We know that Rishi Sunak’s shameful granting of over 100 new oil and gas licences does nothing for energy security, nothing to reduce energy prices and as world scientists agree, is incompatible with meeting the internationally agreed limit of 1.5 degree global warming. 

Announcing it, he said: “There is no point in importing stuff from halfway around the world with two to three times the carbon footprint of the stuff we’ve got at home. That makes absolutely no sense.” 

In relation to oil and gas he is, of course, wrong. The largest supplier of oil and gas to the UK is Norway, not exactly “halfway round the world.” An analysis published in 2022 found that, on average, UK production in the North Sea was nearly three times more emission intensive than Norwegian production. 

What was, however, also astonishing was that he had the affrontery to say this when the Tory Government has negotiated trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, “halfway around the world”, which will give tariff free access for their beef and lamb “with two or three times the carbon footprint of the stuff we’ve got at home”, whilst at the same time destroying the livelihoods of our own farmers. Would I be correct in saying: “That makes absolutely no sense?”

Mike Baldwin

Thorverton

Devon