Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash's position on energy: 'We need it all'
I have never been interested in telling people what they want to hear. I’m interested in what is right for Hartlepool.
On energy, my position is simple: We need it all.
Hartlepool is becoming one of Britain’s great clean-energy towns.
We have nuclear power, new advanced modular reactors, offshore wind, carbon capture, steel, engineering, cables, turbine assembly and a skilled workforce built over generations.
These aren’t abstract technologies. They are Hartlepool jobs.
But this is also about bills.
Families and businesses need energy that is secure, reliable and affordable.
The answer is not pretending one technology can solve everything.
It is building more energy here, from a wider range of sources, reducing exposure to volatile global prices, investing in nuclear and renewables, improving the grid and using domestic resources responsibly.
More homegrown energy means less dependence on imports, less exposure to price shocks and more investment, skills and economic security in Hartlepool.
Reform wants to scrap £10 billion a year support for renewable energy.
That threatens the investment pipeline for the renewable industry bringing work through Hartlepool’s port and creating engineering, manufacturing and apprenticeship opportunities.
The Greens would cease development of new nuclear power stations and campaign to phase out existing nuclear.
At precisely the moment Hartlepool is positioning itself for the next generation of nuclear jobs, they want to slam the door shut.
Nuclear provides reliable power regardless of the weather, reduces dependence on gas and provides a stable foundation alongside renewables.
Walking away means fewer options, less security and greater exposure to imported fuel.
I reject both. I won’t sacrifice renewable jobs to Reform’s attack on green technologies or nuclear jobs to Green opposition to nuclear power.
And I will be equally clear on North Sea oil and gas.
Britain needs reliable energy while new infrastructure is built. We should use our resources responsibly and approve new North Sea licences where safe, economically viable and in the national interest.
Jackdaw and Rosebank should be approved.
We should not shut domestic production only to import more oil and gas, exporting jobs and increasing our vulnerability to international shocks.
So my message to Government is build the wind, build the nuclear, build the carbon capture, approve Jackdaw and Rosebank and drill, Burnham, drill.
My job isn’t to join an ideological tribe. It is to fight for lower bills, Hartlepool jobs, Hartlepool workers, and Britain’s energy security.
And I’ll choose that every single time.