Burnham Must Decide on Rosebank, Jackdaw Oil Fields
SkimNews Take
Because this decision must come before Burnham is even confirmed, industry, unions, and devolved governments are effectively negotiating with a leader who has not yet consolidated power — making approval more a coalition-cohesion signal than an environmental one.
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- Andy Burnham, MP for Makerfield, is expected to be confirmed as UK prime minister after securing support of nearly 350 Labour MPs ahead of the leadership nominations deadline.
- The UK government faces an imminent decision on whether to greenlight two North Sea oil fields — Rosebank and Jackdaw — with a spokesperson stating only that decisions will be made 'in due course'.
- Labour's 2024 manifesto explicitly states no new licences will be issued for new fields, arguing they 'will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis' — though Rosebank and Jackdaw were already in motion before Labour came to power.
- Ed Miliband, who previously described the Rosebank licence as 'climate vandalism', is now reportedly open to granting consent to the Jackdaw field amid shifting political winds.
- The SNP has visibly repositioned on drilling: Nicola Sturgeon's 2023 government set a presumption against new exploration, but First Minister John Swinney has softened the stance on energy security grounds, and new economy secretary Stephen Flynn pledged to be a 'champion' for oil and gas workers.
- Oil and gas industry groups and trade unions sent a joint letter to all Labour MPs urging them to 'back North Sea oil and gas' as a signal that government backs the communities that 'have powered this country for generations'.
- One Labour MP noted that lobbying pressure on Burnham ranges from voters worried about energy bills to Donald Trump, who 'constantly advocates more drilling in the North Sea'.
Why it matters: The Rosebank and Jackdaw decisions will be the first major test of whether Labour's manifesto climate pledge survives contact with industrial politics and energy security. With Miliband himself reportedly softening and the SNP already pivoting, the no-new-drilling line appears to be collapsing before Burnham has even crossed the threshold of 10 Downing Street — meaning whatever he does will anger either environmentalists or the unions and industry that lobbied for backing.
