May 2026

Will the Secretary of State give way?

Will the Secretary of State give way?

Will the Secretary of State give way?

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way on that point?

Too often when we debate energy in this place it becomes tribal very quickly. Members are either in favour of oil and gas or renewables—there is no room for nuance. We need renewables, we need nuclear, but we also need oil and gas. Many Members have spoken about the cost. Cost is one element, but supply is vital, because oil and gas makes up three quarters of the energy we need every day. It is the energy we need for the 24 million homes and over 500,000 businesses that still rely on oil and gas

I wonder whether my hon. Friend could help me, because I do not understand why the Labour Government think that there is a need to ban new licences. They keep telling us that there is nothing left in the North sea, but if they thought that there was nothing there, why would we be banning ourselves from looking for anything?

Will the Minister give way?

I will not give way. [Interruption.] I will later on. What a sorry state of affairs: the shadow Secretary of State cannot even agree with herself. There was a gaping contradiction at the heart of the shadow Secretary of State’s speech just now. For all the verbiage—for everything she said—she has no answer to the crisis before us, because even she cannot seriously believe what she is putting forward. The idea that new exploration licences for oil and gas will solve our energy security challenges

I will not give way for a minute. The shadow Secretary of State comes to the House with a plan which will not take a penny off bills, which will not give us energy security and which rejects the things she used to believe.

Luke Myer voted NO on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Amanda Hack voted NO on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Samantha Niblett voted NO on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Blake Stephenson voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Ben Obese-Jecty voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Shivani Raja voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Nick Timothy voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Lewis Cocking voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

Louie French voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)

David Simmonds voted AYE on 'King's Speech Motion for an Address: amendment (i)' (108-323, defeated)