{"id":4962,"date":"2025-02-07T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4962"},"modified":"2025-02-07T20:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T20:52:10","slug":"this-week-in-pmqs-clean-energy-trumps-foreign-policy-lockdown-breaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4962","title":{"rendered":"This Week in PMQs: Clean Energy, Trump’s Foreign Policy, Lockdown Breaches\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 32 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

As political tensions flare over energy policy, international diplomacy and past pandemic restrictions, opposition leaders ramp up pressure on the UK government. This week, Kemi Badenoch attacked Labour\u2019s clean energy plans, warning they will cause job losses and delay oil projects. Meanwhile, Sir Ed Davey voiced concern for Donald Trump\u2019s stance on Gaza, as the former US president sparks international controversy. At home, Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended himself against accusations that he broke Covid rules in 2020\u2014drawing his own contrast with the Conservative Party\u2019s infamous Partygate scandal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clean Energy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This week, Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, questioned the government\u2019s energy policy, critiquing<\/a> the \u201ceco-nutters who want to obstruct the Rosebank oil and gas field.” Badenoch additionally made the claim<\/a> that \u201cWhen Labour negotiates, we all lose\u201d arguing that the energy policy is not good enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conservative Party has expressed <\/a>\u201cwe should be getting British oil and gas out of the ground,\u201d rather than other net-zero policies. When in power, the Tories approved contracts to drill for oil<\/a> and gas at offshore sites like Rosebank<\/a>, an oil and gas field containing “300 million barrels of oil” just north-west off the British coast. Contracts that were approved by the last government were removed by judges over climate concerns<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incoming Labour government wants to set out<\/a> a \u201cnew era of clean electricity\u201d. Former Labour Leader, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, oversees the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero<\/a>.\u00a0On the subject of the Labour government’s plan for clean electricity, Miliband said<\/a> it is about \u201charnessing the power of Britain\u2019s natural resources so we can protect working people from the ravages of global energy markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s action plan<\/a> seems clear:\u00a0\u201cWe expect delivering a clean power system with these characteristics will make Great Britain a net exporter of electricity and will reduce the carbon intensity of electricity generation from 171gCO2e\/kWh in 2023 to well below 50gCO2e\u2009\/kWh in 2030\u201d. A clear goal of the Labour government is to put clean energy in the UK’s future. That said, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also made it clear<\/a> that \u201cOil and gas will be part of our energy supply for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kemi Badenoch has voiced concerns regarding the job losses as a consequence<\/a> of Labour’s energy plan, specifically that the one-year delay to Rosebank will cost<\/a> “the loss of 1,000 jobs”. However, an assessment on the impact<\/a> of the new climate policy estimates that \u201cbetween 135,000 and 725,000 net new jobs could be created by 2030 in low-carbon sectors. These estimates factor in potential job losses resulting from the transition from fossil fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trump and the Gaza Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last month Israel and Gaza signed a ceasefire ending 15 months of war. The ceasefire deal was aided through the cooperation<\/a> of both the Biden and Trump administrations. The ceasefire is to take place in <\/a>stages, gradually releasing hostages in regular intervals. In his statement<\/a> on the ceasefire in mid-January, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that \u201cthis is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than a month after the ceasefire was announced, Sir Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, expressed concern during this week’s PMQs, stating<\/a> he was “alarmed to hear President Trump speak about forcibly displacing 1.8 million people from Gaza.” In a joint speech with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, President Trump asserted<\/a> \u201cWe’re going to take over that peace and we’re going to develop it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump’s announcement has alarmed nations across the world. Starmer stated in parliament<\/a> \u201cthey must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has now sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC)<\/a> which issued warrants for both Netanyahu and a Hamas commander.\u00a0The US President has accused the court<\/a> of \u201cillegitimate and baseless actions.\u201d The ICC has condemned the sanctions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK government has previously affirmed its relationship with the ICC<\/a>, with a speech from UK Ambassador James Kariuki proclaiming how the country “will continue to demonstrate our support for the Court, and to work together with States Parties and the Court, to ensure that the Court delivers justice for victims, and accountability, in respect of the most serious crimes of international concern.\u201d In light of recent events, it remains ambiguous whether policy will change in favour of Trump or remain aligned with the ICC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starmer Lockdown Breach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Badenoch and Gagan Mohindra, MP for South West Herefordshire, both questioned Starmer<\/a> on whether Covid rules were followed during his voice coaching lessons on Christmas Eve 2020. Leonie Mellinger, actress and voice coach, was employed by Starmer<\/a> during the final days of Brexit to help him \u201cprepare and deliver a live statement at speed on one of the most important issues for our country in recent years.\u201d Her involvement was revealed in\u00a0Get In<\/em>, a book published earlier this month<\/a> detailing Labour\u2019s self-reinvention and rise to power. The Prime Minister has repeatedly denied that any rules were broken, drawing a comparison between himself<\/a> and the Tories’ 2020 Partygate<\/a> scandal: \u201cI was working\u2014they were partying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Elizabeth Strassheim<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image:\u00a0House of Commons Chamber during PMQs<\/a>, by House of Commons via Flickr \/\/\u00a0CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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