Green groups urge Andy Burnham to break silence on climate crisis
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- Over 50 UK climate groups, including Greenpeace, WWF, Green New Deal Rising, the Women's Institute, Uplift and Friends of the Earth, signed Friday's letter coordinated by Green New Deal Rising's Hannah Martin
- Burnham held a Cobra meeting on the heatwave and drought this week, but his subsequent statement focused on disposable barbecues rather than naming climate change as the driving cause
- Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband posted a video on Thursday directly linking climate change to the UK's extreme conditions and warning it was a national security issue — a sharp contrast with Burnham's silence
- The UK government faces a decision in the coming weeks on whether to approve more drilling at the Jackdaw gas field and Rosebank oil field, framed by campaigners as a litmus test of its climate policies
- Robert Palmer of Uplift explicitly urged Burnham to block Rosebank and Jackdaw, saying 'more drilling will wreck our planet and perpetuate this extreme weather'
- Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester backed the fossil fuel treaty, calling it a 'lifeline' — groups urged him to 'command the same clarity of position' now as prime minister
- No 10 was approached for comment but had not responded at time of publication
Why it matters: The letter lands weeks before a government decision on whether to greenlight the Rosebank oil field and Jackdaw gas field — the exact new drilling that Uplift and other signatories demand be stopped. Burnham's vocal climate advocacy as Manchester mayor, including his backing of the fossil fuel treaty, makes the current silence a sharper break than a typical political dodge.
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