Liz will deliver affordability, self-sufficiency ...and security

THE brutality unleashed by Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine has been horrifying. The humanitarian impact has been catastrophic, but the invasion has also pushed European gas prices to unimaginable highs. Russia is the world’s largest natural gas producer. By deliberately restricting exports, they are manipulating the price we pay at home. If there’s less gas on the market, we all pay more.

When I speak to ministers across Europe, they are all facing the same challenge. Energy rationing is looming for Germany. In France, households are being asked to take showers rather than baths. In terms of physical gas supply, Britain has a strategic advantage. Unlike most of Europe, we are not dependent on Russian gas, so less vulnerable to geopolitical leverage.

We are fortunate to have access to our own North Sea gas reserves, the second-largest liquefied natural gas port infrastructure in Europe, and reliable imports from friends and allies.

Thanks to a £90billion investment in clean energy in the past decade, the UK now has one of the most secure and diverse energy systems in the world.

With the preparations we have made since January –from buying extra gas, to extending the life of our coal plants – households, businesses and industry can be confident they get the energy they need.

However, while our energy supplies are secure, no country is immune from rising prices – least of all Britain.

I understand the deep anxiety this is causing. As winter approaches, millions of families will be concerned about how they are going make ends meet. But I want to reassure the British people that help is coming. Right now, work is happening across government to assess all the options at our disposal to mitigate the worst effects of the gas crisis.

And in just over two weeks’ time, our next prime minister will walk into 10 Downing Street ready to hit the ground running and deliver. On day one, the new prime minister will have the full information and analysis before them, allowing them to work up the best package measures that will help deal with the issue.

Liz Truss has said she will do all she can to help households across Britain. She has already announced she will reverse the National Insurance contribution rise and introduce a temporary moratorium on energy levies.

Of course, she will look at what more can be done to help families, but it is entirely reasonable not to detail the exact shape of that support until she has all the information to hand.

Liz has also been extremely clear that without radical supplyside reform, we cannot protect ourselves from this gas crisis, or other price shocks into the future. She understands the need to secure Britain’s energy independence. That means generating and producing more energy in the UK – and for the UK – so we are no longer held hostage by rogue petrostates.

We need to crack on with more nuclear power stations, back British-made small modular reactors, invest in cheap renewable energy such as offshore wind and lift the ban on shale gas extraction in England where there is local consent. We also need to maximise North Sea oil and gas production. Rather than slapping a punitive windfall tax, as Rishi Sunak has done, we need to incentivise investment in domestic oil and gas for our energy security.

I appreciate windfall taxes are sometimes popular. But popularity won’t keep the lights on. We need to boost North Sea production, or we will end up importing more from abroad, exacerbating the problem even further.

Energy produced in Britain is by far the safest option, and that’s how Liz will deliver security, affordability and self-sufficiency for our country and our people.

In the meantime, she has offered a bold and ambitious vision for the country that is based on her core principles of higher growth and lower taxes.

I share Liz’s firmly-held view that we must allow people to keep more of the money they earn. She understands that your money is far better spent by you, rather than the State. Cutting taxes will have the double effect of supporting hard-working people and triggering economic growth.

Liz is right to focus on reversing the 70-year-high tax burden and going for growth. Because without economic growth, wages won’t rise and jobs will be lost. Each tax we levy acts as a disincentive on economic activity.

The gas crisis is not going anywhere in the short term, but work is being done to furnish the new prime minister with the detailed options and information needed to tackle the situation head on from day one.

Liz Truss has exactly the right approach to helping people through the crisis, to grow our economy and boost our energy security to make Britain more resilient in the long term.

Households, businesses and industry will get the energy they need