Burn ’em baby Burnham as Jackdaw gas field gets greenlit

The PM delights President Trump by finally giving assent to the controversial plans for gas drilling in the North Sea 

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Despite having voiced concerns over the scheme in opposition, Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh gave the go-ahead for Adura — a coalition of energy giants Shell and Equinor — to exploit the 200 million barrel (oil equivalent) field with a claim it would provide a £2.9 billion economic boost, creating as many as 27 jobs and securing 273 more.

Ms Fahnbulleh also promised that the tax revenues generated would be funnelled into a new energy wealth fund, primed with £2bn in cash from the treasury to invest in renewable and low-carbon projects.

Mr Burnham hailed the decision as a “pragmatic approach” and said would it “protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter.”

“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help,” he added.

But Greenpeace UK’s Ami McCarthy was unconvinced.

“What Jackdaw is guaranteed to do is generate record profits for Shell and Equinor while supercharging the climate chaos hitting families here and abroad,” she said.

“True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather, and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates.”

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition’s Simon Francis said: “It just prolongs the country’s exposure to the price shock profiteers’ agenda.

“Ministers should be focused on the future and the homegrown renewables, home upgrades and energy market reform that will actually cut energy costs for households.”

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey urged the Prime Minister not to persevere with “a broken model of profiteering from the UK’s oil and gas reserves,” going on to demand “public ownership of our energy production and union negotiated job guarantees.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Jackdaw coming on-stream offered “more time to create and fund a concrete plan for commensurate jobs for workers currently working in the North Sea.”

“Now we urgently need to use that and invest in industries like wind-turbine manufacture and refining green jet fuel,” she added.

GMB general secretary Gary Smith called it “great news” and urged the government to follow it up with the approval of the 300million barrel Rosebank oil and gas field next.

The sentiment was echoed by US President Donald Trump, who took to his Truth Social platform to say: “The UK has started drilling in the North Sea.

“They should go FULL BLAST!!! This will make the UK very wealthy again. TAKE DOWN THE COSTLY AND RIDICULOUS WINDMILLS!”

Socialist MP Richard Burgon however called it an “absolutely terrible decision” to greenlight a project that would generate 35.8 million tonnes of carbon amid a climate emergency, urging colleagues “not repeat the same mistake with Rosebank.”

Warning that “Labour’s climate credibility is on the line now,” Uplift’s Tessa Khan, said the looming Rosebank decision was now the defining test.

“Approving it would see the government knowingly breach safe climate limits,” she said.

Jackdaw’s approval also provoked protest outside the offices of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London, where protesters rallied to remind Ms Fahnbulleh of the manifesto on which she was elected, which committed to blocking new licences on the basis “they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis.”

Fossil Free London director Robin Wells said: “Today we mark a grave decision by the UK government.

“Approving Jackdaw realises our worst fears — that our government, whose core responsibility is to protect us, has clicked ‘mute’ on the sirens of climate damage the rest of us have blaring in our ears.

“If we want lower energy bills, energy security, and to feel safe in our homes then the answer does not lie under the North Sea, it lies above it.

“The sooner we invest in growing our renewable energy capabilities instead of dancing to the tune of big oil, the better placed we’ll be to tackle the climate crisis.

“Even though today’s news is out-of-step with the urgent need to reduce emissions, we remain hopeful that the government will make the right decision on Rosebank and reject new drilling.”

Joining the protest, Green MP Hannah Spencer MP said: “Today the Labour government has chosen fossil fuel giants over ordinary people.

“It is ordinary people who are already suffering the effects of the climate emergency, and who will continue to pay the cost of climate damage.

“This will make that so much worse. This is an act of climate vandalism.”

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