SNP backs new North Sea drilling as Burnham plans ban

The SNP has backed new drilling in the North Sea just as Andy Burnham has promised to ban it for good. The Prime Minister is supporting the Energy Independence Bill, which includes a permanent ban on new licences that could only be overturned by a vote in Parliament. At the same time, the SNP has reversed its previous policy, introduced by Nicola Sturgeon, which had a “presumption against” new drilling. The U-turn puts Holyrood on a collision course with Westminster as the SNP has demanded the proposed permanent ban be removed from the bill.

Energy exploration in the UK is subject to a temporary moratorium. It was imposed by Ed Miliband, the former Energy Secretary, but could be lifted by any successor. However, Mr Burnham is now supporting a bill, introduced by Miatta Fahnbulleh, the new Energy Secretary, that would make it harder to reopen the North Sea by requiring a majority vote in Parliament to approve the lifting of a ban. In an unexpected move, John Swinney , the First Minister at Holyrood, said he was opposed to Labour’s proposals despite his party’s ideological commitment to net zero.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Swinney said he supported some measures in the bill, but added: “We do not support the provisions of that Bill in relation to the granting of new licences for the exploration of new oil and gas fields for the simple reason that any particular applications need to be considered in relation to their impact on our carbon reduction targets, given the fact that we are going to be using oil and gas for some years to come.”

Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have pledged to restart North Sea exploration and drilling were they to win power. Senior figures blamed the SNP’s previous objection to new licences for the party’s by-election loss of Aberdeen South in June to the Tories. The SNP now plans to vote against Labour’s energy bill unless the ban on new licences is removed. Mr Swinney said: “We will seek to get those provisions removed. If those provisions are in the Bill when it goes to its final vote, we can’t support the Bill.”

The First Minister refused to say, explicitly, whether he would personally instruct nationalist MPs to vote against the legislation. Lord Offord of Garvel, Reform’s Scottish leader, welcomed the move, saying: “I’m delighted to hear the First Minister do yet another U-turn on his position. So much for the presumption against new licences in oil and gas. Delighted to hear that.” Despite the shift, Mr Swinney refused to say whether he supports the development of the Rosebank oil field off the coast of Shetland.

Last month, Labour approved new drilling at the Jackdaw gas field off the coast of Aberdeen but the fate of Rosebank has yet to be decided. The First Minister was asked about Rosebank seven times by Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, at last week’s session of First Minister’s Questions but he failed to give a clear answer. Mr Findlay accused the First Minister of failing to be “straight” with voters about North Sea drilling. He said: “Swinney repeatedly refuses to back new North Sea drilling but then suggests he will oppose Labour’s ban on new drilling.

He’s now saying this after yet again failing to give me a straight answer. Oil and gas workers can’t trust a word he says.” Labour said its bill would “end new licences to explore new oil and gas fields while supporting continued production from existing licensed areas”. If approved by Parliament, the new laws would allow oil companies to keep operating existing licensed oil and gas fields until they are depleted. But they would be able to drill new wells only if they could be connected to existing infrastructure by subsea pipelines known as tiebacks.

This would be in line with Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge that stated: “We will not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis.” David Whitehouse, the chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, a trade body for Britain’s oil and gas producers, said the planned bill would simply make the UK more dependent on imported oil and gas.

“This will leave households and businesses exposed in an increasingly volatile world. We should be making the most of the energy we produce here at home rather than relying on imports.” The Tories have also criticised the new bill, saying it would make Britain more dependent on oil and gas imports and decrease energy security in the UK.