Steer Clear of North Sea Sirens

‘The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil!’  So rambled Donald Trump on Truth Social following BBC reports that new drilling at Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea would be permitted by the incoming administration. As these were existing projects introduced by Sunak and paused by Starmer, to allow drilling at these sites dances around the 2024 manifesto promise of no new North Sea Oil exploration without technically breaking it. As wildfires rage in mainland Europe, the prospect of more oil and gas drilling will be met with indignation. 

There has yet to be an official announcement on this matter by Burnham but it appears that, little by little, he may be giving into the demands of the right for new drilling. To many in Labour, though, the new government’s position remains unclear. Scottish Labour politicians are drawing blanks when asked about Burnham’s position on this matter. It has been a major point of contention North of the border, with the Conservatives winning June’s Aberdeen South byelection on a pro-drilling ticket. 

This lack of clarity is exemplified when contrasting Burnham’s promise of ‘reindustrialisation’ of towns like Aberdeen, whose very foundations are laid on North Sea Oil drilling, with his appointment of Miatta Fahnbulleh as energy secretary, a strong proponent of net zero. She has on multiple occasions suggested that the UK’s net zero energy target be accelerated from 2050 to 2030. She has already taken a trip to Scotland to meet with industry leaders, but did not face the media, literally leaving more questions than answers. 

The industry will argue that new North Sea drilling licenses are essential. Job losses in oil and gas are reported at 1,000 a year in the UK, so the argument is that new projects are needed to stem this bleeding. Moreover, with the UK gas supply squeezed by the war in Ukraine and prices inflated by the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK could use a greater domestic gas supply for short-term energy security, notwithstanding that domestic supply is not immune to price squeezes. 

Ed Miliband might disagree. Since 2024 he has been decidedly the government’s most effective operator, securing record numbers of renewable energy contracts and projects. 2025 was yet another record year for UK renewables, making up 44.5% of the nation’s energy supply. This looks only to increase once his projects begin to materialise. The appointment of Fahnbulleh, possibly even more hardline on Net Zero than Miliband, does not indicate a movement away from these policies by Burnham.

Common arguments against such policies are that they neither cheapen bills nor stimulate economic growth. These are simply not true. The British net-zero economy is worth more than £100bn a year and employs more than 300,000 people. These numbers will both only go up following Miliband’s work over the last two years. Amid the doom and gloom over the naturally diminishing oil and gas industry, on the other side of the coin there is a big success story which Burnham would do well to use in his political narrative. Net zero workers also generate more for the UK economy than the average citizen. Net zero is good for British energy security, jobs, and, most crucially of all, economic growth. 

While he has got a lot right in his first days in office, much of the political narrative Andy Burnham is trying to weave smacks a little of nostalgia politics. Britain must look forward rather than backward. If Burnham’s idea of ‘reindustrialisation’ is to invest more in oil and gas as a way of reinvigorating those towns which have historically relied on it, then he is misguided. We are in a climate crisis and there is therefore no better time than now to work the economic success story of net zero into his vision for Britain. Britain can be the industrial powerhouse it once was without reverting to outdated industries. The net-zero industry is new and exciting and has been stimulated impressively by Ed Miliband. Burnham must do what Starmer failed to do and redirect the narrative towards his successes rather than giving into pressures from Washington.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Dr. Hannes Grobe

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