Andy Burnham to announce plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling | BBC News — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Now here in the UK, Andy Bernham says he
2. 0:02is still deciding who will be in his
3. 0:04cabinet as he prepares to take over from
4. 0:06Kier Starmmer as UK prime minister on
5. 0:08Monday. There's been widespread
6. 0:09speculation about Mr. Bernham's
7. 0:11appointments with Ed Milliband and
8. 0:13Shabbana Mahmud thought to be in the
9. 0:15running to replace Rachel Reeves as
10. 0:16chancellor. Our political correspondent
11. 0:18Jack Fenwick reports.
12. 0:21It's a job he's been after for more than
13. 0:2315 years now. Andy Bernham has a little
14. 0:25over 48 hours to make his final
15. 0:27preparations. He's expected to spend
16. 0:30this weekend with his family, beginning
17. 0:31the move into number 10 now that his
18. 0:33predecessor, Sakir Stalmer, has packed
19. 0:35up and moved out. The formalities
20. 0:38surrounding a changeover of power have
21. 0:40become familiar in the UK in recent
22. 0:42years. On Monday, this will be the scene
23. 0:44of Sakir Stalmer's final speech as prime
24. 0:46minister and Andy Bernham's first. All
25. 0:48eyes will then stay on the famous street
26. 0:50to see which cabinet ministers to be
27. 0:52appear. Yesterday, Mr. Bernham reckoned
28. 0:55the decisions on who to appoint were
29. 0:56still being finalized.
30. 0:58It would be somewhat premature and would
31. 1:00I think cause something of chaos if you
32. 1:03start half a reshuffle before you're in
33. 1:04position.
34. 1:05>> I guess there's a difference between
35. 1:06announcing them and waiting until Monday
36. 1:08for that and knowing in your own mind.
37. 1:10>> Yeah, the decisions will be made very
38. 1:11shortly and it will be done in the usual
39. 1:14way.
40. 1:15>> Key Bernham allies such as the culture
41. 1:17secretary Lisa Nandi, transport
42. 1:18secretary Heidi Alexander, Labour's
43. 1:20deputy leader Lucy Powell, the former
44. 1:23transport secretary Louise Hey, and the
45. 1:24chief whip Jonathan Reynolds are all
46. 1:26tipped. Senior figures from Star's
47. 1:28government, including the foreign
48. 1:30secretary of vet Cooper and the work and
49. 1:31pensions secretary Pat McFaden, will
50. 1:33likely expect jobs too. And then there's
51. 1:36the question of what to do with the
52. 1:37former health secretary Wes Streeting
53. 1:39and the former deputy prime minister
54. 1:40Angela Rea, who at times were both
55. 1:42talked up as potential leadership
56. 1:44rivals, then in the end backed Burnham.
57. 1:47But choosing his chancellor will be the
58. 1:48most important decision with speculation
59. 1:50among MPs rife that it could be the home
60. 1:53secretary Shabbana Mammud or the energy
61. 1:55secretary Ed Milliband. Many on the left
62. 1:57of the Labour party have made it clear
63. 1:58which choice they'd prefer.
64. 2:00>> I personally think that uh Shabbana has
65. 2:04got many skills. She has a background in
66. 2:06the justice sector. She hasn't got the
67. 2:08experience in the treasury and that's
68. 2:11some a department where you really do
69. 2:13need to understand and therefore just
70. 2:15drawing on that that vision about using
71. 2:18people's experience. So I think that
72. 2:19other people can probably um use their
73. 2:23past experience in the treasury. Edmund
74. 2:25Ban clearly has um walked those planks
75. 2:28before and therefore um seeing him there
76. 2:30I think is just a stronger choice.
77. 2:33>> Andy Bernham has expressed his
78. 2:35frustration at speculation over his
79. 2:36cabinet, but the personnel he chooses
80. 2:38will matter when it comes to uniting a
81. 2:40divided party, being able to convey a
82. 2:43message and bringing forward policy to
83. 2:45change people's lives. On that last
84. 2:47point, those around the incoming PM have
85. 2:49made it clear we can expect a flurry of
86. 2:51announcements early on as he hopes to
87. 2:53hit the ground running.
