Andrew Bowie MP has joined fellow Scottish Conservative MPs and MSPs in urging the UK Government's new Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, to abandon Labour's damaging approach to the North Sea and back the future of Britain's oil and gas industry.
In a joint letter signed by six Scottish Conservative parliamentarians from the North East, Mr Bowie has called on the newly appointed Energy Secretary to make an immediate change of direction by supporting new oil and gas licences, scrapping the Energy Profits Levy, and visiting Aberdeen to hear directly from workers and businesses affected by Labour's policies.
The intervention comes after Miatta Fahnbulleh outlined her ambition to make the UK fully net zero by 2034 and reiterated her support for another windfall tax on the sector, while arguing it would be "strategically mad" not to phase out fossil fuels.
Andrew Bowie, alongside Harriet Cross MP, Douglas Lumsden MP, Liam Kerr MSP, Alexander Burnett MSP and James Adams MSP, warned that Labour's current approach is placing thousands of highly skilled jobs at risk and undermining the UK's long-term energy security.
Their letter highlights the growing impact Labour's policies have already had on the industry, pointing to more than 20 North Sea companies that have announced job losses, withdrawn from the basin or ceased trading altogether since Labour came to power.
The parliamentarians argue that confidence is essential if companies are to continue investing in the North Sea and warn that continued uncertainty over taxation and licensing is accelerating the decline of a sector that remains critical to Scotland's economy.
The letter states: "We are in no doubt that this government's absurd North Sea energy policy risks bringing a premature end to the oil and gas sector as we know it.
"Getting oil and gas out of the ground requires business confidence.
"That is why we are calling on you to make your first policy change by supporting new oil and gas licences, and to scrap the Energy Profits Levy in its entirety."
The group also urged the new Energy Secretary not to follow the approach taken by her predecessor, Ed Miliband, whom they accuse of pursuing policies that have damaged confidence across the industry.
The letter continues: "It's crucial for our energy security that you take a different path to your predecessor, Ed Miliband, who for the last two years has sought to shut down our vital oil and gas industry.
"However, we are deeply concerned by your intentions for another windfall tax and to make the UK fully net zero by 2034.
"We are calling on you to stop this hostility towards oil and gas. The industry is part of the solution, not the problem.
"We are importing oil and gas from abroad while banned from extracting it at home – this approach is sabotaging our country."
The parliamentarians conclude by urging Ms Fahnbulleh to visit Aberdeen and meet those whose livelihoods depend on the North Sea, arguing that the decisions she makes in office will have profound consequences for jobs, investment and the country's future energy resilience.
They write: "The decisions you take as Energy Secretary will ultimately shape our financial security, our energy security and above all our national security.
"Therefore, we must keep drilling, not just for the essential products it provides the country but because thousands of skilled jobs depend on it."
