price of petrol above £2 a litre.

Speaking about the current “energy crisis” he said that “people in Scotland are looking for help with sky-high bills and petrol prices”.

But he claimed: “The UK Labour Government is standing by and doing nothing. This is a Labour Prime Minister that has utterly failed in his responsibilities during a time of national crisis..”

He added that “for decades” the UK Government had “squandered” North Sea revenues, adding: “We cannot afford to let them do the same to our vast renewable energy wealth.

But one Labour MP told The i Paper there are more than 50 environmentally-minded backbenchers who will fiercely oppose a softening of the party’s stance on oil and gas.

They said: “There’s over 50 backbench MPs – and we know what the size of things need to be in order to give the leadership pause – who are saying: ‘Remember all the reasons why drilling for oil and gas puts you on a hiding to nothing’.”

Green industrialist Dale Vince, one of Labour’s biggest donors, told Times Radio it would be ‘wrong’ for Labour to allow fresh North Sea exploration.

A Government spokesperson said: “Issuing new licences to explore new fields cannot give us energy security and will not take a penny off bills.

“Regardless of where it comes from, oil and gas is sold on international markets, which set the price for British billpayers – making us a price taker.

“The only way to truly protect ourselves from these price spikes is to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets.”