Donald Trump has said people in Aberdeen will be “dancing in the streets” following reports Andy Burnham could back new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
The incoming prime minister has not confirmed reports that he is considering approving new fossil fuel production, particularly in the North Sea’s Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.
But in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Mr Trump claimed Mr Burnham had said he would.
Mr Trump said: “The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil!”
The president, a vocal supporter of fossil fuels, said further drilling in the North Sea would “make the United Kingdom, from a Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World”.
And in his latest attack on wind power he suggested the UK would “move the old and horrible looking windmills, which loom over and destroy the City of Aberdeen”.
Earlier on Sunday, Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell said Mr Burnham would stick to the party’s manifesto commitments on the North Sea while pursuing a “more pragmatic approach”.
Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which Mr Burnham has promised to honour, said the party would not issue new North Sea licences, arguing they would “not take a penny off bills” or improve energy security while accelerating climate change.
But the incoming prime minister is said to be “open-minded” about the policy.
He could claim not to be breaking the manifesto pledge by approving projects at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields, where licences have already been granted, while still not issuing any new licences.
Ms Powell would not say whether Mr Burnham would back more drilling, but told the BBC she was not expecting a “change of policy” but “more a change of emphasis”.
Robert Palmer, deputy director of campaign group Uplift, said Mr Trump was “peddling a fantasy about North Sea oil and gas”.
He said: “It’s now an ultra-mature basin that has been in decline for years.
“Of course Donald Trump wants us to remain dependent on fossil fuels – and on US gas specifically – but that’s not in the UK’s national interest.
“Renewable energy, which we’re lucky to have in abundance, is the only way to reduce our exposure to energy price shocks and mean we are not at the mercy of bad actors like Putin or the whims of American presidents.”
