The Government has given the final go-ahead to the Jackdaw gas field in the central North Sea, ending a four year legal and political saga that became a byword for Britain's indecision over domestic energy.
The field, off the Aberdeenshire coast, was first approved by the Conservative government in 2022. But a judge later ruled that the consent had been granted unlawfully, after challenges by Greenpeace and other environmental campaigners, throwing the project's future into doubt. Ministers have now re-approved the development, which the Government says will help to heat millions of homes and protect hundreds of jobs in the North East of Scotland.
"Faff about" against "mess up" at PMQs
The decision dominated Prime Minister's Questions, where Kemi Badenoch opened by thanking Mr Burnham for "finally" approving Jackdaw, before accusing his government of dithering. The Conservative leader demanded he go further and overturn Labour's ban on new oil and gas exploration licences, arguing that Britain could not be a "serious player on the world stage" if ministers spent years "faffing about" over a single licence.
The Prime Minister hit back that the delay was of the Conservatives' own making. Jackdaw was approved by her government in 2022, he told MPs, only for the consent to collapse in court because the process had not been carried out properly. His government, he said, had now reached a "pragmatic decision" that would stand up to scrutiny.
The exchanges had an odd symmetry to them. On the substance, both front benches now back Jackdaw: the quarrel is over pace rather than direction, and over the larger question of whether any new fields should follow.
Bills, jobs and the Rosebank question
Ministers were careful not to overpromise. The Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said Jackdaw would support energy security and jobs but conceded it "won't lower energy bills this winter", with households still facing elevated gas costs after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent global prices surging. Asked about Rosebank, the larger and more controversial oil field still awaiting a decision, she said each case would be taken "on a case by case basis".
Jackdaw at a Glance
- Jackdaw is a gas field in the central North Sea, off the Aberdeenshire coast, first approved by the Conservative government in 2022.
- A court later ruled the original consent had been granted unlawfully after challenges from environmental campaigners.
- The Burnham government re-approved the field on 21 October 2026, saying it will help heat millions of homes and protect hundreds of jobs.
- Labour's ban on new oil and gas exploration licences remains in place, and a decision on the Rosebank oil field is still pending.
- Green groups warn more drilling will hamper efforts to cut carbon emissions: "Jackdaw is bad but Rosebank is a disaster."
Environmentalists were dismayed. Rosie Latchford, a campaigner against new drilling, told the BBC: "Jackdaw is bad but Rosebank is a disaster." The approval also landed awkwardly with some on the Labour left, a week before a Budget in which the Chancellor is expected to lean heavily on green growth as the answer to Britain's energy costs.
The politics of a pragmatic decision
For Mr Burnham, the calculation is plain. With Brent crude at 105 dollars a barrel and the public finances strained by debt interest, the Government wants the tax receipts, the jobs and the argument that Britain should burn its own gas rather than import it. For Mrs Badenoch, the fight now shifts to Rosebank and to the licence ban, terrain on which she believes the country is closer to her position than to her opponent's. Both will return to it before the winter is out.