North Sea Tice vows to reverse ban on new oil and gas drilling

Reform UK has promised to reverse the government's ban on new North Sea oil and gas drilling as a "day-one" priority if elected to power, with the taxpayer taking a stake in the projects.

- Jillian Ambrose

Richard Tice, the party's deputy leader, has met senior UK oil executives in recent weeks to pledge the party's support for the industry, which has been hit hard by the government's windfall tax and moves to block fresh North Sea exploration licences.

Tice told the energy bosses to expect a reversal of the government's ban alongside billions of pounds of public investment in their projects if the party comes to power in the 2029 election.

The public investments would in effect hand taxpayers an equity stake in North Sea fossil fuel developments, which have stalled in recent months after Labour swept to power with a manifesto that promised to stop issuing exploration licences for new oil and gas fields.