Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB Union, has delivered a scathing critique of Labour’s Great British Energy scheme, expressing a "growing sense of betrayal" over this disastrous initiative championed by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. In comments to the Daily Record and highlighted by the Daily Mail, Smith branded the decision to slash investment in North Sea oil and gas as “bonkers” and “absolute madness,” warning of the catastrophic economic fallout and environmental hypocrisy in phasing out vital domestic fossil fuel production.
Great British Energy (GB Energy), backed by a staggering £8.3 billion of taxpayers’ money, is a taxpayer-funded green energy company headquartered in Aberdeen. This flawed project epitomises Labour's misguided obsession with decarbonisation by 2030, pivoting investments solely to renewables while recklessly shutting down oil and gas extraction—the backbone of Britain’s energy security and economy. Labour’s pledge to halt all new North Sea drilling licenses signals a reckless gamble that undermines national energy independence.
Smith rightly condemned this approach, asserting it amounts to “closing down Aberdeen” and destroying thousands of well-paying jobs in a city historically reliant on the energy sector. “They are going to open a shiny new office with a dozen civil servants in Aberdeen on a high street full of charity shops because they are closing the city down,” he warned. Halting North Sea investment is not only bad for jobs—it is a serious threat to national security. Importing oil and gas from foreign sources ironically risks increasing Britain’s carbon footprint, undermining the very environmental goals Labour claims to champion.
While the GMB Union nominally supports addressing climate change and achieving Net Zero, Smith stressed the urgency of a balanced approach that doesn’t sacrifice livelihoods or regional economies on the altar of ideological green policies. “We want to build a low carbon future, but you do not do that by closing down Aberdeen, by shutting off domestic oil and gas production,” he said. When pressed on whether GB Energy was a “white elephant,” his frank response was, “people are feeling very, very disappointed and even betrayed.”
This backlash from a major Labour funder underscores the deep fissures within the party’s supporters and highlights the growing disconnect between political elites and working-class realities. Discontent is mounting not only towards Energy Secretary Miliband but also Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s disastrous leadership, which has allowed such reckless policies to take root.
In defence, a Department of Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson parroted government talking points, boasting of new jobs in carbon capture, hydrogen, and offshore wind. They touted GB Energy’s £300 million investment in British supply chains and claimed it will “unlock significant investment and help create thousands of skilled jobs.” But such grand promises ring hollow when entire industries collapse and communities face economic ruin.
This bitter disagreement exposes the dangerous folly of Labour’s energy agenda, one that recklessly sacrifices Britain’s industrial heritage and energy security in favour of utopian green fantasies. By contrast, the pragmatic and robust policies championed by emerging political factions committed to protecting domestic energy production and jobs offer a clear alternative—one that prioritises Britain’s sovereignty, economic strength, and environmental realism over empty green promises. The fate of Aberdeen is a warning sign that Labour’s energy policy is pushing the nation towards self-inflicted decline.
Source: Noah Wire Services