Keir Starmer has suggested he did not use a call with Donald Trump on Thursday night to tell the US president that he was “fed up” about the impact of American policy on rising UK energy bills. Instead, the prime minister said the discussion focused on the need for a “practical plan” to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange came as Westminster continued to grapple with a wide-ranging energy debate, including pressure over domestic oil and gas production, the cost of electricity and the government’s wider push towards clean power. The issue has also drawn in senior figures beyond the current cabinet, with Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, joining calls for drilling to go ahead in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.
North Sea drilling decision remains contested
Both Rosebank and Jackdaw were approved by the previous Conservative government before a court ruling overturned those decisions. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, must now consider revised applications in a quasi-judicial capacity. That means he is required to follow due process and cannot base the decision solely on political grounds.
The broader argument over energy policy remains sharply divided. The government says the answer is to accelerate Clean Power 2030 and decarbonise the electricity system as quickly as possible. The opposition, by contrast, argues for expanding domestic oil and gas production. But the dispute is about more than a choice between two policy paths.
As one analysis in the source material puts it, the UK economy outside the power sector still depends heavily on fossil fuels, while electricity remains too expensive to support mass electrification. That creates a cycle in which high electricity prices discourage demand for electric vehicles, heat pumps and industrial electrification. Weak demand then leaves the fixed costs of the system — including networks and long-term contracts — spread over a smaller base, which keeps prices elevated.
The result is a system described as too expensive to electrify and therefore still reliant on fossil fuels and vulnerable to global shocks.
Government moves on harmful online pornography
Separately, the government has set out new measures aimed at harmful online pornography. The first will ban anyone from possessing or publishing content that shows incest between family members, or sex between step or foster relations where one person is pretending to be under 18.
A further amendment will criminalise the publication and possession of pornography in which an adult is roleplaying as a child.
The government said it is “uncompromising” in its mission to protect women and girls online and that it has already taken action to stop tech firms from publishing abusive material.
In February, platforms were told they must remove reported non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours.
Supporters of the new measures welcomed the move, saying they would fully address harmful pornographic content such as incest, step-incest and the mimicking of child sexual abuse. They argued that this material is widely available online and can normalise child sexual abuse and abusive relationships within families.
They also said the UK was once again leading the way in regulating what they described as a high-harm industry.
The government’s latest interventions come as ministers continue to balance urgent pressures on energy, online safety and the wider political debate over how to respond to global instability and domestic costs.
