(Chris Aylett, Ellie Macmillan-Fox – Chatham House) Andy Burnham arrived in 10 Downing Street earlier this week amid speculation about a possible change in energy policy. Specifically, whether he will support expanded North Sea oil and gas production, by greenlighting new drilling, reforming the windfall tax, and potentially rolling back Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge not to issue new exploration licences. Labour’s stance on North Sea oil and gas has become a lightning rod for criticism of its broader climate and energy policy, as the cross-party consensus on tackling climate change has broken down. The Conservatives would scrap the 2050 net zero emissions target, claiming that it is making energy more expensive and driving deindustrialization. Kemi Badenoch has positioned the Tories as champions of the UK’s oil and gas industry, calling her party’s recent victory in the Aberdeen South by-election a ‘referendum on oil and gas’. The Labour government has also come under not-so-friendly fire from trade unions and former prime minister Tony Blair. In a scathing article on the direction of the Labour Party, Blair called for the government to slow emissions reductions and extract ‘what is left’ of North Sea fossil fuels. Pressure has even come from the White House. Amid rumours that Burnham would approve new drilling, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that it was ‘a big day for the country’ and that the people of Aberdeen were ‘dancing in the streets’. Sources close to Burnham, however, were quick to emphasize that no decision had been made and that he was expected to uphold the manifesto pledge. The topic was also noticeably absent from his first speech on Monday.
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