𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham has been urged not to unleash a “disaster for Britain” by making Ed Miliband his Chancellor if he replaces Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. The Mayor of Greater Manchester could be PM within weeks if he wins the Makerfield by-election and then succeeds Sir Keir at Number 10. There is mounting expectation Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Mr Miliband would replace Rachel Reeves in a Burnham premiership – but critics say the country is in danger of becoming an “energy vassal state” and he should be barred from “running a bath, let alone the British economy”.

Mr Miliband has triggered outrage by refusing to allow new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea despite threats to Britain’s energy security and he is accused of presiding over “one of the greatest acts of industrial self-harm in a generation”. Labour has doubled-down on the prohibition on exploration licences for new fields even though a surge in household energy bills is coming and there are fears gas imports could be interrupted in wartime. Britain has among the highest electricity bills of any major economy and there is cross-party concern Mr Miliband’s policies will decimate the country’s oil and gas industry.

The Financial Times has reported ex-Labour leader Mr Miliband – who worked for then-Chancellor Gordon Brown at the Treasury – has been advising Mr Burnham on the economy “for some time” and was allegedly instrumental in getting the mayor to back the Government’s fiscal rules to calm the bond markets. In a further sign Mr Miliband could be moving into the Chancellor’s residence in Number 11, Downing Street, he has been endorsed in the FT for the role by Lord Nick Macpherson, a former permanent secretary at the Treasury.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride was appalled at the prospect, saying: “Ed Miliband wants to sacrifice our economy on the altar of net zero. He would be a disaster for Britain if he ever got near the Treasury. Rachel Reeves has already crushed businesses and households under an avalanche of tax rises. Miliband would pile more burdens on top of that with higher energy bills and billions in taxpayers’ money wasted on his green vanity projects.”

The SNP has also warned the appointment of Mr Miliband as Chancellor would represent the “ultimate Westminster insult” to energy workers, accusing him of having already “destroyed 1000 energy jobs a month”.

Shadow Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho launched a ferocious attack on her Labour opposite number, saying: “Andy Burnham said one of his priorities was reindustrialisation, and yet one of Ed Miliband’s legacies as Energy Secretary will be his obsession with shutting down the North Sea – one of the greatest acts of industrial self-harm in a generation. That alone should disqualify him from running a bath, let alone the British economy.”

Last week, Enrique Cornejo of Offshore Energies UK warned in the Sunday Express that the country has “less than two weeks worth of stored gas supply” and that growing dependence on imports will expose the UK to international bidding wars.

Sebastian Charleton of Adam Smith Institute, said: “Ed Miliband’s ban on new North Sea oil exploration is a well-intentioned but disastrous mistake. While drilling wouldn’t instantly slash household bills, it builds our resilience to external crises.

“Extracting our own resources creates jobs, fuels growth and generates vital tax revenues. Crucially, it acts as a perfect economic shock absorber. When global crises push oil prices up, Government tax receipts from oil rise in accordance.

“This creates a natural buffer, giving the Chancellor dividends when energy markets bite hardest.”

Warning against installing Mr Miliband as Chancellor, he said: “If Ed Miliband is allowed to advance his flawed ideology at the Treasury, it will only compound the problems facing the British economy.”

Andy Mayer, an energy analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs said: “We don’t have to imagine what his economic plan would be as Chancellor because we’ve been living with it for nearly 20 years… It means state interference in the name of moral crusades in every area of our lives and at great cost, but it will make no difference at all to the global thermostat.”

An Aberdeen-based manager in oil and gas exploration, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Sunday Express why a change of policy is needed.

He said: “The UK has handcuffed itself to net zero targets and the entirely false and damaging binary that you can either drill or transition to renewables. The fact is that we need to do both.

“We need oil and gas today, and there is broad political and scientific consensus that we’ll still need it for a long time to come as renewable capacity increases to required levels.

“North sea operations run to the very highest global standards of safety, environmental protection and worker welfare. The UK is in an enviable position that must not be squandered: we have the ways and means of safely and cleanly bridging between fossil dependency and net zero, all while benefiting our economy and taxpayers’ pockets. According to some projections, North Sea extraction could entirely cover the UK’s oil and gas demand as we shift to net zero.”

He warned against making the UK “an energy vassal state” and warned that “lives, livelihoods and the economy are suffering with Aberdeen shedding thousands of well paid jobs that contribute huge amounts of tax and National Insurance”.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero strongly denies that it is “shutting down” extraction in the North Sea by banning the exploration licences for new fields.

But Sean Ridley of the Centre for Policy Studies claimed that by 2035 the UK will face a “shortfall of 46.5 million tonnes of oil and gas”.

He said: “All Miliband’s ban achieves is replacing domestic production with LNG imports from the US and Qatar… Britain will need oil and gas right through to 2050 and beyond. The only question is whether we produce it ourselves, or pay someone else to.”

A spokesperson for Mr Miliband’s department said: “Oil and gas production will be with us for decades to come, and we will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan – while actively scaling up clean energy industries in the North Sea. Issuing new licences to explore new fields cannot give us energy security and will not take a penny off bills. Our ambitious plans will make the North Sea a clean energy powerhouse and support up to 40,000 new jobs in Scotland by 2030.”

Mr Burnham’s campaign declined to comment.