Claire Courtinho has hit out at Ed Miliband’s “simply mad” energy strategy, accusing him of treating energy policy the same as “10 years ago”.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Energy Secretary argued the Labour Government must “put energy resilience first” and “maximise the North Sea”.
“The world has got more dangerous,” she stated, insisting that energy resilience must now take priority.
The Conservative frontbencher expressed particular concern about Britain’s increasing reliance on foreign energy imports during a period of international instability.
“At the moment, we’re importing more from abroad, rather than using our own resources at a time of global conflict. That’s simply mad,” she told the broadcaster.
Ms Courtinho maintained that the UK should instead be extracting maximum value from North Sea oil and gas reserves.
While acknowledging that the Conservatives “didn’t get everything on energy right” during their 14 years in Government, Ms Courtinho defended the changes she implemented during her final year as Energy Secretary.
She pointed to her decision to approve the controversial Rosebank oil field and her efforts to safeguard North Sea drilling licences as evidence of a shift in direction.
Claire Coutinho has hit out at Ed Miliband’s ‘simply mad’ energy strategy
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PA / GB NEWS
“All of that is being reversed,” she said, criticising Labour’s policy changes.
The Shadow Energy Secretary also took aim at the Government’s nuclear strategy, revealing that she had authorised a third power station before leaving office.
“Labour have now cancelled that third power plant, so there is no future nuclear pipeline in this country for large-scale nuclear,” she warned. “I think that is a huge mistake when it comes to our resilience.”
Ms Courtinho extended her criticism beyond energy policy to Labour’s handling of military matters, accusing the Government of being too slow to support Britain’s allies.
Ed Miliband has been criticised for his refusal to pursue North Sea oil
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GETTY
She claimed the Conservatives would have acted more swiftly in granting American forces access to British military bases.
“We would have been quicker to let our allies use our bases,” she stated.
The Shadow Energy Secretary also highlighted what she described as an unprecedented gap in Britain’s naval presence in the Middle East.
“This is the first time in decades that we haven’t had a naval warship in the Middle East,” she said.
Ms Courtinho questioned the Government’s delay in deploying HMS Dragon to the region, arguing that protecting British interests abroad requires a robust military presence.
Ms Coutinho told GB News that the Tories ‘would have been quicker to let our allies use our bases’
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GB NEWS
The Shadow Energy Secretary outlined her party’s position on the current conflict, stating that the Conservatives align with Australia and Canada in backing American and Israeli efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“We know that Iran is hostile to our country,” she said, emphasising the threat such weapons would pose to Britain.
Ms Courtinho accused Sir Keir of attempting to claim credit for decisions that were not his own, suggesting the Prime Minister had initially favoured earlier base access for US forces but was overruled by cabinet colleagues.
“He’s trying to tell us that we should praise him for his judgement, but it wasn’t even his judgement in the first place,” she said.
She stressed that any British military action should serve the national interest and protect citizens overseas.