Emily Bird

The Conservatives have once again brought out their scapegoat, Putin, to pull the wool over our eyes — this time to hide the stark reality of using fossil fuels.

In a statement on LinkedIn this week, Sunak stated that “Putin has weaponised global energy supplies, causing household bills to soar and slowing economic growth around the world.” Sunak has instead decided to utilise UK fossil fuels to bring us “cleaner energy.”

Let that sink in for a moment. More fossil fuels will bring us a cleaner Britain, says Sunak. He has finally fixed the clean energy conundrum that has perplexed so many leaders past.

Sunak’s Bullet-point Politics

Of course, fewer Russian imports will mean less import emissions, but to use “clean” to describe his North Sea plan is blatant greenwashing. In fact, experts have said that much of the UK’s imported gas comes by pipeline and tends to be produced more cleanly than its British equivalent. As a result, Britain will be worse off. Perhaps it’s Sunak who needs to clean up his act.

If he does want to “max out” our North Sea fossil fuel supplies, that will amount to 15 billion tonnes, providing domestic fuel for around 30 years, according to OEUK. Even the worst mathematicians can calculate that takes us to 2053. So much for net zero by 2050.

“Most concerningly, it makes greenwashing ever-present and easier to hide.”

Sunak continued to list his plans “in a nutshell” — and he even added some fun little emojis, just to dumb it down for us common folk. I like to call this bullet-point politics. His short explanations of rather complicated and nuanced issues are clearly a Johnson legacy, and it poses a threat to political integrity. Most concerningly, it makes greenwashing ever-present and easier to hide. Perhaps someone should explain to the PM that his plan will:

  • Increase emissions
  • Lead to more strike action
  • Turn more people against him

“Sunak’s narrative is becoming tired. As are we.”

Sunak’s forceful bullet-point politics may win over the most loyal of voters, but the cracks have started to show, and the numbers don’t lie — unlike Sunak.

“The North Sea proposal is merely a short-term energy fix and not a sustainable solution”

In 2023, Labour gained a total of 14 councils while the Conservatives plummeted from controlling 89 councils in 2019 to 33 in 2023. Such a knock has forced Sunak to clamp down on his plans, but will it be enough for a party that is still living the disillusioned legacy of Johnson? Sunak seems to be manning a sinking ship and taking us down with it. The North Sea proposal is merely a short-term energy fix and not a sustainable solution.

Sunak’s claim that we must use fossil fuels to reach and maintain net zero contradicts the climate council’s view that fossil fuels quite simply need to be “phased out” and replaced with renewables. For the future, it is vital that we wean ourselves off of these non-renewable energies and start taking what some are now calling “global boiling” seriously.

It is undeniable that the war in Ukraine has had serious knock-on effects for Europe and its energy supplies, but Johnson’s, Truss’ and Sunak’s over-simplified narrative is becoming tired. As are we.

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Image courtesy of Number 10 via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

I’m a modern languages graduate currently living and working in Japan. I enjoy writing about politics, travel and languages and I hope you enjoy the read.

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