New oil development off Shetland should not go ahead - Starmer

Plans to tap a new oil field off Shetland should not be approved, Labour leader Keir Starmer has said.

UK authorities are considering whether to allow drilling at the huge Cambo oil field to the west of Scotland.

But Sir Keir said this would "give off completely the wrong signal" in the year Scotland is also set to host the COP26 climate conference.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told BBC Scotland that he was not aware of the development.

When pressed on the matter on Thursday, he said that contracts should not be "ripped up" - but said "we need to transition as fast as we reasonably can" to renewable energy sources.

• Is a new oil field climate change hypocrisy?

The Cambo field is situated about 125km (75 miles) to the west of Shetland, and contains more than 800m barrels of oil.

An exploration licence was granted in 2001, but the Oil and Gas Authority is still considering whether to give approval for extraction.

If it does, drilling could begin as soon as 2022 - and continue for approximately 25 years.

The OGA said the application process was confidential, but noted that it could only authorise any development with the agreement of UK government ministers, after considering a report from environmental regulators.

While visiting a wind farm in central Scotland, Sir Keir told BBC Scotland that the Cambo development should not go ahead.

He said: "The critical question at COP26 is how we meet the challenge of the climate crisis.

"The idea that we have a global conference here at the same time as approving Cambo doesn't make any sense - it gives off completely the wrong signal."

Asked about the Cambo development in a BBC interview on Wednesday, the prime minister said he was "not aware of that particular decision".

Sir Keir said this "tells you everything you need to know about this prime minister - great on soundbites, hopeless on substance".

Most politicians in the UK want to be seen to be green in 2021, as the UN climate summit comes to Glasgow.

That's why both Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson were visiting Scottish wind farms, championing a low carbon future.

Of course, tackling climate change requires action as well as words.

We will continue to need hydrocarbons in our energy mix for years to come but environmental campaigners want new developments blocked.

The Labour leader agrees that Cambo should not go ahead. But the prime minister argues it's not that simple - that existing contracts cannot be torn up.

Yet if new drilling is approved on his watch in the year of COP26 - it hardly makes it easier for the UK to lead the world to a low carbon future.

This is tricky for the Scottish government too.

They've avoided taking a public position on Cambo even though they're negotiating a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens who think new oil extraction will wreck the climate.

Boris Johnson visited the Moray Offshore Windfarm East

The UK government has previously defended such developments, saying that "while we are working hard to drive down demand for fossil fuels, there will continue to be ongoing demand for oil and gas over the coming years".

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mr Johnson called for a "smooth and sensible transition" away from fossil fuels.

He said: "We understand the importance to the north east of Scotland of the oil and gas industry, it's been a huge part of the UK economy for decades now.

"The contracts that have been signed should not be just ripped up, but we need to transition as fast as we reasonably can."

'A fair transition'

Siccar Point Energy, the firm behind the Cambo proposal, says it could create more than 1,000 jobs directly - and even more in the supply chain.

CEO Jonathan Roger said the company had "proactively taken significant steps to minimise the emissions footprint" of the project, which would "support the country's energy transition by maintaining secure UK supply".

Pressed on whether rejecting the scheme would cost jobs in the oil and gas sector, Sir Keir said it was important to have "a strategy for the future".

The Labour leader said: "We need a fair transition, a fair change. I think about the communities and those in the north east working in oil and gas.

"Any timetable for change needs to involve them because what happened a generation ago with coal mining cannot be allowed to happen again - which is you have an abrupt adjustment, you hollow out communities and take away well-paid highly skilled jobs. We cannot make that mistake again."

Sir Keir Starmer visited Whitelee Wind Farm on Thursday

The Scottish government has not committed itself for or against the development - although it does not need to, with offshore licensing reserved to Westminster.

A spokesman said the government was "fully committed to becoming a net-zero economy by 2045", and that the oil and gas sector "can play a positive role in Scotland's energy transition".

However, the SNP administration is at an advanced stage of talks with the Scottish Green Party about a cooperation agreement - which could potentially put Green MSPs who are strongly opposed to new oil and gas developments into ministerial office.

Green co-leader Lorna Slater recently attended a protest against the Cambo development outside the UK government's headquarters in Edinburgh.

It is understood that any pact between the parties would leave them free to disagree on some issues - including the future of the North Sea oil industry.