Tackling the energy crisis requires a plan. Mine comes in three stages

Today I outline how I will lead a national effort to tackle the UK’s energy crisis. My plan will make us resilient to energy price shocks, and ensure we never face a situation like this again.

The first rule of any crisis is to acknowledge that you are facing one. Following Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, we see the importance of the UK’s energy supply and security now more than ever.

But not only do I acknowledge the severity of the situation, I also have a plan to both get us through and to make sure this is only a one-winter crunch.

This crisis, like many others we have faced in our history, will only be tackled when all parts of our country push in the same direction. Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland – all constituent parts of our fantastic country – tackling the challenges of the day.

Under my plan, all parts have a huge role to play, and all can reap the rewards when we come out the other side.

Scotland, in particular, is centrally placed to fuel our engine as we turn the ship around. The oil and gas sector alone supports over 100,000 jobs across Scotland, both directly and across the supply chain, representing a third of all oil and gas jobs in the UK. And in 2019, exports from the energy growth sector stood at £15.6 billion, accounting for 18 per cent of Scotland’s total exports.

This part of the UK will continue to be the foundation of our energy supply in the decades to come as we transition to cleaner ways to fuel our country.

But it will also be central to my plan right now, a plan which is built on three overarching principles.

The first is more support for people this winter. Building on the help I have already delivered this year, I will put in place more immediate direct assistance for households, particularly pensioners and the most vulnerable.

The second principle is to secure our UK energy supplies to ensure we are no longer held hostage by rogue states and volatile markets.

The third and final part of my plan is to save energy to save money. I will radically reduce energy waste, helping households save energy and – as a consequence – hold on to their hard-earned money.

The second component is especially important for Scotland, and is the beating heart of my ambition to secure UK energy sovereignty.

We cannot rely on imported energy so I will legislate for the UK to be entirely energy independent by 2045. This means more domestic production, much of which will come from Scotland.

We need more offshore wind, more rooftop solar and more nuclear power, and it will need to be done on the scale of the national vaccine programme.

Specifically, I will see that the UK produces 50 GW of electricity from offshore wind by 2030 and 24 GW of electricity from nuclear by 2050.

Of this 50 GW target, I would expect one-third to be located in Scottish waters.

For nuclear, I will work with the Scottish government to ensure that Scotland can benefit from the thousands of jobs and energy reliability that comes with this technology.

I will also deregulate and drive-up North Sea gas production, protecting thousands of Scottish jobs long into the future.

This will involve amending the gas quality rules, putting us in line with our international competitors so that we can increase production this winter and pump more gas into the grid.

I also plan to run a new North Sea licensing round for oil and gas development beginning immediately, with a further round in 2024.

This will mean that we are less reliant on imports of oil and gas resources, instead ramping up the production of our own resources here in the UK.

Bolstered energy security and domestic energy production will give us a renewed and boosted national resilience. We must come together to address what is perhaps the biggest challenge of our age.

The plan I have set out today will do exactly that. It will get us through this winter crisis and provide energy sovereignty for Britain.