UK energy independence strategy: what are the cabinet divisions?
Downing Street’s long-awaited energy independence strategy is not expected to be published until next week, amid wrangling between No 10 and the Treasury over how to fund it.
Boris Johnson’s cabinet ministers have a range of views on the best way forward:
Kwasi Kwarteng: the business secretary is an avowed enthusiast for green energy sources, and has made clear he thinks the Ukraine situation only makes them more important.
He has publicly suggested planning rules may need to be liberalised to facilitate new onshore wind development, reversing the effective moratorium imposed by David Cameron’s government.
Kwarteng has also previously made clear his scepticism about fracking, the controversial practice of domestic shale gas extraction. He has toned down his rhetoric of late, however, insisting he has no objection in principle, but wants to see scientific evidence that it is safe.
Jacob Rees-Mogg: the Brexit opportunities minister has urged Boris Johnson to press ahead with fracking, whose advocates have become more vocal since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlined the arguments for energy independence.
On a recent episode of his regular “Moggcast”, he called shale gas “very clean” and dismissed concerns about earth tremors, saying they were “equivalent to a bus passing by your house”, and “not the San Francisco earthquake”.
Like most cabinet ministers, Rees Mogg also backs a more rapid expansion of domestic nuclear power. He is more sceptical about onshore wind power, however, with a small-c conservative dislike of turbines scattered across the British countryside.
Boris Johnson: the prime minister is enthusiastic about expanding domestic nuclear production. The lengthy timelines mean it will make little shortterm contribution to the UK’s energy independence, but he called in industry experts last week to discuss how to speed up the building of new plants.
Johnson has been sceptical about wind power in the past, once notoriously suggesting in one of his contrarian columns that it would not “pull the skin off a rice pudding”, but aides say he is now keen on a rapid expansion of offshore wind – and open-minded about onshore generation.
On fracking, Kwarteng cited a conversation with Johnson to explain the recent softening of his position. Downing Street insists no decision has been made – but say given the seriousness of the situation, all options must be on the table.
Rishi Sunak: the chancellor rarely mentions net zero in his public pronouncements – it didn’t feature in last week’s spring statement speech, for example. Aides say that’s not because he is a sceptic, but because he believes private sector investment will need to do much of the work in funding the transition.
Meanwhile, he has been keen to grant new licences for North Sea extraction, telling the Mail on Sunday earlier this month: “In the short term we need to make sure we are helping people with the cost of energy but also recognising that things like natural gas have a role to play in our transition. We are going to get to net zero over decades, not over days and weeks.”
Sunak has suggested he is not opposed to fracking in principle, but wants to see evidence that it is safe – a similar line to Kwarteng’s. He and Johnson have been wrangling in recent days about the funding for new nuclear power plants.
Michael Gove: The levelling-up secretary told a recent environment reception he was “not convinced” of the case for fracking, and would like to see the development of more onshore – as well as offshore – wind, alongside solar and nuclear.
As Kwarteng has made clear, that would be likely to require a change in the planning system – which Gove oversees.
The Cameron government did not ban new onshore wind developments, but made them subject to stringent local consultation, which ministers admit has been tantamount to a moratorium.
Alok Sharma: with the Glasgow summit over,the UK’s Cop26 president is regarded as the government’s conscience on net zero, telling the Guardian in a December interview, “given that people do see that the UK has shown a great deal of international leadership when it comes to climate, it’s important we maintain that focus across the whole of the UK government”.
Not surprisingly, he is known to be sceptical about fracking, and has made clear publicly that drilling more in the North Sea will do nothing to bring down domestic prices. “Ultimately the price that’s going to be generated is going to be the international wholesale gas price,” he has said.