Trump’s ‘drill baby drill’ policy will not alter UK net-zero ambition – minister

Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” motto will not alter British net-zero ambitions, the energy minister has confirmed.

Asked about the three-word phrase, which Mr Trump repeated during his successful US presidential election campaign this year, Michael Shanks told the Commons that ministers will outline an action plan for their environmental goals later this year.

Labour pledged cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030 “accelerating to net zero” in its successful election campaign earlier this year.

Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison asked: “Given the election of a president who tells us he’s going to ‘drill, baby, drill’, what revision does the minister anticipate to his timetable towards net zero?”

He also told MPs: “Offshore wind has been a real positive for our energy security and grid independence, but unfortunately not when the wind doesn’t blow.”

The energy minister replied: “We’ll outline later this year our action plan on how we will deliver on 2030 but there’s no change to our timetable in that regard.

“But what it does show, he raises a good point around when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, about making sure that we have a mix in our energy system. That’s why we remain supportive of nuclear.

“It’s also why we’ve announced recently investment in long-duration energy storage to make sure we can capture that energy and use it when we need it.”

Mr Trump vowed several times on the campaign trail to “drill, baby, drill”.

The US president-elect said at July’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee: “I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates and lower the cost of energy. We will drill, baby, drill.”