Burnham Tells Trump He Will Be Pragmatic About North Sea Oil

Andy Burnham has confirmed he told Donald Trump he would be “pragmatic” about drilling in the North Sea for oil and gas.

Reporters were surprised after the US president insisted the new prime minister told him over the phone that the UK will “open up” the fossil fuel reserves under his premiership.

Trump said on Wednesday: “The new gentleman [Burnham], when I spoke to him, he said he’s going to open up the North Sea.”

In response, the PM told the media on Thursday: “I indicated in the phone call that we had a week last Monday that I would take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea and that is my intention as we go forward from here.

“There is a resource there. When people are struggling, you can’t ignore that, and hence me indicating that to the president.”

The topic is deeply controversial because of the ramifications extracting and then burning fossil fuels has on climate change.

Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer clashed with Trump over his reluctance to drill for more oil and gas in the North Sea, even amid growing energy security concerns.

Supporters of North Sea expansion suggest new drilling licences would help create jobs and support British industry.

Burnham’s foreign secretary Ed Miliband was against further drilling in the last government.

He was determined, as Starmer’s energy secretary, for the country to reach its Net Zero by 2050 goal.

However, he’s now been moved out of the energy brief so it is unclear what influence he will have that area of policy.

Labour’s 2024 manifesto also promised voters it would not issue any new licences for further extraction in the North Sea – and Burnham has vowed to stick to that set of pledges.

But, there could be wriggle room as the manifesto notes that existing licences will be allowed to remain.

That means the government could still look to enact or expand the extraction sites already active.

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