‘Made themselves dependent on Russia’ Michael Portillo savages EU over green ‘lecturing’
EU 'made themselves dependent' on Russian gas says Portillo
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Mr Portillo has rounded on the European Union over the bloc’s willingness to “lecture” others on green energy while at the same time becoming “dependent” on gas from Russia. Western nations have been looking to cut-off imports of Russian gas in the aftermath of Putin’s war on the Ukraine.
Mr Portillo told GB News: “I’m a bit tired of being lectured by others.
“We have been lectured by the European Union about going green and what have they been doing? They’d be making themselves 40 percent dependent on Russian gas.
“I mean, it was to me amazing to discover that the European Union was taking all this gas and made itself so dependent that it is becoming more dependent.
“When people in Britain on the other hand, are being asked to make all these sacrifices to close down our gas industry and to close down our oil industry.”
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He added: “Certainly time for a rethink.”
Britain will phase out Russian imports of oil and oil products by the end of 2022, business minister Kwasi Kwarteng has said.
Separately, the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer, announced a ban on Russian oil imports.
President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that US energy prices would rise but added that the step “will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”
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“We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas energy,” Mr Biden told reporters at the White House.
“That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable in U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war machine.”
US Senator Chris Coons said the administration was coordinating with European allies “and making sure that we’ve done the groundwork to understand how to effectively implement a ban on Russian energy.”
“We are going to see increased gas prices here in the United States. In Europe, they will see dramatic increases in prices.
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That’s the cost of standing up for freedom and standing alongside the Ukrainian people, but it’s going to cost us,” Mr Coons told CNN.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the move to ban Russian oil and gas will punish Vladimir Putin’s regime but will be introduced in a way that “won’t affect” UK businesses.
Speaking to broadcasters, the Prime Minister said: “The UK is less exposed (than European allies) but clearly we do have diesel that comes from Russia and we can’t move overnight.
“But we can certainly do it and we can do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt supply, that ensures we have substitute supplies on stream in an orderly way and in a timetable that won’t affect UK business, won’t affect UK manufacturing, road haulage or other parts of our industry but will punish the regime of Vladimir Putin.”
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