Keir Starmer warned he must ‘get serious’ about growth and sign off two North Sea oil projects controversially blocked by courts_Nhy
Keir Starmer was under pressure last night to ‘get serious’ about growth and sign off two North Sea oil fields controversially blocked by the courts.
In the first test of Labour’s pledge to make economic growth its ‘number one priority’, a court in Scotland yesterday ruled that approval of the huge projects by the Conservatives was unlawful.
The decision came after Ed Miliband withdrew government legal support last year for the companies involved in a court battle with environmental campaigners.
Last night, the Prime Minister was under pressure to overrule Mr Miliband and give the green light to the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects, which could generate tens of billions of pounds for the British economy.
The Energy Secretary is a long-time opponent of North Sea drilling and previously described Rosebank as a ‘colossal waste’ of money that amounted to ‘climate vandalism’.
Kemi Badenoch described the court’s ruling as ‘an act of self harm’ and warned that the hijacking of the law by the green lobby was ‘killing growth’.
She said: ‘The Labour government who were banging on about growth yesterday are too scared to fight for the oil and gas fields that deliver energy security and jobs for thousands of people.
‘For the sake of our country, Keir Starmer needs to get serious. His actions so far are all hiking taxes and caving to the unions and the green lobby.’
Tory energy spokesman Andrew Bowie said yesterday’s ruling was ‘almost inevitable after Ed Miliband refused to defend the case in court’.
Keir Starmer was under pressure last night to ‘get serious’ about growth and sign off two North Sea oil fields controversially blocked by the courts
The Prime Minister was under pressure to overrule Mr Miliband and give the green light to the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects, which could generate tens of billions of pounds for the British economy. Pictured An oil rig anchored in the Cromarty Firth, Invergordon
He added: ‘Our energy security, economy and thousands of jobs are being sacrificed on the altar of Labour’s eco zealotry. So much for growth.’
Shell said its Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen could produce enough fuel to heat 1.4million homes ‘at a time when older gas fields are reaching the end of their production and the UK is reliant on imported gas.’
In court, it warned that turning down the schemes would threaten energy security.
The industry has also pointed out that the move will not curb global emissions because demand for oil and gas will simply be met from abroad.
Chief executive Wael Sawan vowed to take the fight to the Supreme Court.
The ruling came just 24 hours after Rachel Reeves used a major speech to declare growth was the ‘number one’ priority for Labour.
The last Conservative government approved Shell’s proposals to develop the Jackdaw field in 2022 and cleared Equinor and Ithaca Energy’s plans to drill in the Rosebank field north-west of Shetland in September 2023.
Eco activists argued the consent was unlawful. In a judgement at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lord Ericht agreed and quashed the consent.
Energy Secretary Ed Milliband is a long-time opponent of North Sea drilling and previously described Rosebank as a ‘colossal waste’ of money that amounted to ‘climate vandalism’
He cited a ruling in a separate case in June last year, which found that the future carbon emissions from the oil and gas produced should be taken into account when considering whether projects complied with climate laws.
Rosebank is the largest untapped field in the North Sea, with the potential to produce up to 500million barrels of oil.
Norwegian state energy giant Equinor has an 80 per cent stake with Aberdeen-based Ithaca Energy owning the rest.
The ruling allows the owners to continue the development of the fields.
But they cannot start drilling unless they get a new consent from Mr Miliband.
A government source last night said the projects were not necessarily dead.
‘The reason we didn’t contest the cases in court wasn’t because we didn’t want them to go ahead but because we knew we would lose,’ the source said.
Environmental campaigners greeted the verdict. A spokesman for Just Stop Oil said North Sea oil workers should be ‘retrained’ to do something else.
Environmental campaigners greeted the verdict. A spokesman for Just Stop Oil said North Sea oil workers should be ‘retrained’ to do something else
The decision came as the number of businesses created in the UK fell to a record low. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed business creations fell to 65,450 in the last three months of 2024, 8.5 per cent lower than the same period a year earlier.
It is the lowest number on quarterly records going back to the start of 2017.
The Chancellor’s £25billion raid on employer national insurance has been blamed for killing jobs and deterring investment while firms are also having to navigate a barrage of new workers’ rights.
Entrepreneur Luke Johnson, chairman of Gail’s Bakery, said: ‘The Budget and their 150-page Employment Rights Bill is the reality of this government and undermines all the grand talk of growth.’
