HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Oil dependency must be reduced – Prime Minister Gordon Brown [October 2008]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 17 October 2008.

The UK must reduce its dependency on oil as an energy source and move to nuclear and renewables, the PM has said.

Speaking to business leaders on a visit to Nottingham, Gordon Brown said the Government’s strategy was to move to a low carbon economy and escape the “dictatorship of oil” by building more nuclear power stations and investing in renewables and the development of technology such as hybrid cars.

Mr Brown also said that it was “absolutely scandalous” for the Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group to consider cutting oil production in a bid to raise prices.

The PM said:

“If you’re dependent for your basic energy needs on a commodity…whose price is being manipulated by a cartel and can be $10 10 years ago, $150 last year and $80 this year, and yet it affects everything that every company does in this country and other countries, you’re in a very difficult position. So our strategy is to reduce our dependence on oil so that we can move to this low carbon economy.”