Common sense or Miliband, Starmer must choose but he can't have both!
If only the Government could tap into the energy reserves of Sir Tony Blair then they would not need to worry about fossil fuels. Blair is the ultimate in renewables, even at the age of 72, and he has certainly drilled down to discover what seems like limitless supplies of power. We badly need it and now!
Blair's think tank, The Tony Blair Institute, has given its full backing to drilling the North Sea. They are not constrained by the Miliband straitjacket which is neatly fastened from behind- only others can remove it from him as his hatred of oil and gas is bordering on obsession. This fixation is costing the UK and Starmer dear.
A new opinion shows that 3/4 of the UK want Starmer gone pronto, and this includes 46% of those who bravely owned up to voting Labour at the General Election in 2024. Starmer is making an entrance on the world stage whilst his MPs are planning his exit strategy. May 7th is not going to be pleasant for Labour and he will have to carry the can which, it and he, will be kicked out of Downing Street soon after.
Starmer will try his best to cling onto power with his King's speech littered with red meat about salami slicing the UK back into the sclerotic grasp of the EU, no welfare cuts, extra regulation on business, more pandering to the unions, more tax rises and spend baby spend on benefit street and the public sector. Growth and "change" have given way to stagnation and dither. U turns have become a hallmark of "Starmerthink" and if he listens to Blair, which he needs to, another u turn will soon be in the offing.
Starmer is limited in the reshuffle territory and he knows that the knives are out and they have several sets of fingerprints on them. He will not have to send for Poirot to deduce who is measuring up the curtains at Number 10. His posture of not getting the UK "offensively"involved in the USA Israel war against Iran will not ultimately be enough to repair the domestic damage his Government has inflicted on the nation. The last 21 months has witnessed the worst start to any Government in living memory. What is the use of having a toolmaker's son in number 10 if he chooses to deploy the wrong tools!
Energy prices in the UK are some of the most expensive in the world. The Netherlands, for example is charging 12.85 pence/kWh and the USA 12.85 pence/kWh whilst the EU average is 21.98 pence /kWh and the UK 34.54 pence/kWh. No wonder OpenAI has just announced it is not going to proceed with its much heralded investment into data centres in the UK and it explicitly mentions energy costs as a major reason. This is a loss of a multi billion pound investment and it is a huge setback in the UK becoming the European centre of AI. Artificial Intelligence data centres gobble up enormous amounts of energy and any sensible investors into the sector will expect thrift when it comes to locating these essential data centres. High energy costs is very bad news for UK PLC.
Whilst renewables constitute a growing % of electricity generation the overall picture is still one which is reliant on oil and gas with nuclear coming in at about 12 1/2 %. Meanwhile the UK imports millions of tonnes of oil and billions of cubic metres of gas. This is a nonsense when we are sitting on enormous supplies in the North Sea- the same place that Norway is extracting their supplies from which they then sell to us. DER!
Blair's think tank argues that we need to drill and incentivise new wells by dropping some of the eye watering windfall taxes that deter exploration and extraction whilst they also want the green light to be given to the drilling at the Jackdaw gasfield and the Rosebank oilfield. The Blair Institute report is stark in its warnings about the UK falling behind our competitors and the need to protect households and businesses from energy price shocks. They are not arguing for the UK to turn their backs on clean energy but they are condemning the UK turning its back on their own fossil fuel supplies. They also point out the bleeding obvious which is extra jobs and tax revenues will also flow!
Reeves v Miliband
The battle royal between Reeves and Miliband is under way. Reeves knows that with 16,000 millionaires fleeing the UK since 2024 following her shambolic budget and equally shambolic "economic event" that soaking the rich cannot raise the revenues. Miliband has been hypnotised ( not by Polanski at least!) into chanting the clean energy mantra despite the obscene and huge imports of fossil fuels.
Whoever takes over from Starmer shortly will at least be able to reset the energy policy of the UK to one that is in the interests of the UK and the Treasury. We are told that if the green light is given to drill the first supplies from the North Sea could be coming ashore by the Autumn. Miliband will resist but unless he becomes the new leader then whoever takes over can mould their cabinet into Ministers who believe in the new energy mantra based on common sense .
One mischievous thought in parting. When Rishi Sunak was in need of a new foreign secretary he reached out to a former PM to take on the role based in the House of Lords in the form of Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton. Whoever takes over the mantle from Starmer there is one tool in the toolmaker's box so far unused. Step forward the new energy Secretary, Lord Blair of Brent Field, with his limitless energy and the UK in dire energy straits the hand of history is now truly on his shoulder.
Nigel Evans
10th April 2026