Wes Streeting has set out more detail on his vision for government, saying he would welcome 20,000 world-leading scientists to Britain and funnel tax money from new North Sea oil licences into cheaper energy projects.
The former health secretary, who is seen as a likely challenger to Sir Keir Starmer in any leadership contest, argued opponents of new drilling would open the door to a Reform UK government by keeping energy costs high and losing support for net zero.
Mr Streeting has previously backed issuing new oil drilling licences for the North Sea, saying the government should allow production to begin at the Jackdaw gas field and Rosebank oil and gas field.
If he won the keys to No 10, the MP for Ilford North said he would use the tax receipts from the two new fields to fund new heat pumps, home insulation, batteries and other electrification projects that cut household or business energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.
Mr Streeting – who will make a speech next week to set out policies ahead of a potential leadership contest expected by many in Westminster within the coming months – also said he would loosen immigration restrictions under a £250 million global talent programme to attract “tomorrow’s Nobel Prize winners” to the UK.
His latest intervention comes as Sir Keir Starmer finds himself in a moment of maximum peril after his defence secretary John Healey dramatcially resigned last week in a row over funding.
Mr Streeting resigned as health secretary in May in protest at Sir Keir’s premiership, which has looked precarious since Labour’s drubbing in May’s local and devolved elections.
He has made it clear he will take part in any contest, which could eventually be triggered if Andy Burnham succeeds in his bid to return to Westminster in next week’s Makerfield by-election.
The Labour leadership hopeful said: “Businesses and households are held back by high energy costs. The tax receipts from new North Sea oil and gas fields should be funnelled into cheaper energy: insulation, heat pumps, and electrification to cut bills and emissions.
“Opponents of the North Sea say it sets the wrong example to the world. But the worst example we can set is that net zero can only be delivered on the backs of the poor and working people’s jobs. This is the route to Nigel Farage walking into Downing Street and destroying our renewables industry.
“The best example we can set is to show that the net zero and growth agendas are not in competition. That we can cut bills and cut emissions at the same time.”
The former health secretary also said he would seek to benefit from what he described as Donald Trump’s hostility towards science in the US and draw 20,000 high-achievers to Britain over the next three years.
“We should open our door to the best and the brightest”, he said. “Trump is saying to world-leading scientists, engineers, AI experts – you’re not welcome here. I would tell them: we’ll welcome you with open arms.
“I’d introduce a Global Talent Programme to actively recruit 20,000 of the world’s best scientists, engineers, and AI experts to our country.
“They are building the future and I want them to build it here. Voters who want lower levels of migration aren’t opposed to inviting tomorrow’s Nobel Prize winners to make their discoveries here in Britain.”
His latest remarks come after he told the Guardian Sir Keir should take urgent action against X and other online platforms that have contributed to whipping up social tensions, suggesting they should be forced to contribute to rebuilding costs after the riots in Belfast.
Mr Streeting condemned what he dubbed “the forces of darkness online and offline”, calling for Downing Street to go further in its response to the disorder.
He said: “We’re long past the time for threats. We have to act. Incitement to violence is a crime in the offline world so it must be prosecuted as a crime in the online world.
“If platforms are knowingly promoting this dangerous content, bosses should face criminal action and the companies should be made to pay the costs of cleaning up and rebuilding Belfast, along with the thugs on the ground.
“We’ve been far too timid in the face of broligarchs attempting to reshape our society and inspire hatred – we should be standing up to the forces of darkness online and offline, and we still can.”
