Tony Blair has reiterated calls for Labour to expand drilling in the North Sea, saying the war in Iran has exposed the UK’s “structural vulnerability” to global fossil-fuel shocks.
The former prime minister’s think tank piled further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to back the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields after Donald Trump’s war sent oil prices soaring.
In a new report, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said the conflict should be seen as part of a wider energy crisis facing the UK and calls for a broader “reset” of its energy strategy – arguing the UK’s approach is increasingly out of step with global competitors.
TBI’s energy policy expert, Tone Langengen, said the war in Iran has been “a test of Britain’s economic resilience”.
“But the case for strengthening domestic supply and backing projects like Jackdaw and Rosebank was already strong – the crisis has simply exposed how vulnerable the UK remains without it,” she said.
“If the government doubles down on the wrong parts of the system, the UK will remain exposed to the same vulnerabilities.”
However, she added the government could use the crisis as “an opportunity to reset” by taking steps to accelerate domestic supply to reduce reliance on volatile imports.
“A credible strategy must do three things: manage today’s system, reduce exposure to shocks, and reshape the energy system over time,” she said.
“The lesson from Iran is clear: the UK doesn’t just need more clean power, but electrification, greater resilience and a more affordable system over time. Without it, households will face repeated price shocks, businesses will carry persistently high costs, and the transition itself will fail.”
It comes after the TBI called on the government to lift its ban on new exploration licences and to cut tax rates on the industry in February, saying the measures have “sharply increased policy risk and driven capital out of the basin”.
The question of whether to allow more drilling for domestic oil and gas in the North Sea has piled pressure on Sir Keir in recent weeks, with members within his own cabinet appearing to be at odds over the issue.
Last week, the government denied that Ed Miliband was expected to give the green light to the first major North Sea field project in almost 10 years. However, chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would be “very happy” to support exploration at the Rosebank and Jackdaw sites.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has urged more drilling for domestic oil and gas in the North Sea instead, joining the likes of President Trump, who has long called for the UK to drill domestically.
The US president has repeatedly criticised wind power and urged the British government to focus on drilling in the North Sea, telling Sir Keir to “drill, baby, drill”.
He has previously described the North Sea as “one of the greatest reserves anywhere in the world” and criticised the UK for making it “impossible for the oil companies to go”.
