Engineering news
Osborne: "We need to win the public argument on shale gas"
Chancellor George Osborne has reiterated the government's backing for the controversial exploitation of shale gas resources.
Osborne said that Britain could not sit back and watch while other countries such as China and the US invested in unconventional oil and gas. To do so would lead to rising energy bills for consumers, fewer jobs and, ultimately, a lower standard of living, he claimed.
Speaking at the Offshore Europe event in Aberdeen, Osborne said that Britain had a proud reputation as an innovator in the energy sector, and that that would remain the case. He said: “Britain will not turn its back on the energy sources of the future.”
But Osborne admitted that there needed to be a concerted effort to sell the benefits of shale gas to the general public. “We need to win the public argument on shale gas,” he said.
Osborne also used the podium at Offshore Europe to warn of what he saw as the dangers of Scottish independence. He said that the creation of a border between Scotland and England would lead to additional trade barriers, with businesses and institutions in the two countries inevitably growing apart. He said that Britain was stronger together. “If it ain't broke, don't break it,” he said.
Osborne also cast doubts on the claims of pro-independence supporters, suggesting that guarantees of lower taxes, more jobs and more investment were unrealistic. Using an old Texan saying, Osborne said that pro-independence supporters could often be accused of being “all hat and no cattle”.