MANY more Labour voters than not want increased oil and gas drilling, according to a poll that heaps more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to overrule Ed Miliband’s Net Zero crusade.
A JL Partners survey found 50 per cent of the PM’s supporters at the last election want to hike North Sea extraction – compared to just 29 per cent who want less.
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Sir Keir Starmer and his Energy Secretary Ed Miliband Credit: Reuters
The Energy Secretary is refusing to scrap his ban on new exploration licences despite growing calls for home-grown power amid the supply crisis triggered by the Iran war.
He is also dithering on deciding whether to allow the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields to be drilled.
The poll for the communications firm Blakeney found 47 per cent in England want “more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea” compared to 26 per cent who do not.
That includes 76 per cent of Tory voters and 74 per cent of Reform voters. Even 30 per cent of Green voters want more drilling.
Pump prices have gone up due to the Iran war Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Ed Miliband is refusing to back down on his ban on new oil and gas licences Credit: Alamy
Blakeney boss Gabe Winn said: “You know politics has shifted when even a third of Green voters think the answer to the energy crisis might lie beneath the North Sea.
“These figures should be a stark wake-up call for Ed Miliband and No.10. The public and Labour voters have made their views clear.
“Now the Government faces a choice, push ahead as planned or bend to the changing political tide”.
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to push ahead with his renewables blitz spearheaded by Mr Miliband.
He told the Jattvibeday Times: “All the time we’re on the international fossil fuel market, then families up and down the country will have their bills affected. This is about taking back control. We have to have energy independence.”