88. 2:54>> Have I got you all?
89. 2:55>> Jack Fenwick, BBC News, Westminster. Are
90. 2:57>> we good?
91. 2:59>> Well, amidst that likely flurry of
92. 3:00announcements, one of the things the BB
93. 3:02that BBC News has been told that Andy
94. 3:04Bernham will announce is plans for new
95. 3:06renewed oil and gas drilling in the
96. 3:08North Sea when he becomes prime minister
97. 3:10on Monday. Would that break Labour's
98. 3:122024 manifesto promise not to allow oil
99. 3:15and gas exploration? I put that question
100. 3:17to Dr. Mark Ireland, a lecture lecturer
101. 3:20in energy geoscience at Newcastle
102. 3:22University.
103. 3:24I guess firstly it should be clear that
104. 3:25the the two developments that are being
105. 3:27talked about quite a lot at the moment.
106. 3:29The Rosebank and Jack Door are not
107. 3:31necessarily new exploration licenses.
108. 3:33there are discovered resources and
109. 3:36reserves there uh which those companies
110. 3:39want to bring onto production as soon as
111. 3:42possible. So in that sense not really uh
112. 3:44I think the issuing of new expiration
113. 3:47licenses that is in areas that currently
114. 3:49there is no active drilling would be a
115. 3:52big shift by by the uh incoming leader.
116. 3:55>> Yeah. And presumably would put him at
117. 3:57odds with Ed Milliband uh who has been
118. 4:00the champion of net zero targets. So, do
119. 4:02you read into this, Mark, that
120. 4:04potentially Miband is out of the running
121. 4:07for chancellor?
122. 4:09>> I I think there's there's an important
123. 4:11distinction to make about um the
124. 4:13compatibility with oil and gas and net
125. 4:16zero. It's not a black and white uh net
126. 4:20zero requires no oil and gas. all the
127. 4:23credible pathways to net zero require uh
128. 4:26the UK and other countries around the
129. 4:28world, they continue to use oil and gas
130. 4:31during that transition. So, I think the
131. 4:34challenge that we've had is that the
132. 4:35Labor government haven't really
133. 4:37previously put forward a a clear and
134. 4:40credible pathway for how to manage our
135. 4:43oil and gas demand in that transition
136. 4:46period.
137. 4:48>> Right. That's an interesting point. Um,
138. 4:49I mean, it's also an area that Donald
139. 4:51Trump has been very keen for for for the
140. 4:54UK to explore. So, you know, it's if
141. 4:58Burnham does go ahead with this,
142. 4:59presumably would would uh please the
143. 5:02Trump administration and and I suppose
144. 5:03lead to criticisms from environmental
145. 5:06groups that he's kind of caving into
146. 5:07pressure from the White House.
147. 5:09I think what we need to have a have a a
148. 5:13much harder look at is I think any
149. 5:14immediate announcements are unlikely to
150. 5:17involve any significant changes to how
151. 5:19the UK um regulates and licenses and
152. 5:23makes decisions about which development
153. 5:25might be compatible with those pathways.
154. 5:28Um and so I think yeah it would it would
155. 5:31kind of be at odds but I think longer
156. 5:34term they need to have a much clearer
157. 5:35plan for as we need oil and gas in that
158. 5:39transition period. How will we evaluate
159. 5:41in a fair and systematic way against our
160. 5:44net zero obligations? which developments
161. 5:47could be compatible and also provide us
162. 5:50that energy security that we so much
163. 5:52hear about particularly since the you
164. 5:54know over the past of the Ukraine
165. 5:56conflict and and now the conflict in the
166. 5:58Middle East.
167. 5:59>> Dr. Mark Ireland there. Well, my
168. 6:01colleague Clyde Meyer will be live in
169. 6:03Downing Street for a BBC News special.
170. 6:05Andy Bernham the new prime minister on
171. 6:07Monday morning starting at 10:00 a.m.
172. 6:09You can watch around the world here on
173. 6:11BBC News and if you're in the UK on BBC
174. 6:141 and i Player. Plus, you can listen
175. 6:16live on BBC Sounds.