If you want an example of the reckless foolishness of the Net Zero madness foisted upon Britain, look no further than Labour’s decision to ease sanctions on Russia’s murderous regime.
As a result of Tuesday’s announcement – quietly sneaked out in the hope that few would notice – this country will allow imports of Russian oil and aviation fuel, provided they have been refined in third countries.
It’s true that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East has dramatically increased the price of energy and doubled the cost of jet fuel. Easing sanctions might keep costs down for British households and holidaymakers by increasing the supply.
However, the result of this betrayal will be to pour yet more money into Putin’s war machine at a time when, thanks to Net Zero restrictions, we are refusing to use the substantial reserves of gas and oil we still have in our own North Sea! The stupidity is breathtaking.
If Britain had a sane energy policy, we’d rip up the self-defeating Net Zero rules. We’d ensure we had a truly balanced energy policy: one which reduced carbon emissions, but which also used what resources we have to bring down prices for homes and businesses and ensure our own security of supply.
Instead, we are doing the opposite. This Government plans to block new licences to drill in the North Sea, signalling the end of the oil and gas industry.
When, on Tuesday, the Conservatives attempted to force a rethink in Parliament, Labour MPs voted them down – while, at the same time, loosening some sanctions on Putin so that we can use his oil instead of our own. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to suffer. The more Putin sees a weak and underfunded British military and vacillating political leaders, the more he will think we are ripe for undermining, sabotaging or worse, writes Bob Seely.
No wonder Keir Starmer was savaged at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, when Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of funding ‘the killing of Ukrainian soldiers’.
There was a time when Britain had resilience. Back in the 1970s, we had 18 refineries making petrol, diesel and aviation fuel as well as other oil-derived products for a modern economy. By 2024, we were down to a handful. Two more refineries – Grangemouth and Lindsey – have shut since Labour came to power. Both, as it happens, produced the very aviation fuel that we are now desperately importing from Russia via third countries.
Having closed down our own oil industry in an act of national self-harm, we then give money to an adversary pursuing a bloodthirsty war on our ally. You couldn’t make it up.
Bizarrely, importing oil and gas is not accounted for in our carbon emissions. Theoretically, then, Russia’s blood-soaked oil exports are ‘green’ when they reach us – the final icing on the cake of this ethical and moral deceit.
Remember, every penny going into Russian coffers drives Putin’s killing machine. Already, America’s war with Iran has pumped billions of dollars – from rising oil prices – into the Russian economy. EU states have paid Russia some €215 billion for fossil fuels since the Ukraine war began in 2022, while giving less than half that amount – a little under €95 billion – to its ally through military and refugee aid.
To put it another way, Europe’s historic dependency on Russian energy means that the continent continues to fund the war that it opposes, financing Putin while ‘standing with Ukraine’.
Easing sanctions also suggests to Russia that the sanctions regime itself is breaking down, the more so as Britain has played a leading international role in imposing them. The signal this sends is even more significant than the extra cash.
We have good reason to look to our own security, too. Britain is a particular target of Putin’s hatred – and it so happens we are more vulnerable than most in Europe because of our dependency on undersea cables for our communications and our energy. Much of our gas supply comes from Norway – some from fields that we share with the Norwegians but refuse to invest in – through just three pipelines.
The more Putin sees a weak and underfunded British military and vacillating political leaders, the more he will think we are ripe for undermining, sabotaging or worse. Successive administrations must share the blame, but this Government’s role has been egregious. Since Labour regained power in 2024, its green ideologue-in-chief Ed Miliband has driven us head-first towards an extreme Net Zero that’s not only destroying what remains of our manufacturing base but is actively undermining our national security.
Truly, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Dr Bob Seely MBE is the author of The New Total War.
