MORE MPs have joined a crossparty campaign calling on Andy Burnham to reject Rosebank as pressure grows on the Prime Minister over the controversial oil field.
The 27 Westminster parliamentarians, which include SNP MP Pete Wishart, have told Burnham his decision on Rosebank is a “defining test of your commitment to the UK’s economic resilience and climate security”.
The letter now takes the total number of MPs and MSPs publicly calling on the Prime Minister to stop the project from being given the greenlight to 90.
Earlier this week, more than 200 musicians including Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, urged Burnham to reject Rosebank.
Located off the coast of Shetland, it is the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea. The UK Government is considering whether or not to approve it, with a consultation period closing on Monday.
A recent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) concluded that over its operation lifetime, of around 25 years, Rosebank will generate 250 million tonnes of CO2. That figure is the equivalent to around two-thirds of the UK’s total emissions for 2024.
Climate campaigners have said approving the field would make a mockery of UK climate commitments.
Independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbot, Green MP Hannah Spencer, LibDem MP Wera Hobhouse, and Labour MPs Nadia Whittome, Bell Riberio-Addy and Clive Lewis are among the signatories of the letter to Burnham.
The letter reads: “The decision your Government now faces is about more than just a single oil development – a defining test of your commitment to the UK’s economic resilience and climate security.
“Opposition to Rosebank spans across parliamentary benches and the nations of the UK.
“Approving this development would be fundamentally incompatible with our legally binding climate obligations and, crucially, with the secure future that energy workers and communities deserve.”
It added that claims Rosebank would guarantee energy security or protect jobs “does not hold up to scrutiny”.
“Most of what would be produced by Rosebank would be sold on international markets, while profits continue to flow overseas rather than revitalising the industrial communities currently struggling in the North East of Scotland, the North of England and beyond.
“The oil and gas industry has scaled back on domestic renewable investment alongside repeated rounds of redundancies, leading to increasingly insecure employment for the workforce.”
It added that approving Rosebank would “markedly diminish” the UK’s international standing, and urged Burnham to signal a “decisive shift” towards the green industrial revolution.
“This is not a political choice between jobs and climate,” the letter adds. “This is a choice between prolonging our dependence on volatile, declining markets, or instead investing directly in British clean energy manufacturing capabilities that will provide employment for years to come.
“Our focus must be on creating secure, well-paid jobs that place oil and gas workers at the very heart of a genuinely fair energy transition.”
Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, said: “I have co-signed a cross-party letter asking the Prime Minister to stop the Rosebank oil field development. We do not have to choose between jobs and the climate.
“Continuing to push for volatile fossil fuels leaves us vulnerable. Energy investment must serve the public interest, not just corporate profits. Funding British clean energy will secure our home-grown supply and build reliable green jobs for the future.”
Gorton and Denton MP Spencer added: “Pushing ahead with Rosebank directly undermines our international credibility and abandons global climate leadership when it is needed most.
“This is not a choice between jobs, lower bills or climate. The Government must stand firm and reject this development and instead take the bold action we need to build a secure, fair future where everyone can thrive.”
Hobhouse added: “I am joining cross-party colleagues in signing this letter because I believe that further development in the Rosebank oil field would be a disgraceful betrayal of our climate commitments.
“We don't need more fossil fuels – we need bold investment in renewables, green jobs & energy security. The future isn't in oil; it's in renewables.”
It comes after Wishart wrote in The National that the Rosebank development must be rejected.
