Given the current turmoil in the global energy market, UK government ministers need to end their hostility to the North Sea and approve new licences, argues Herald columnist Alan Simpson.

I have to confess I know very little about Ed Miliband other than he has two kitchens in his London home.

Quite why they feel the need for two kitchens is not clear but I suppose it means nobody has to queue to use the microwave.

The kitchen situation caused quite a stir when he was Labour leader amongst the Twitterati who seemed aghast at the fact.

It is also quite a pertinent fact today as the electricity bills at Chez Miliband must be fairly hefty.

Two air fryers, ovens, microwaves and kettles mean it must be quite an expensive business given the soaring price of energy bills.

As Mr Miliband is UK Energy Secretary then this must cause him no end of worry.

But I suspect it won’t as he seems ideologically detached from the rest of the planet when it comes to energy production.

In short, he is a green zealot and is totally wedded to renewables over everything.

Which is absolutely fine until some clown decides to attack Iran which closes the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation, causing oil and gas shortages and the wholesale price to skyrocket.

Hi stance is at odds with many, including his former boss Tony Blair, whose eponymous think tank has warned that two major North Sea fields should get Miliband’s approval in light of current events in the Middle East

The Tony Blair Institute said that UK Government should already be backing new licences for drilling the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oil field.

In a new report, the organisation says the Middle East crisis has highlighted the UK’s vulnerability to shocks in the global fossil fuel market and that ministers should accelerate domestic oil and gas production to help reduce exposure.

Tone Langengen, a policy........

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