Sunak expects grilling from daughters over fossil fuel plans

The Prime Minister said he is confident he can win over his climate-conscious children with his argument for more oil and gas licences.

Rishi Sunak, with his wife, Akshata Murty, right, believes he can convince his daughters about his oil and gas plans (Frank Augstein/PA) (PA Wire)

Rishi Sunak is expecting his climate-conscious daughters to grill him on his plans to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves.

The Prime Minister said he is confident he can win them over with his argument that the UK can reach net zero by 2050 while continuing to drill for fossil fuels.

He told LBC Radio on Wednesday that the girls, Krishna and Anoushka, are not “eco-zealots” and are “open to sensible, practical arguments”.

His comments came as he was being questioned about his decision to grant more than 100 new licences for oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, for which he is facing a growing backlash for allegedly betraying climate pledges.

We have good chat around our table about all these things

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister

Asked how he has sold the move to his children, whom he has previously called the “experts” in his household on climate change, Mr Sunak said he has not yet spoken to them about it.

“I’m sure it’s something we’ll be discussing,” he said, joking that he has a “ready-made focus group at home”.

He said: “I’ll explain it to them in exactly the way I have, and we have good chat around our table about all these things.

“We are going to get to net zero, that’s my commitment. But even when we’re there, we will still need fossil fuels.

“So is it better to have them from here at home, supporting people’s jobs, the economy, public services like the NHS, and being less reliant on (Russian president) Vladimir Putin?

“And by the way, fewer carbon emissions rather than shipping things to here from halfway around the world?

“I think those are all just sensible, practical reasons. So yes, that is the right thing to do.”

Asked if he is confident he can win over his daughters, Mr Sunak said: “I am, because I think on this topic, like most people they don’t approach it as some kind of – they’re not eco-zealots. They actually, I think, are open to sensible, practical arguments.”

The plans have been criticised by climate campaigners, opposition parties and even leading green Conservatives amid fears of how they will affect the UK’s mission to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

Tory MP Chris Skidmore, who led the Government’s net-zero review, has said the move is the “on the wrong side of modern voters” and “on the wrong side of history”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has called countries increasing the production of fossil fuels “truly dangerous radicals”.

But Mr Sunak dismissed the concerns, saying “I 100% believe that what I’m doing is right”.

“What I would say, not just to him (the UN Secretary General) but more generally, is let’s look at the record. Which G7 country out of the large countries of America, Italy, France, Germany, us, Canada, Japan – which of those countries has decarbonised fastest over the past years or decades? Which one? It’s the UK, right?

“So we should not take any lectures from anybody about our record. Our record is fantastic.”

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps is meeting with industry leaders in Downing Street on Wednesday to discuss the Government’s decision to invest in home-grown energy sources, including renewables, nuclear power and backing North Sea oil and gas.