Burnham warned Rosebank oil field could breach West Bank sanctions

The question of whether to approve Rosebank, as well as the Jackdaw gas field east of Aberdeen, has become hugely politically significant.

Rosebank was approved by the previous Conservative government in 2023, but that decision was successfully challenged in the courts by campaigners including Uplift.

The decision now lies with the Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, but will be seen as an important indication of Burnham’s wider thinking on oil and gas.

Miliband was widely thought to have been opposed to Rosebank when he served as Sir Keir Starmer’s energy secretary.

Burnham has spoken repeatedly of the need for a “flexible” approach to energy and is believed to be in favour of drilling more where licenses already exist in the North Sea.

The decision could also have implications for the relationship between the UK and the US. President Trump has placed pressure on successive UK prime ministers to drill more in the North Sea.

While Downing Street is relieved that Trump has not lashed out at the government’s recent West Bank sanctions, his administration has said the US will not take the same course of action.

Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, said “not one penny of North Sea oil profits” should go to a company which “itself now risks being sanctioned by the UK”.

The Foreign Office declined to comment.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

Settlements are illegal under international law, and there has been a rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers in recent months.

Israel has criticised the UK sanctions, accusing the government of “anti-Israel policies”.