Labour MPs pressure leadership over Rosebank oilfield decision — SkimNews
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- Labour backbenchers are urging the prime minister and chancellor not to overrule Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh on Rosebank, warning the project would undermine Labour’s green credentials.
- Miatta Fahnbulleh’s parliamentary aides issued a memo affirming she alone holds decision-making authority on Rosebank, emphasizing no other minister has a role in the quasi-judicial process.
- Chancellor John Healey supports the Rosebank project, creating cabinet tension as backbenchers warn his intervention could trigger a parliamentary rebellion.
- The Treasury has included £500m in projected tax revenues from Rosebank in OBR forecasts since 2019, though officials insist this doesn’t compel approval.
- Catherine Fookes, Labour MP and energy select committee member, stated Rosebank is distinct from Jackdaw and that approving it would contradict the party’s manifesto.
- Greenpeace UK’s Areeba Hamid argued that tax revenues from Rosebank are speculative and leave taxpayers liable for long-term decommissioning and climate costs.
Why it matters: Labour risks a major internal split over Rosebank, with backbenchers threatening rebellion if economic arguments override climate commitments. The Treasury’s reliance on projected £500m in revenue heightens pressure on Fahnbulleh, even as her team insists the decision rests solely with her—testing Labour’s claim to climate leadership.
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