𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham is all over the place on Net Zero. One moment he dons a hard hat and backs drilling in the North Sea. The next he quietly presides over obscure carbon emissions rules threatening the lives of NHS patients. Less than a week ago the Prime Minister was writing opinion pieces saluting the vital necessity of Net Zero, “The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is here and with us now.” This week he is approving fossil fuel extraction, finally giving the go ahead to the Jackdaw gas field.

His move is welcomed by major unions for the jobs it will create and others that it will protect. A decision that may or may not have been prompted by Ofgem’s latest report saying Britain would not pass its gas security standards without intervention. This appears to be, at least at first glance, a sea change in Labour policy – which under Starmer had been to dither, delay and reject any possible decision.

This may not last. One only must consider the visible disquiet and silence on the Labour benches as Energy Minister Michael Shanks made the announcement. Do not forget that the Labour manifesto at the last election committed to no new exploration or extraction in the North Sea. In the long tradition of Labour fence sitting though, it gave enough wiggle room that neither Jackdaw nor its more profitable oil counterpart of Rosebank, which had already been supposedly approved, could be deemed as not new. Naturally, Labour types still committed to Net Zero either didn’t spot this or believe it to not matter for the “spirit” of their commitment.

Indeed, Fahnbulleh has already said that Rosebank requires far more consideration. Jackdaw apparently is OK, because the UK will rely on gas for years to come in the Net Zero transition, but oil won’t be as good for UK energy security because it will be mostly exported. Never mind the economic illiteracy of such a belief or how the reason we have to export oil for refinement is because Net Zero forced the closure of our domestic refineries. But then what is new among those who support Net Zero, they like ignoring reality.

Exporting oil is very good for the economy and a stronger economy makes us safer. If energy prices spike, our energy exports also increase in value – increasing revenue for the Treasury and also heading off inflationary pressures. Meanwhile, the Northern King is also quietly repealing the holy writ of Net Zero in other areas and notably, has signalled a diversion of funds from green energy projects in the coming Budget.

Net Zero has spread like a persistent mould to areas you might not have realised. For example, all NHS suppliers above a certain threshold were going to be required to publicly publish onerous and potentially sensitive information about their global supply chains. Naturally, this made businesses unhappy and they have said as much to ministers.

Now, as ministerial answers to me and other concerned politicians have indicated, the Ministry of Health has toned down this Draconian requirement. But there has been no fundamental change of direction in the NHS, still fixated on the madness that its flaunting of its green credentials takes precedence over everything else. Mr Burnham is sitting on the fence. He does not want to alienate his eco-warrior supporters, but at the same time, he does not want to inflict further damage to NHS patients.

He knows that the soaring price of energy is hurting families and businesses and crippling living standards. Britain’s electricity prices are among the highest in the world. But again much of Labour’s support comes from the Greta Thunberg Left. Green leader Zack Polanski denounced the piffling Jackdaw go-ahead as “climate vandalism”. Which way to turn?

The PM should show some leadership. Eco-zealotry means a cold and miserable Britain in which jobs are lost, patients suffer and for all the talk of global leadership on climate change, the rest of the world gets on with the job. The likes of India and China go on building coal-fired power stations whatever the posturing in Whitehall and Westminister.

But then is Burnham a leader or a manipulator?

– Lord Mackinlay of Richborough is director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation