A former energy minister has said he will resign the Conservative whip and stand down as an MP over new legislation “that promotes the production of new oil and gas”.

Chris Skidmore has said he will quit “as soon as possible” over the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.

The move will trigger a by-election in his Kingswood constituency in Gloucestershire

“The bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea,” he said.

“I can no longer stand by. The climate crisis that we face is too important to politicise or to ignore.”

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