Dozens of Shrewsbury residents met in the market square on Sunday to call on the incoming Prime Minister to oppose new North Sea oil and gas drilling.

It comes after a series of major news reports over the weekend suggested that Andy Burnham is considering reappraising Labour’s stance on new drilling and may use a loophole to get around the party’s manifesto commitment not to issue any new oil and gas licenses.

Opening new oil and gas fields – including Rosebank and Jackdaw off the coast of Scotland – would fly in the face of warnings from climate scientists that fossil fuel expansion is incompatible with preventing climate chaos. It would also suggest that Andy Burnham is giving into the demands of fossil fuel lobbyists who have been pressuring the incoming PM behind the scenes on the issue over recent weeks.

Councillor Julian Dean from the Shrewsbury Green Party, which helped organise the event, says:

‘We have a message for the new Prime Minister: “Fossil fuels? Andy, Don’t Burn ‘Em!” As Shropshire is hit by record heatwaves and wildfires, it’s clear the UK needs to speed up the shift to clean energy, not slavishly follow Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda. Burnham says he’s “open minded” about approving new oil and gas, which suggests he either hasn’t done his homework or is putting corporate profits ahead of the warnings from climate scientists. The Shrewsbury Green Party wants ordinary people to benefit from the lower energy bills that come from harnessing free sun and wind power, plus secure the safer future that comes from reducing our reliance on dirty fossil fuels.’

According to Fatih Birol, the world’s leading energy economist and head of the International Energy Agency, the Rosebank oil field ‘would not change much for the UK’s energy security, nor would they change the price of oil and gas.... They will not lower bills, the UK will remain a significant importer and price taker on international markets.’ Meanwhile, the Jackdaw gas field would only create 27 direct full-time new jobs, while creating the same amount of emissions as 20 million cars driving on UK roads for a year.

Councillor Dean says:

‘If Andy Burnham greenlights new oil and gas fields like Rosebank and Jackdaw, it will be a sign that this government is going to fail on tackling the climate crisis while also missing out on one of the biggest growth opportunities of the 21st century. The global market for key clean energy technologies is set to triple to more than $2 trillion by 2035 – and Britain needs to be part of that. As Shrewsbury swelters in record heat and local people struggle to pay their bills as climate-inflation hits food prices, we need our MP Julia Buckley to lobby the new PM not to make a terrible mistake by backtracking on Labour’s manifesto promises.’