The Conservatives have slammed reports that Ed Miliband is preparing to drop his opposition to drilling for oil in the North Sea.
Shadow Business and Trade Minister Gareth Davies told GB News: “We’ve been saying this for quite some time. We need to ensure that we use all the resources of the United Kingdom, not least oil and gas. The Climate Change Committee themselves have said ages ago that we need to draw on all energy sources for years to come.
“It was absolutely perplexing that Ed Miliband went down this road of his green obsession with windmills instead of actually drawing on the resources that we have. We’ll see what he announces. But frankly, it’s a little late for this.
“We’ll see what he does as Chancellor as well, by the way, because it’s all good and well pumping oil and gas, but he’s going to tax the hell out of our businesses. That’s not going to help anybody.”
On a potential increase in the tax burden under Andy Burnham, he said: “A lot of people have left the country. I go around speaking to business people all the time as part of my role, and everybody knows somebody who’s leaving or has left already because of the hostile environment this government’s created to risk-taking and enterprise.
“If you tax too much, people will leave and find other alternatives elsewhere, and that’s exactly what’s happening.
“What we’ve got to do when we get back into power is ensure that we have that environment that focuses on enterprise, that ensures that we have as lower taxation as possible for those who create the employment in our country.
“It’s going to take some time to figure out exactly what kind of situation we’re going to inherit from Labour, but my only hope in the immediate term is that Ed Miliband does not make this worse, if indeed he is appointed the Chancellor.”
Asked about the proscription of Iran’s IRGC, Davies said: “We do welcome this decision by the government to proscribe to the IRGC. We know that in recent years it’s got worse, and MI5 in particular have publicly said that there are, I think, over 20 cases in the last year alone that are related to the IRGC, and so we very much support this.
“It’s a little late for our liking. We’ve been calling it for a number of months and offered to work with the government to pass emergency legislation to make this happen, but we are where we are.”
