Keir Starmer told to 'stop preaching about net zero and commit to stopping fuel duty hike' after pledging to help Britons with energy bills

The Government will be providing £53million to help households hit by rocketing heating oil bills, which aren’t covered by the Ofgem price cap.

The PM vowed to pursue any company found to have been profiteering. But the TaxPayers Alliance accused him of “tinkering around the edges” and argued that scrapping a planned fuel duty rise in September would have sent a stronger message.

At this morning’s conference, Sir Keir also refused to change course on the North Sea, despite calls from unions, industries and President Trump to allow more drilling.

He said prices were set by international markets over which the UK had no control. He said: “What gives us control is renewables, homegrown energy, which is why I think we should go further and faster in relation to renewables. Let’s get control of our own energy.”

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho welcomed the news that households would be protected on heating oil, an issue she had raised with her Government counterpart, Ed Miliband. But said that tax revenue from untapped North Sea oil could have paid for the intervention several times over.

She said: “This support will be welcome for rural households who have been ripped off by rogue heating oil suppliers - but the Government must go further and cut everyone’s electricity bills by 20 per cent through the Conservatives’ Cheap Power Plan.

“The uncomfortable truth is that this scheme will be funded by Labour’s tax rises on working people - tax hikes that wouldn’t be necessary if Ed Miliband hadn’t chosen to leave £25billion worth of tax revenue in the ground by shutting down the North Sea.”

The TaxPayers Alliance said this morning’s announcement ignored the “major and fundamental role that Government policy has played in sending energy costs through the roof”.

It said that PM should scrap the fuel duty rise, set for September, immediately.

The duty was cut by 5p in 2022, in response to the Ukraine invasion. The cut has been repeatedly extended but is currently due to rise again in September.

CEO of Taxpayer Alliance John O’Connell said: “Taxpayers will have been screaming at the telly as this out-of-touch Prime Minister completely ignored the real threat to motorists - the crippling fuel duty hike coming later this year.

“Starmer’s stale sermon delivered nothing other than tired and outdated shibboleths on energy policy, completely ignoring the major and fundamental role that Government policy has played in sending energy costs through the roof.

“Instead of tinkering around the edges and preaching about net zero, Starmer must commit to stopping the fuel duty hike.”

Andy Mayer, of the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, welcomed the targeted approach to relief on heating oil. But he warned that current net zero plans had pushed up our energy bills to some of the highest in the world.

He said that renewables couldn’t be the answer without a reliable backup for when “the wind isn’t blowing”.

Rule changes that will make it easier to build nuclear power plants were a welcome step in the right direction, he said. But he explained: “Their net zero plans will make no immediate difference, and their past plans have increased our energy system costs to some of the highest in the world.

“There are no good, fast and cheap alternatives this decade.

“If the goal is to ‘get us off the fossil fuels roller-coaster', less net zero spin and more nuclear-power spinning turbines are the way ahead.”

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the heating oil issue demonstrated how relying on fossil fuels could hit the most vulnerable hardest.

He said: “The Prime Minister’s announcement of £53million to help vulnerable households who rely on heating oil is a welcome recognition that these homes are among the most exposed to global price shocks.

“Alongside financial support, the Government should also act on practical measures such as reducing minimum heating oil delivery amounts so households are not forced to find hundreds of pounds upfront, and ensuring vulnerable households are prioritised if supply pressures increase.”

He agreed with Sir Keir that a shift to renewables would shield the UK from the types of price shock caused by the Iran conflict.

He said: “The longer-term solution must be helping these homes move away from expensive fossil fuels through insulation, alternative heating systems, heat pumps and community energy so households are not repeatedly exposed to global energy shocks.”

The head of the UK’s renewable energy trade association said that the government should support North Sea oil. But she argued the only way to cocoon the UK from oil energy shocks was to transition to renewables.

Tara Singh, the chief executive of RenewableUK, said: “Britain will be stronger, safer and less exposed if it produces more home-grown energy of every kind.”

However, she said that no matter how fast the transition into green energy, “Britain will still need gas well into the foreseeable future”. “So it is entirely sensible to support continued domestic oil and gas production in the North Sea,” she writes in the Telegraph.

“If we do not produce that gas here, we will still need it. We will simply import more of it.” She warned the North Sea was a mature basin rather than a “limitless national asset”.

“Even on the industry’s more optimistic assumptions, it could supply around half of our oil and gas needs by 2050.

“It matters, but it is not a long-term answer on its own.”

She said domestic production would support jobs, supply chains and tax revenues. But it would not lower prices, because gas is sold on the global market. The long-term answer was to back domestic oil and gas but prioritise renewables, she said.