LONDON — A group of Labour lawmakers is attempting to block approval for drilling at the Rosebank oil field, presenting UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham with the first major rebellion of his premiership, the Sunday Times reported.
A letter opposing the North Sea field’s development has been signed by 75 Labour legislators and there are hopes the number could rise to 100, according to the newspaper, which cited unidentified people involved in the campaign. If 100 Labour MPs were to sign, that would represent about one-quarter of the party’s 404 parliamentarians in the House of Commons.
The letter argues that the UK’s credibility in tackling climate change would be threatened if drilling went ahead and that the project would not curb energy bills. The fate of the Rosebank field is widely seen as a test of Burnham’s approach to global warming, with a majority of his cabinet supportive of the project.
The Sunday Times said Burnham faces the possibility of government resignations if Rosebank is approved, with one parliamentary private secretary to a cabinet minister already considering quitting. “I think they underestimate how strongly people feel about climate change. For a generation of us it is as central to our politics as equality or tackling poverty,” the parliamentary private secretary told the newspaper.
Rosebank lies about 80 miles northwest of Shetland and is said to contain 300 million barrels of oil. At stake is £6.6 billion ($8.7 billion) of direct investment in UK-based businesses that the Equinor ASA-Shell Plc joint venture Adura estimates the drilling would attract. The decision formally rests with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, who is expected to rule by the end of the year, after the government approved the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea last month.
The strategy behind the Rosebank letter is modelled on a campaign last year to get former prime minister Keir Starmer to abandon planned cuts to disability benefits, which hastened his downfall, according to the newspaper. A group of Labour MPs will also travel to the COP31 climate change conference in Turkey this week to warn that approving Rosebank would be hypocritical given Burnham’s promise to deliver net zero. Burnham addressed the summit last week, warning that the “climate crisis is upon all of us now” after a “not normal” summer of extreme heat, wildfires and drought.
Environmental campaigners have urged the government to reject the “even more damaging” Rosebank field. Ami McCarthy, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, said going on to approve Rosebank “would detonate an even bigger carbon bomb, releasing as much carbon as 56 coal plants operating for a year.” The letter, which has not yet been made public, will be sent to Burnham and possibly John Healey, the chancellor, within a fortnight.
