I need the fossil fuel lobby to stay out of our MPs’ ears – and pockets

I’ve learned a lot in my 13-plus years in Parliament – but one rule seems to be self-evident. 

What the fossil fuel lobby wants, the fossil fuel lobby gets. 

I worry about the impact of the cosiness between energy giants and our top politicians – and for the sake of our country and our planet, it can’t go on any longer. 

Shocking new analysis published this week by Fossil Free Parliament claims that in the 12 months following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, trade body Offshore Energies UK (formerly Oil and Gas UK) and its members including BP, Shell and Equinor, met with ministers over 200 times. 

Some meetings between ministers and trade bodies and other outside groups are to be expected – but you would be forgiven for thinking that this kind of lobbying effort is potentially influencing policy. 

Indeed, major loopholes in the so-called windfall tax have benefited fossil fuel companies. 

Because these aren’t just routine meetings between industry and government – events from fossil fuel companies and groups include a summer reception for MPs attended by the Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and a ‘fiscal forum’ with the man who was then Chancellor and is now Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

Of course we don’t know what was said at these meetings, but whether by accident or design, the premiership of Sunak has, in my view, been very good for fossil fuel companies – and very bad for the planet. 

Because in just 12 short months we’ve seen Sunak approve a coal mine in Cumbria, grant over 100 new oil and gas licences, wage a culture and misinformation war against critical climate and health measures by talking up a fictitious ‘war against motorists’, and give the green light to Rosebank – the biggest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea. 

The OEUK welcomed the approval of the Rosebank deal, and in fact called on the government to go even further.

I truly believe some of Sunak’s decisions wouldn’t have gone ahead without influence like this from industry, and I worry about what that means. 

Fossil fuel interests have no place in our parliament. 

They have no place in the receptions where ministers are wined and dined, and they have no place bankrolling political parties.  

And at the very least, if any meetings do take place, full transparency of such discussions is critical.

In my view, not only is the current system of lobbying for fossil fuel interests undemocratic – it’s also deeply dangerous for climate action, given their priority is putting forward policies that can undermine the UK’s climate commitments. 

This Government has a seemingly insatiable addiction to fossil fuels – and the lobby is their enabler. 

We need to change things to end this toxic relationship.

So what could that mean in practical terms?  

First – I think fossil fuel companies should be banned from political party conferences. 

Chevron was co-hosting an event at Tory Party conference, with the tagline: ‘Can fossil fuel companies play a role in the energy transition?’ 

Evidence suggests to me the only role they want to play is to delay and obfuscate – so why should they be able to pay to get this privileged access to the governing party.

Second – they should be banned from donating to MPs or to political parties, and from sponsoring parliamentary groups.

There can be no justification for allowing the fossil fuel lobby to even give the suggestion they are buying favours. 

Third – the rules on other conflicts of interest need overhauling as well. Theresa Villiers, a former Environment Secretary, had over £70,000 worth of shares in Shell while doing the job – failing to declare them at the time. 

The rules as they stand are clearly not fit for purpose.   

Fourth, those cosy dinners and drinks events with fossil fuel lobbyists must be dragged into the sunlight. 

If ministers who are making huge decisions on the future of the planet have conversations about policy with someone from the oil and gas sector, or another sector that stands to benefit, they should be required to make it public without delay. 

Transparency is meaningless if it only emerges months and years afterwards. 

Fifth and last, the revolving doors between Whitehall and the fossil fuel companies should come to an end. 

This means MPs having no more second jobs in the industry. 

It means far greater periods of time elapsing between someone moving from a ministerial role to consulting for an oil and gas firm, for example. 

The current toothless two-year ‘cooling off’ period in between such positions, when ex-ministers simply have to seek advice from a government body, hasn’t worked and isn’t fit for purpose.

The actions of the fossil fuel companies are criminal in my view. 

But the degree to which they are being aided and abetted by our political system is even more alarming. So it’s time to break with the past, as everyone knows we must, and make sure that our politics is fossil fuel free once and for all.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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