Claire Coutinho challenges Lammy on North Sea oil and gas
claire coutinho challenged David Lammy at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions over the government's North Sea energy policy, asking why Labour is happy for Britain to get its oil and gas from Russia or Qatar, but not from Aberdeen. Lammy replied that oil and gas is coming out of the North Sea 24/7, while Coutinho said the government should back the North Sea and make energy cheap.
Lammy and Coutinho at PMQs
Lammy was standing in for Keir Starmer, who was at the G7 summit in France, and Coutinho was standing in for Kemi Badenoch. The exchange put the government's energy position in the middle of a session that also touched on defence spending, with Lammy saying that spending more on defence is the government's number one priority.
Coutinho said Labour should “cut welfare, fund defence, make energy cheap, and back the North Sea.” She also said, “this is a government on life support,” drawing a sharper line over the direction of policy than Lammy did in response.
North Sea and defence spending
Lammy said North Sea oil and gas is part of a mixed economy. His defence of that position came as the government faced pressure over spending plans after Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigned last week in protest at those plans.
The Commons session took place with MPs wearing white roses in memory of Jo Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen who was murdered 10 years ago. Debbie Abrahams, the Oldham East and Saddleworth MP, paid tribute to Cox and asked what everyone should do so that her beliefs and legacy are always remembered.
Jo Cox tribute in the Commons
Lammy said, “We all miss Jo, a dear friend and valued colleague.” He added that three years ago he opened the Jo Cox More In Common Centre in Huddersfield alongside Kim Leadbeater, Cox's sister, and Cox's parents. Cox's husband Brendan and their children watched from the public gallery.
The argument over North Sea supply, defence funding and energy costs now sits inside a wider Commons session that had to function without the prime minister or the opposition leader in the chamber. For readers watching energy policy, the practical point is that the government is still defending North Sea production while facing calls to show how it will pay for defence without pushing household costs higher.
