Nigel Farage’s Simple Question on North Sea Oil & Gas Leaves Keir Starmer Floundering – PMQs Descends into Evasion Again
Nigel Farage asked a straightforward and urgent question in Prime Minister’s Questions this week — and once again received no proper answer from Keir Starmer.
Farage pointed out that Norway, our North Sea neighbour, has opened 49 new oil and gas drill sites in the last year. On the UK side? Zero.
With UK gas reserves critically low — down to just two days in some reports — and the risk of energy rationing this winter, Farage asked why Britain is not opening new licences, reducing excessive taxation on exploration companies, and working towards energy self-sufficiency.
He highlighted the obvious benefits: thousands of new jobs, increased tax revenue, and lower gas prices for British families and businesses.
The response from Starmer was pure deflection. Instead of addressing Britain’s energy security, the Prime Minister attacked Farage personally, bringing up earlier comments on the Middle East conflict and accusing him of wanting to “rush into war”.
It was classic Westminster theatre — swerving the actual question and launching into pre-scripted political point-scoring.
The look on Farage’s face said it all: disbelief mixed with frustration at the total lack of accountability.
This is not an isolated incident. Prime Minister’s Questions has become little more than a weekly spectacle where serious questions about the future of the country are routinely dodged.
The official purpose of PMQs is to hold the Prime Minister directly accountable on government policy and current affairs. In reality, it has degenerated into scripted exchanges, planted questions from the government benches, and evasion from the front bench.
Farage’s question was entirely reasonable. Global events in the Middle East are pushing energy prices higher. Fuel is already rising at the pumps (many drivers are paying 12p a litre more in just the past week). Britain remains dangerously dependent on imported energy while our own North Sea reserves sit largely untapped.
Instead of a serious discussion about energy independence, jobs, and keeping bills down for British families, the public got another round of political games.
This pattern repeats week after week. Whether it’s Sadiq Khan dodging questions in the London Assembly or Keir Starmer in the Commons, scrutiny and real accountability have largely vanished.
The British people are left watching a system that no longer serves them. Approaching 50% of the electorate don’t even bother to vote anymore, feeling that none of it makes any difference.
We elect these politicians to run the country, not to play party games while ordinary families face rising bills and the very real risk of energy shortages.
Britain has vast energy resources beneath the North Sea. Norway has used theirs wisely. Why can’t we do the same?
The refusal to open new licences, the obsession with unreliable wind power, and the heavy taxation on North Sea operators are leaving the country vulnerable.
Energy security is national security. It should not be treated as a political football.
The public deserves straight answers, not evasion and personal attacks.
Until the system starts delivering real accountability instead of theatrical point-scoring, cynicism will only grow.
The British people are watching — and they are getting tired of the merry-go-round.
