Economy

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Is our economy now run by eco-zealots?


Just days ago Sir Keir Starmer vowed his Government would only take decisions that trigger growth in this country’s economy.

That pledge is already facing its first big test, after Scotland’s highest civil court overturned licences for two North Sea oil and gas projects on the grounds they were ‘unlawful’.

Guided by a Supreme Court decision from last June, the judge said the impact of burning fossil fuels from proposed new fields had not been taken into account.

Shamefully, Labour did not even bother to defend the case brought by Green activists, in further evidence of its deference to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s messianic desire to sacrifice a multi-billion pound industry on the altar of Net Zero.

For reference, 78 per cent of the UK’s energy – transport, electricity generation, and all the rest – comes from fossil fuels.

The hypothesis behind the whole legal challenge is ludicrous.

If oil and gas are not tapped from North Sea fields, demand for them does not simply disappear.

Supplies will have to be imported by sea from the Gulf or beyond as a substitute for those we could have produced domestically.That leaves us facing higher costs and even more at the mercy of global markets. It is sheer madness.

Activists from Greenpeace and Uplift demonstrated outside the Court of Session in Edinburgh on the first day of the Rosebank and Jackdaw judicial review hearing in November

Oil and gas have been extracted from the North Sea for decades. Pictured: Oil rig Stena Spey

Oil and gas have been extracted from the North Sea for decades. Pictured: Oil rig Stena Spey

Equally serious is the judicial over-reach displayed yet again by this troubling case.

Time and again, unelected judges are imposing damaging decisions on matters which should be the preserve of elected politicians. Sir Keir must show his mettle and do everything possible to mitigate the effect of yesterday’s ruling.

Otherwise we will know for sure that under him we suffer rule by lawyers, not by leaders.

And that his supposed growth agenda is nothing but hot air.

Migrant malaise

Today marks exactly seven years since the first migrant small boat was recorded arriving from France.

It was a dinghy with seven people aboard, and since then a further 152,229 have come.

Now, seven months after scrapping the previous government’s Rwanda asylum scheme, Labour has published its flagship borders Bill.

It is mostly a rag-tag collection of minor changes to immigration law. There is, perhaps, one half-decent idea in there. It shows no vision, and contains no radical solutions.

Critically, it is focused on making the law tougher against people traffickers – most of whom operate on the Continent and will never fall within the UK’s jurisdiction anyway. 

An inflatable dinghy carrying around 65 migrants crosses the English Channel -- March 6, 2024

 An inflatable dinghy carrying around 65 migrants crosses the English Channel — March 6, 2024

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel -- January 22, 2025

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel — January 22, 2025

Most damagingly, it repeals Conservative legislation which denies illegal migrants access to the asylum system.

This technocratic attempt at solving the problem is completely lacking in ambition, will do little if anything to deter migrants from risking their lives in the Channel and is likely to make matters worse.

As a result there may well be another 150,000 arrivals by the next election.

The proposal to drastically curtail second-class post deliveries is further evidence of an ailing Britain.

Older people who have no inclination to adopt the internet still rely heavily on the letter post.

But the price of a first-class stamp has rocketed from 41p in 2010 to £1.65 today, so the cheaper second class service is crucial for the less well-off.

Regrettably, the impending sale of Royal Mail to a Czech billionaire will inevitably prompt fears that before too long the business will be lobbying for further damaging cuts.



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