Andy Burnham risks triggering mass unemployment on the scale of the coalmine closures unless he exploits the UK’s remaining North Sea oil and gas, the director of the British Chambers of Commerce has warned.
Shevaun Haviland, whose organisation represents 50,000 businesses employing 7.5 million people, said the transition to clean energy was “not being managed in the right way” and that offshore wind was not creating enough jobs to replace those lost as the North Sea wound down. The result, she said, was that local supply chains were leaving the country.
“BCC boss warns Burnham against North Sea shutdown, saying it could cause coalmine-style mass unemployment.”
“There’s some very big concerns from our chambers up in Aberdeen and the north-east that it will go the way of the coalmines, and you’ll have millions of people out of work,” Haviland said.
The decision on whether to allow extraction at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields now appears likely to fall to a Burnham administration. Haviland urged the incoming prime minister to approve the projects, pointing out that the UK was currently importing more expensive and less environmentally friendly liquid gas instead.
“At the moment, instead of using those fields we are importing liquid gas, which is more expensive and less environmentally friendly. So yes, we believe we should use our own assets,” she said.
The BCC director was speaking ahead of the group’s high-profile annual conference in London on Thursday, where five political parties – including Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves and Green leader Zack Polanski – will address the gathering. Haviland said British businesses backed the clean energy transition and were keen to seize the opportunities it presented, but that the pace of change was creating a “really worrying gap”.
“We are absolutely behind the incredible leadership we’ve seen in offshore wind, where we’re a world leader,” she said. “We are not investing enough in building a local supply chain to support that. A lot of it’s still coming from overseas. And because it hasn’t happened as fast as oil and gas are declining, we have a really worrying gap, and we are seeing the supply chain leave.”
The future of Jackdaw and Rosebank will be watched closely by business and environmentalists as a signal of intent from Burnham’s new team. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, who is being touted as a possible chancellor, is seen as sceptical about giving the go-ahead.
Haviland also called on Burnham to place economic growth at the heart of his premiership and promise to bring down costs for businesses if Labour wants to win back the trust of the private sector. The BCC will formally make that demand at the conference, where Burnham is expected to outline his early priorities.