Jackdaw Gas Field

Lord Spellar Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Curran (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for that question, which was not terribly surprising. I do not quite comprehend the Opposition Benches’ obsession with Ed Miliband, but I suppose it is something I will have to learn to live with. The noble Lord knows full well that the Rosebank decision is a quasi-judicial decision. While I acknowledge the interest in it, I cannot be tempted into making any direct comment on it. The decision on Jackdaw does not prejudge Rosebank or any other application. Each decision is made on its merits, and all the evidence will be looked at and thoroughly investigated. It will be a robust decision, based on the evidence.

[Lord Spellar (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the comments from the Minister on challenging the bureaucracy. It is a shame that her predecessors in the Conservative Government and the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition did not challenge it to ensure a much greater British content in renewable energy, and that we have become so dependent on foreign manufacturers. I urge her to challenge the presumption that there is nothing we can do about gas prices and security, either through storage or—as Australia is doing—by mandating that a percentage of gas be produced for the domestic market. We are not passive in this, and we should become an active Government. That message needs to get back into Whitehall.

[Baroness Curran (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for that. I believe in proactive government, and I am very happy to take a message back to Whitehall to say that we need to be much more assertive and proactive in defending not just our energy interests but the general interests of the country. I am happy to take that energy back—if I can. The Australian model is interesting and is something I want to look at.

Storage has been raised here a number of times. I have gone back to the department constantly to ask questions about storage and have had reassurance about that, but it is something I will continue to look at. The noble Lord is right: we need to look after the interests of British workers and industries, making sure we can extract every possible opportunity from that. Every penny the Government spend should be considered within that frame, and I will go back and pursue that. I do not know whether my team will always agree with me, but I am happy to challenge bureaucracy at all times.