'Insane!' Kemi Badenoch blasts Labour for lifting Russian oil sanctions while banning North Sea licences

Lifting sanctions on Russian oil while banning North Sea licences is “insane”, Kemi Badenoch has said.

Her Conservative Party had called on the Government to reverse its ban on further North Sea drilling in an amendment to the Energy Independence Bill.

It also demanded drilling restart at Rosebank and Jackdaw; both are licensed fields where work has been halted due to legal challenges on climate grounds.

However, the amendment was voted down in the House of Commons.

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On the same day, Labour announced it would ease sanctions on Russia, allowing for the import of jet fuel and diesel refined in third countries amid surging costs due to the Iran war.

A trade licence, which came into effect on Wednesday, permits the imports “indefinitely”.

Ms Badenoch said the move was “insane”, while industry leaders said North Sea workers would “struggle to understand” the decision.

She wrote on X: “After 18 months of ‘standing up to (Vladimir) Putin’ the Labour government quietly issued a licence allowing the imports of Russian oil refined in third countries. Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences. We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea. Insane.”

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho claimed Labour MPs had been instructed to “vote to shut down the North Sea”.

She said: “This is the single greatest act of industrial self-harm we have seen in a generation.”

Russell Borthwick, Chief Executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said the move exposed a "glaring contradiction” at the heart of UK energy policy.

He said: “Businesses and workers across the North-east will struggle to understand how the UK Government can justify loosening restrictions on Russian energy imports while simultaneously blocking responsible domestic production from the North Sea.

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"North Sea oil and gas supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions in economic value and some of the highest environmental and regulatory standards anywhere in the world. If the UK still needs oil and gas, and ministers themselves acknowledge that it does, then it makes far more sense economically, strategically and environmentally to produce it here, supporting British jobs and British supply chains, rather than increasing reliance on imports linked to hostile regimes.

"What industry is asking for is not ideology or political point-scoring but a credible, pragmatic energy policy that protects energy security, investor confidence and the livelihoods of communities like Aberdeen which have powered the UK economy for decades.”

The Labour chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry, also criticised the relaxation of the sanctions.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are talking about our allies in Ukraine who have been fighting a war bravely against Russia for years and years with our support. They have looked to Britain as one of their most important allies, and they don’t understand, given that we promised that we would stop this loophole in October, and we still haven’t done it. In fact, it seems to have got worse. People feel very let down.”

But Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said the UK’s national interest had to be protected.

He told Sky News: “The Government has announced yesterday this time-limited change to the rules around oil and refining given the extremes of the impacts of the conflict in Iran, and the impact of it washing up on our shores.”

Mr Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has said more North Sea drilling cannot lower bills because the price of oil and gas is set by international markets.

Mr Miliband told MPs: “We’re not in favour of a ‘turning off the taps’ position, but, I’ll just be honest with the House, nor are we in favour of a drilling every last drop.”

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