Donald Trump has claimed that people in 'poverty-stricken' Scotland are 'dancing in the streets' because Andy Burnham, set to become prime minister tomorrow, has said he will open up the North Sea for oil drilling.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president said the move would transform the UK 'from a Poverty Stricken Disaster to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World', praising the 'invaluable North Sea Oil' as having 'hundreds of years of Capacity left'.
“Trump says Scots are 'dancing in the streets' as incoming PM Burnham plans to open up North Sea oil.”
Trump has repeatedly called on Burnham's predecessor, Keir Starmer, to 'open up the fields'. Now, insiders have told the BBC that Burnham is considering approving new oil and gas projects about 80 miles from the Shetland Islands – a policy Labour explicitly ruled out in its 2024 manifesto, arguing it would do little to ease energy bills.
Regulators gave the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields the green light in 2022 and 2023, but a court ruled last year that the approvals were unlawful because of climate concerns. Burnham could sidestep his manifesto pledge by accelerating those already-approved projects, insiders said.
Lucy Powell, Labour's deputy leader, dismissed reports of a policy shift as 'speculation', adding: 'I don't think it's a change of policy. It's more a change of emphasis.'
Trump also claimed the UK will 'move the old and horrible-looking windmills' off the coast of Aberdeen – though the Bay Wind Farm off Aberdeen uses wind turbines, not windmills.
The World Bank data shows 0.4% of people in the UK live on around £2.20 a day, compared with 1.10% in the US. The UK imported 16.2 million metric tons of crude oil from the US in 2024.
Burnham, who has said little about foreign policy in his 25-year political career, now faces a choice: continue Starmer's cautious approach of edging closer to Europe while not offending Washington, or agree with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that Trump has created a 'rupture in the world order'.
