Why Britain needs North Sea oil and gas

There is no such thing as a completely clean source of energy. But some are much less damaging to the planet than others.

Gas is the least polluting fossil fuel. And gas from British sources is four times cleaner than imported gas.

We can, must and will continue to make more and more use of the lowest-carbon sources such as renewables and nuclear power  - Britain has one of the best records in the world for reducing our carbon footprint over the last few decades - as of today the UK economy cannot operate with no oil or gas at all.

So the Conservative government is going ahead with new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, because this is in the best interests of Great Britain, protecting 213,000 jobs, generating billions of pounds of national income and tax revenue which can be used to fund the NHS and social care, and ensuring that Britain is not dependent on Vladimir Putin for gas. It will also help keep the cost of gas and oil down, thereby reducing cost of living pressure on everyone, especially the most vulnerable.

But we are not ignoring the environment, and will also invest millions of pounds in the Acorn project, a carbon capture scheme which will offset the carbon released, and will also create 21,000 jobs.