Company boss accuses successive governments of destroying the North Sea offshore industry

Labour’s “cult of carbon” has forced one of Britain’s oldest oil companies to shed dozens of staff and shut down 80pc of its UK operations, according to its chief executive. The Telegraph has the story.

Jim Johnson, the chief executive of 150-year-old oil and gas group Hunting, said he was being forced to close four of the company’s five UK centres including its main Scottish site because the Government had destroyed the North Sea offshore oil industry.

He said the closures were directly linked to government windfall taxes and over-zealous regulations imposed on the industry to reach net zero.

“Carbon reduction has become a religion for the UK – but even if Britain cuts its emissions to zero, it won’t make any difference to global CO2 levels,” he said.

“Your politicians have sacrificed Britain’s future to the cult of carbon and it’s set to become a poorer, weaker country.”

Read the full story here.