Andy Burnham to delay North Sea decision for months as PM faces Net Zero revolt

Andy Burnham is expected to delay the announcement on whether Labour will go ahead with two North Sea oil and gas projects.

Sources within Whitehall have flagged concerns about the "optics" of approving new drilling during a summer of heatwaves and devastating wildfires.

Consultations on the Rosebank oilfield and the Jackdaw gasfield have both closed within the last week.

A decision is expected to be made next month, resting on both the Prime Minister and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Sources within Whitehall told The Times they expected Jackdaw to be approved but added Mr Burnham could push back on calls to allow Rosebank to proceed because of opposition from Labour MPs.

If the plans are approved by Mr Burnham and Ms Fahnbulleh, they will likely face a backbencher showdown after the Prime Minister suggested that faster extraction of North Sea oil and gas could help fund Britain’s transition to clean energy.

A group of Labour MPs have called for the Prime Minister to back renewable energy rather than approving further drilling, including Cat Eccles.

Ms Eccles said Mr Burnham had been in "listening mode" after he visited her Stourbridge constituency on Friday.

However, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw will be taken by the energy secretary through a quasi-judicial process.

"She will consider the relevant evidence, including environmental assessments and representations received during the consultation process before reaching a decision."

Bosses at Adura, the company behind both projects, said they would result in £10.8billion of investment, with more than three-quarters of this cash expected to be spent in the UK.

Rosebank and Jackdaw could support 3,500 jobs at the peak of construction, with 880 people then employed over the lifetime of production.

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Adura added that Rosebank alone is projected to produce about 69,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak, roughly equating to 10 per cent of the anticipated output from the UK Continental Shelf.

The company said Rosebank and Jackdaw together have the potential to make up 10 per cent of domestic natural gas production.

However, environmental groups have warned extracting fossil fuels from Rosebank would have a "disastrous" impact on climate change.

Deputy director at Uplift Robert Palmer said: "While the oil and gas industry does everything in its power to push Burnham into Trump’s drill baby, drill agenda, the nation’s new Prime Minister has watched the UK and Europe burn baby, burn. Enough is enough.

"Burnham needs to look out of the window and acknowledge that this project will make the climate crisis worse and do nothing but rip off Britain. Rosebank must be rejected once and for all."

An open letter by Brian Eno and co-signed by over 200 artists said: “We are already seeing what a hotter world looks like, with record heat and devastating wildfires across Britain and Europe. At this point, continuing to expand fossil fuel production isn’t pragmatism, it’s a failure to face reality."