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Labour's Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh admits that Jackdraw, "does not have an impact on affordability and bills" My view: What a sad day for Labour. Approving a more gas despite saying no new oil and gas.

Labour's Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh admits that Jackdraw, "does not have an impact on affordability and bills" My view: What a sad day for Labour. Approving a more gas despite saying no new oil and gas.

Farrukh

@implausibleblog.bsky.social

0 views Published on 21/10/2026 09:12 0:11

28 comments

Jocky Wulsin 🌹 @britainscot.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 18:58

Jackdaw was already in the process of being approved, it isn't a new license or discovery, anyway the manifesto pledge was also to maintain a strategic gas reserve.

Labrador-Lover1🇪🇺🇵🇹🇬🇧🔸💚 @labrador-lover1.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 17:41

So why are they doing it?

And whilst I believe in climate change, I still feel the UK is happy to export its Carbon footprint by importing gas/oil/food.

I find some Green arguments poorly thought through.

But I am sick of politicians lying & gaslighting

@adelehayes.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 16:29

Not the right thing to do! Why?

Peter Thomas @ddraiglinc.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 14:54

It's tinkering around the edges and creating small wins whilst being afraid to take on the real issues.

𝕃𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕄 @biglarry2k23.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 14:52

I think they’ve done this as they fear running out of gas this winter .. but what if offshore suppliers - USA for example , see the UK as having supplies of their own and bump them down the priority list when the situation is at its worst ?

Mike Freeman @mikefreemsn58.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 13:21

This was agreed under the previous government but delayed by legal wrangling. At least be factual!!

Martin EA7KRC @ea7krc.eurosky.social · 21/10/2026 13:11

break out the lettuce snd my money is on the lettuce

David F. @dfarb.eurosky.social · 21/10/2026 12:50

I hate to say "I told you so", but I was ahead of the curve in being disappointed with Burnham

A post by me from 6th July 2026 saying "I was a bit slow to be disappointed with Starmer, so I am getting my disappointment with Burnham in early, thank you very much"

Andy Munro @amunro.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:19

They're going to be gutted when they remember it ran out ten years ago 🤔

John Berry he/him @thejohnberry.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:09

This is what you get when you vote for genocide because you're Sensible.
We did tell you, Labour voters.

Pete Lowe 🌹 @petelowe-exx.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 11:59

At least it guarantees some needed supplies from a UK source.

Marged Sosban Fach 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺🇫🇷 @margedsfach.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 11:27

There may, though, be method in their “madness”. An important read from Nils Pratley:

www.theguardian.com/business/nil...

Jackdaw approval is a step towards a grownup North Sea policy

Government decision is about how much oil and gas is sensible for UK to produce on the way to net zero

Hedgehog Cycling @hedgehogcycling.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:24

Pratley is a massive cheerleader for fossil fuels. I have no idea why the Guardian employs him, but I wouldn't pay attention to a word he writes.

Hugo McNestry @bluebes.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:48

Labour can spin it all they want but when they were asked to approve a fossil fuel licence they just did. “No new” is good news…
It’s Schroedingers cat. So small it doesn’t matter and simultaneously big enough to be worth your integrity?

Steve @steveb07.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:38

Was that remark short term or long term ?

God fearing agnostic @genx67.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:26

So to recap. Keep jailing pensioners for protesting genocide. Check. Keep the Russophobic war drums beating. Check. Still keep silent on genocide. Check. Criticise Iran rather than Israel who attacked ut Check.

Hail to the new king. Sane as the old king.

Pablobrooker @paulobro.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:20

Shows that burn-fossil-fuel-ham is just as swayed by big money as any other politician. All for no gain to the electorate. Now some poor labour cunt has to go on question time and be barrocked for not doing what was promised. And starmer was the U-turner lol well done burnham-ites, well done 👏

Sarah Chapman @sinurata.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:13

It's not strictly speaking new, though - these licenses had been approved while the Tories were in government.

Hedgehog Cycling @hedgehogcycling.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:21

It is a gasfield that was not being exploited, and the Labour govt has now given the fossil fuel companies the go-ahead to exploit it. It is therefore new.

