Pressure: Mililband opposes and Reeves supports more North Sea drilling

The second of the Nolan principles on public life to which all public office holders are said to be committed, is ‘integrity’. It states that:

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work…They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

We know that this is routinely breached through conflicts of interest generated by financial donations, supply of services, and lobbying, all creating widespread conflicts of interest. This continually corrodes democracy.

In their article, in Democracy for Sale, Lucas Amin and Peter Geoghegan, describe the way Offshore Energy UK (OEUK), acting for oil companies, including Shell and BP, have managed to partially reverse policies on North Sea extraction of oil and gas in both Holyrood and Westminster. By sleight of hand Labour now allows companies to extend extraction in existing fields. OEUK meets with Labour government ministers more than once a week. It funds and helps to run the All Party Parliamentary Group for the British Offshore Energy Industry. One member has shares in an offshore engineering company. A stated priority for OEUK for 2026 is to “influence a change to the UK government narrative”. They are working on reducing windfall taxes on Big Oil’s excessive profits by persuading parliamentarians to speak up for them. They promote the idea that drilling will reduce bills whereas the price for oil and gas is determined by international markets. More likely, bills will be reduced, by an accelerated phasing out of oil and gas in favour of renewable energy.

TB