Labour scolded by Tory frontbencher for loosening Russian oil sanctions: 'Completely immoral!'

Andrew Griffiths has launched a furious attack on the Labour Government over their decision to loosen Russian oil sanctions, branding it "completely immoral".

Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Business Secretary hit out at the "insane course of action" taken by the Government amid Britain's fuel crisis.

The Government has decided to water down their Russian sanctions package and allow Russian diesel and jet fuel to be imported to Britain.

Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves had said the ban was the "right approach", to ensure that Russian oil is "not finding its way onto global markets and indeed, finding its way into UK markets".

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Delivering his verdict on the decision, Mr Griffith told GB News: "This is completely immoral. It's an insane course of action when we're not exploiting the oil and gas in our own North Sea, and Norway are doing that and selling it to us.

"The British people have made great sacrifices along the way, standing shoulder to shoulder, standing up to Putin, and for the Government to do this completely ethically is the wrong thing to do."

The Tory MP declared that the Tories "completely oppose" the decision, noting that Britons understand the "great sacrifices" needed to protect against the Russian threat.

He stated: "British people understand that you sometimes have to make these sacrifices. We've done that all the way along and it's the wrong decision by the Government.

"The Conservatives oppose this decision and we want to exploit that oil and gas in our own North Sea resources, something the Government is just refusing to do."

The Tory frontbencher criticised the Labour Government for making the decision to loosen sanctions "without consultation" and without "asking the British people".

He said: "The one thing the Government should absolutely not be doing is releasing the sanctions on Russia and oil and gas.

"It is completely the wrong decision, not exploiting the resources that are in our own North Sea.

"The British people have been proud to stand with Ukraine, to stand up to Putin and make sacrifices over many years.

"It's completely wrong for the Government to be reversing that course without any consultation, without asking the British people, without even coming to Parliament."

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Mr Griffith was also asked for his verdict on Labour's plans to impose a "voluntary cap on the prices of essential groceries such as eggs, bread and milk", to which he argued is "completely the wrong answer" to the cost of living crisis.

He told GB News: "No, that would be completely the wrong answer. That's the sort of thing we hear about in Soviet Russia, in Venezuela, in Cuba.

"There's a lot of things that are within the Chancellor's responsibility. They've pushed up the cost of hiring people, they've pushed up the cost on business of business rates, these are things that the Chancellor should be addressing."

Mr Griffith made clear: "We've been calling this out for more than 12 months, warning the Chancellor that precisely this would happen.

"Price controls aren't aren't the answer, the answer is for the Chancellor to look at her own actions and take those things to protect ordinary households."

Asked for his reaction to the rate of inflation dropping to 2.8 per cent, the Tory MP warned that this is just the "calm before the storm".

Mr Griffith concluded: "Well, many people think this is just the calm before the storm, and what we've actually seen today is something called producer price inflation.

"So the costs that are being faced by firms has gone up by nearly eight per cent.

"Sooner or later that's coming down the track towards what ordinary people are going to pay for in their supermarket shopping."

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