Jackdaw Gasfield

Chris Ward Excerpts

Wednesday 21st October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s appreciation of the decision we have made today. The longer-term impact of climate change will be felt by his constituents as much as everyone else’s, so it is in all of our interests—as I know he appreciates—for us to take action to tackle it. While this is an important decision, the action we have taken to deploy clean power and break the link with fossil fuels is also really important.

My hon. Friend is right to centre this discussion on jobs. We have worked not just to create new jobs in the clean power of the future, but to make sure those are good jobs. With offshore wind, for example, we are making sure there is fair work for offshore workers, in conjunction with trade unions and the workforce. We want to grow the number of jobs in clean power, but we also want them to be good, well-paid and sustainable jobs.

[Chris Ward (Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven) (Lab)]

I am concerned about the message this decision sends about how serious we are about tackling the climate emergency and protecting our hard-won international reputation as a world leader on climate change. However, I am even more concerned—as are my constituents—that this is a prelude to the bigger decision on Rosebank that is to come. Can the Minister confirm that when that decision is taken, the climate emergency and our international climate commitments will be at the forefront of his mind, and that we will have a chance to debate that decision in this House?

[Michael Shanks]

On the international point and the message this decision sends about the climate emergency, I cannot be clearer about how central tackling climate change still is to the wider agenda of our energy policy. The transition to a non-fossil-fuel economy will require oil and gas for decades to come, and this decision is about where we get that from, not about the end goal, which is to remove our exposure to fossil fuels in the long term. We continue to take action on the climate crisis in a whole range of other ways. For instance, the Secretary of State will lead our delegation to COP to make sure we continue to press for international collaboration.

On the wider point, consenting decisions are regulatory decisions for the Secretary of State to make, and then it is for the North Sea Transition Authority to make the final decision and issue the consent. Those decisions are not subject to debates in this House—they are quasi-judicial decisions. However, I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that that decision, like this one, will be based on a whole range of factors, and the environmental impacts will be absolutely central.