More North Sea drilling will put UK at mercy of fossil fuel markets, ministers say

Ed Miliband says only clean power will provide ‘energy sovereignty’ amid opposition calls for oil and gas expansion Ministers have said expanding North Sea drilling would put the UK at further risk from volatile fossil fuel markets, amid calls from the Conservatives and some Labour MPs to breach the manifesto pledge of no new oil and gas licences. The energy minister Michael Shanks said the UK was “learning the right lessons from this conflict so that we’re not exposed to fossil fuels in the same way again, because this isn’t the first time that households across the country have paid the price of our exposure to gas”. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to set out plans in the Commons on Tuesday for the government to protect people from higher energy bills caused by the US-Iran conflict. The Conservatives plan to use their opposition day debate to argue for scrapping the windfall tax on oil and gas, ending the ban on new oil and gas licences and approving the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea. Both Reeves and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, have said that weaning the UK off its dependence on fossil fuel markets is a key long-term route to addressing the price