Burnham Weighs North Sea Drilling in a Manifesto Reckoning
Andy Burnham’s government is weighing approval for drilling at the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, a move campaigners say would shatter Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge to issue no new oil and gas licences. Both fields already hold consents granted in 2022–23, but an Edinburgh court voided them last year over unaccounted emissions. The new energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, is reviewing the schemes as ministers hunt for growth and energy security.
Rosebank is the largest undeveloped field in the North Sea, and its fate has become an early test of how far Mr Burnham will bend green commitments in pursuit of investment and revenue. Robin Wells of Fossil Free London protested that it was “pointless to have a manifesto commitment to stop oil and gas and then say ‘we’re just going to approve the largest new fields’”. The energy department countered that “oil and gas will continue to play an important role in our energy system for decades to come”. With the Gulf war driving crude to six-week highs, the pressure to drill is intensifying. Watch for a decision and the backbench reaction.