Latest blow for the Tories as former minister to step down ‘as soon as possible’
The struggling Conservative Party is facing a new blow this evening as a former minister says he will resign and stand down as an MP ‘as soon as possible’.
Chris Skidmore says he will resign the Conservative whip over new legislation which he argues ‘clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas’.
Mr Skidmore was elected as MP for Kingswood in 2010 and was minister of state jointly at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy between 2019 and 2020.
In a statement shared on X he said his resignation was prompted by the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, which will be introduced to the House of Commons next week.
He said he will resign as an MP when parliament returns next week.
In his statement, he said: ‘This bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea. It is a bill that I have already stated my opposition to.
‘As the former Energy Minister who signed the UK’s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, I cannot vote for a bill that clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas.’
The news is yet another blow for the Tories, who have seen a number of MPs either quit altogether or step down from their ministerial posts.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was sacked from her post and Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick resigned over small boat crossings and the government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The Conservatives have also lost almost all of their recent by-elections after Nadine Dorries, Boris Johnson, David Warburton and Nigel Adams resigned.
But the party managed to avoid complete humiliation by hanging on to Boris Johnson’s former seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Mr Skidmore’s statement continues: ‘The bill that will be debated next week achieves nothing apart from to send a global signal that the UK is rowing ever further back from its climate commitments.
‘We cannot expect other countries to phase out their fossil fuels when at the same time we continue to issue new licences or to open new oil fields.
‘It is a tragedy that the UK has been allowed to lose its climate leadership, at a time when our businesses, industries, universities and civil society organisations are providing first class leadership and expertise to so many across the world, inspiring change for the better.
‘I cannot vote for the bill next week. The future will judge harshly those that do. At a time when we should be committing to more climate action, we simply do not have any more time to waste promoting the future production of fossil fuels that is the ultimate cause of the environmental crisis that we are facing.
‘But I can also no longer condone nor continue to support a government that is committed to a course of action that I know is wrong and will cause future harm.
‘To fail to act, rather than merely speak out, is to tolerate a status quo that cannot be sustained. I am therefore resigning my party whip and instead intend to be free from any party-political allegiance.
‘It has been a remarkable and wonderful opportunity to serve as a member of parliament for nearly fourteen years, but I now intend to focus all my energy and attention on delivering net zero and the energy transition.
‘I am sorry my actions today disappoint or upset those to whom I will always be personally deeply grateful for their support.
‘I will not however apologise for doing what I know to be the right thing, both environmentally and economically, both for our country and the planet.
‘I can no longer stand by. The climate crisis that we face is too important to politicise or to ignore.
‘We all have a responsibility to act when and where we can to protect the future: I look forward to devoting my time in 2024 and beyond to making the future a better place, in whatever capacity I can.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.