Conservatives tell Burnham the by-election is over – stop dithering, approve Jackdaw and get Britain drilling

• The Conservatives are calling on Andy Burnham to approve the Jackdaw gas field, approve Rosebank, end Labour's ban on new North Sea licences and scrap the Energy Profits Levy.
• Government accused of dither and delay' after can kicking on Jackdaw, and postponing both the Millburn Report and the Spending Review.
• Labour shelved the Jackdaw decision for a month rather than upset potential Green voters in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, and with the votes now counted the Prime Minister has run out of excuses.
• Only the Conservatives will get Britain drilling again by ending the new licensing ban, scrapping the Energy Profits Levy, and maximising British oil and gas extraction.

Today [Monday 12^th October 2026], the Conservative Party has called on the Prime Minister to approve the Jackdaw gas field without yet another delay, to approve Rosebank alongside it, to end Labour's ban on new oil and gas licences, and to scrap the Energy Profits Levy.

In September, the new Energy Secretary was reportedly days away from recommending approval for Jackdaw. But the decision was delayed as part of the Government's dithering and pushed back beyond the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. The platform remains 99 per cent complete, and the regulator finished its consultation in August. But Andy Burnham decided that British energy security could wait until Labour had got through polling day for the by-election.

In March, Labour voted down a Conservative motion to approve Jackdaw and Rosebank, over the summer Burnham's team briefed that approval was days away and a PM trip to Aberdeen was planned, and yet in September the whole thing was shunted into the long grass. That is three positions in six months, and not one of them was arrived at by asking what is good for the country.

If the Prime Minister now approves Jackdaw, it will be because the Conservatives forced the issue and the case was unanswerable.

However, Labour remains wedded to a ban on new licences and a windfall tax that is driving investment out of the North Sea. The bill for that falls on households and on the workers whose jobs are on the line.

• Jackdaw could supply more than 6 per cent of Britain's gas by this winter and heat 1.4 million homes.
• Rosebank is the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in British waters, holding an estimated 300 million barrels.
• More than £3 billion has been invested in the two projects, which would together contribute £28.7 billion to the economy.
• Without new production, Britain risks importing 82 per cent of its gas by 2035, leaving households exposed to every shock in the global market.
• The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero projects oil and gas employment will collapse by more than 110,000 jobs to 2050, or nearly 83 per cent.

Energy security is national security, and a Prime Minister is meant to take the decision that is right for the country and then go out and defend it, in Camden as readily as in Aberdeen. Andy Burnham spent a month showing that he would rather not.

A Conservative Government would approve both Jackdaw and Rosebank, end the ban on new licences, and repeal the Energy Profits Levy. That could unlock 2.9 billion barrels, £165 billion in economic value, and protect 200,000 skilled jobs.

Britain will be using oil and gas for decades, and the only question is whether it comes from Aberdeen or from Riyadh. With the votes counted in Camden, Burnham has no reason left to duck it.

Andrew Bowie MP, Shadow Energy Secretary, said:

Andy Burnham is dithering and delaying. He has sat on a gas field that is ready to go, because he was frightened of the Green Party in Camden. The by-election is over and his excuse has gone with it, so he should approve Jackdaw immediately.

If the Prime Minister finally signs it off, nobody should mistake one gas field for a change of heart, because Labour's ban on new licences and its punishing windfall tax are bleeding the North Sea of investment and the jobs that go with it.

Approve Jackdaw, approve Rosebank, end the ban on licences, scrap the Energy Profits Levy. That is what a Conservative Government would do, and it is what this Prime Minister should do if he wants anyone to believe he is serious.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Andy Burnham delayed the Jackdaw decision until after Labour's by-election:

• The Energy Secretary was poised to recommend approval before the decision was pushed past the by-election.Miatta Fahnbulleh had been expected to give her recommendation on Jackdaw within days, but sources indicated the decision would not come before the Commons rose for conference recess, pushing it beyond the vote on 8 October (The Guardian, 11 September 2026, link).

• The Green Party framed the by-election as a referendum on North Sea drilling.Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, stood against Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council, in Keir Starmer's former seat, and accused Labour of intending to permit new drilling while keeping it quiet until after polling day (The Guardian, 11 September 2026, link).

• Labour held Holborn and St Pancras at the by-election on 8 October 2026, with the Green Party second.Sagal Abdi-Wali was returned as the Labour MP, with Zack Polanski in second place.

Labour voted against approving these fields:

• Labour MPs voted down a Conservative motion to approve Jackdaw and Rosebank and scrap the levy.The motion called on the government to remove the Energy Profits Levy, end the ban on new oil and gas licences and approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, and noted the risk of importing 82 per cent of the United Kingdom's gas by 2035. It was defeated by 297 votes to 108 (Hansard, 24 March 2026, link).