Markeye @markeye.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:12

Can’t help but think this is a bad misstep. Even though the output is minor and distant, it seriously undermines their wish to be seen as a champion of net zero.

eXecrable @execrable.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:04

It's a political sop to their right-wing enemies in the right-wing press. Imagine admitting to that.

Worse than that, they won't get any brownie points for it.

@slowlydrowning.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:50

This serves no one but yhe fossil fuel industry.

Continuity Starmer.

Tom Good (real name is Nigel but well, y'know) @tofuratitomgood.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:49

Excellent contributions to the debate on this on @mrjamesob.bsky.social @lbc.co.uk show at the moment demonstrating the head & heart conundrum around this decision. Rewind to 10am if you want James's intro or 10:20-ish for the calls.

Andrew Brook @andrewbrook.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:44

It does have financial benefits to the UK in terms of employment and tax revenues. It doesn’t increase the amount of gas consumed in the world and as long as it does not have a negative effect on our goal to replace gas and oil with renewables then why does it add to greenhouses gases?

Hedgehog Cycling @hedgehogcycling.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:19

It will create just 27 jobs www.theguardian.com/environment/...
'It doesn't increase the amount of gas consumed in the world' - in my view that is almost certainly wrong. The more fossil fuels that are produced, the more will be burnt.

Climate campaigners condemn ‘maddening’ decision to approve Jackdaw gasfield

Critics say move will jeopardise climate targets, fail to cut cost of living and distract from need to decarbonise energy

@ayowhose.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 10:07

The benefits are marginal by any fair analysis & negative overall when the trade offs & consequences are analysed (which never happens on mainstream media.) This issue is addressed in detail at the start of this podcast so you don’t have to wade though it all. open.spotify.com/episode/538k...

Downstream: The Next Big Shock Is Coming. Green Energy Is the Only Way Out w/ Tessa Khan

Novara Media · Episode

Alan Stedman @alanjstedman.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:42

Agreed

Burnham's first big misstep and we are still waiting to get clarification on immigration plans which looks like it too will be a misstep

Still, no loud music on public transport though

Little things are important but the big things shouldn't just get a pass because of them

DW @dwblue.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:53

At least (hopefully) any profits get ploughed back into renewables

Smartie @smartsmartie.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:37

Traitors to Net Zero, and I voted for them, alas.

Debbie Kennedy @whysocialmedia.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:27

It's a sad day for Labour yes. It says that they really don't care about climate change.

Not If, but When? @notifbutwhen.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 11:51

Their manifesto said it would honour existing agreements.

Andy Gowers @exbox.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:21

In the short term it's less environmentally damaging than shipping the same quantity of LNG from the USA, and it also deprives the Americans of some revenue and leverage. In the medium term, the rush to electrification is already unstoppable.

Hedgehog Cycling @hedgehogcycling.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:15

The question is, is this gas (a) displacing other gas which will therefore not be burned or (b) adding to the total global sum of fossil fuels that will be burned.
It's clear to me the answer is (b).

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:30

Norway already supplies around 37% of UK gas, while LNG accounts for about 20%. And even if Jackdaw has lower production and transport emissions than LNG, burning the gas still releases CO₂. Its contribution is small and temporary; the bigger prize is making electrification reduce gas demand faster.

Max @maximusdecimus.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:18

Politics are compromising. We’ve forgotten that in the last 10yrs were people like Trump&Johnson wanted us to believe that ‘the winner takes it all’. We dont have to agree with everything the ppl we voted for & we can tell them, but be careful of who else is using our disagreement to their advantage

Hedgehog Cycling @hedgehogcycling.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 12:23

The atmosphere isn't interested in political compromises.
The reality is that the habitable climate in which human civilisation developed is rapidly disappearing.

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:31

Holding politicians to their promises and challenging decisions we think are wrong is part of democracy. We can do that while staying alert to people who try to turn every disagreement into a reason to give up on cooperation altogether.

Labour said: no new oil and gas, and here we are.

James Steel @jamessteel2008.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:13

Ed was the last resistance to this happening, will he resign as Foreign Secretary? Probably not, but it would make a massive statement if he did.

Andy Gowers @exbox.bsky.social · 21/10/2026 09:21

This is good for the environment in the medium term. We are not going to stop burning gas tomorrow so we may as well get it locally rather than import it from across the ocean.