14th Aug 2026 18:18
(Alliance News) - Andy Burnham is facing fresh calls to block new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, after he said "we have to face up to the changing climate".
Environmental campaigners have warned extraction from the Rosebank oil field and Jackdaw gas field will pave the way for extreme heat in the years to come.
The UK prime minister told reporters on Friday that he wanted to see an acceleration in the transition towards fossil fuel-free energy sources.
He was speaking in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where 19 houses were fully destroyed and 18 damaged in a wildfire this week.
Almost three-quarters of England and the whole of Wales are in drought, and 2026 is the first year on record to see three separate days where temperatures reached the 37C threshold, as well as the first year with four days at 36C or above.
"We have to face up to the changing climate and I think we need a different debate about that," Burnham said.
"There's no point denying where we are – we need to face up to it.
"We need more clean energy.
"We need to see that transition accelerate."
Burnham has faced pressure from Washington DC to approve drilling in the North Sea.
US president Donald Trump claimed that not allowing new drilling would leave the UK as "a bankrupt country" but added he thought Burnham was "going to actually open up" oil and gas fields.
The prime minister has previously said he would "take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea".
But Robert Palmer, the deputy director of the environmental campaign group Uplift, warned that "scientists could not be clearer that more drilling will wreck our planet and perpetuate this extreme weather".
He added: "The prime minister must take urgent steps to deal with the root of the problem, stopping major new oil and gas drilling such as the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields."
Responding to Burnham's comments on Friday, Palmer said: "As homes burn, the country turns to dust and thousands die in the heatwaves, everyone can see the impact of climate change is hitting right now.
"It is good that the prime minister recognises that the root cause of the heatwaves, wildfires and droughts, which are devastating the UK, is climate change.
"He also argues for a pragmatic approach to oil and gas.
"A pragmatic approach would be saying no to new drilling.
"Burning fossil fuels is what feeds climate change.
"More domestic drilling would do nothing to bring down bills or improve our energy resilience."
Ami McCarthy, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said: "It is encouraging to hear Andy Burnham face up to the scale of the catastrophe the UK is facing from climate change."
They added: "Rosebank and Jackdaw represent a Rubicon that he must not cross.
"New oil and gas would do nothing to help the energy transition and would lock in a polluting, reckless industry for years to come.
"Instead of feeding the bloated profits of oil and gas companies, Burnham should start taxing them properly."
Production at both Jackdaw and Rosebank was approved by the Conservatives, but a court quashed those decisions last year after a court challenge, leaving the Labour Government to decide whether to go ahead.
On Monday, a consultation on Jackdaw, a gas field 150 miles east of Aberdeen, will close, while a consultation on the Rosebank oil field, north-west of Shetland, closes a week later.
By Will Meakin-Durrant, Press Association Political Staff
source: PA
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