Jackdaw and Rosebank are waiting:

• Jackdaw is 99 per cent complete and could be supplying gas this winter.The operator has stated that Jackdaw alone would provide more than 6 per cent of United Kingdom gas supply by this winter, enough to heat 1.4 million homes, and that Jackdaw and Rosebank together would account for around 10 per cent of national gas production. More than £3 billion has already been invested in the two projects, which would contribute £28.7 billion in gross value added over their producing lifespan (Adura, Press Release, 8 July 2026, link; Business Matters, 4 September 2026, link).

• Both fields were consented under the Conservatives and quashed on a technicality about downstream emissions.Consent for Jackdaw was agreed by the Secretary of State on 27 May 2022 before being quashed by the Court of Session in January 2025 (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Regulation 14(3) Secretary of State Decision Jackdaw Field Development, 27 May 2022, link).

• The regulatory process is finished and the paperwork is on the Secretary of State's desk.The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning published the further information for Jackdaw on 1 July 2026 and ran its consultation to 10 August 2026; the public representations were published on 2 September 2026 (OPRED, Notice to Publish Further Information, D/4260/2021, 1 July 2026, link; OPRED, Jackdaw Public Representations, 2 September 2026, link).

Labour are shutting down the North Sea:

• Labour committed in its 2024 manifesto to issue no new licences to explore new fields.The manifesto stated Labour, we will not issue new licences to explore new fields' (Labour Party, Change, 13 June 2024, link).

• Labour announced that the Energy Independence Bill will be used to block new oil and gas licences. Manage existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime through legislation to introduce Transitional Energy Certificates, and show climate leadership by meeting the manifesto commitment not to issue new licences to explore new fields, including delivering the commitment to ban fracking' (Prime Minister's Office, The King's Speech 2026: Briefing, 13 May 2026, link).

• The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero project total employment in oil and gas falling from 136,675 in 2024 to 23,584 in 2050, a loss of 113,091 jobs, or 82.7 per cent.Direct jobs fall from 25,359 to 4,376 over the same period and indirect jobs from 111,316 to 19,208 (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Freedom of Information request, 28 April 2026, available on request).

• Labour raised the levy to 38 per cent, extended it to 2030 and abolished the investment allowance.The Autumn Budget 2024 measure increased the Energy Profits Levy by three percentage points, took the headline rate on upstream oil and gas to 78 per cent, extended the levy to 31 March 2030 and removed the investment allowance (HM Revenue and Customs, Energy Profits Levy reforms 2024, 30 October 2024, link).

• North Sea tax receipts are forecast to collapse to almost nothing.Offshore corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and the Energy Profits Levy together are forecast to raise £4.1 billion in 2025-26, falling to £0.1 billion by 2030-31 (House of Commons Library, Taxation of North Sea oil and gas, CBP-00341, 20 July 2026, link).

• Independent analysis says reforming the levy would raise £25 billion more.Stifel Europe's written evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee found that reform of the windfall tax would generate around £25 billion more in tax to 2035, driven by an additional £12 billion of capital expenditure across 2026-2030 (Stifel Europe, Written Evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, MAN0047, link).

The Conservatives will get Britain drilling again:

• The Conservatives will back the North Sea to generate billions in additional tax revenue a year. Analysis by independent investment bank Stifel has shown that the Energy Profits Levy and ban on new licences is making the basin uninvestable, losing the Exchequer £25 billion in tax revenue over the next ten years. Labour's ban on new oil and gas licences called time on Britain's oil and gas industry leaving 2.9 billion barrels in the ground and risking 200,000 jobs.We will extract this oil and gas, creating £165 billion in economic value (Stifel, Written Evidence to ESNZ Select Committee, January 2026, link; OEUK, Key facts, accessed 31 August 2025, link; OEUK, Press Release, 23 June 2025, link).

• The Conservatives will repeal the Energy Profits Levy to maximise investment in British oil and gas production. The Energy Profits Levy, an additional 38 per cent levy on the upstream production of oil and gas, is set to expire on 31 March 2030. The Conservatives have pledged to remove it once elected and called on the government to remove it immediately (HMRC, Policy Paper, 30 October 2024, link).

• The Conservatives will replace the North Sea Transition Authorities (NSTA) mandate to maximise the extraction of our oil and gas'. The NSTA requires oil and gas companies to fulfil a range of net zero obligations such as connecting oil rigs to the grid and reducing flaring, venting, and emissions. We will change this to one sole mandate of maximising oil and gas extraction and rename the NSTA to the North Sea Authority.

• The Conservatives will reverse the ban on government support for the export of oil and gas technology to unlock billions in oil and gas technology exports. UK Export Finance (UKEF) supported on average £5 billion of oil and gas technology exports annually before government support for it was banned. We will reverse this ban to create jobs and unlock billions of exports.