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Labour ‘as damaging as Tories’ on Rosebank oilfield, Scottish Greens charge
Campaigners take part in a Stop Rosebank emergency protest outside the UK government building in Edinburgh, after the controversial Equinor Rosebank North Sea oil field was given the go-ahead, September 27, 2023

THE Scottish Greens branded Labour “as damaging as the Tories” on Rosebank today after Sir Keir Starmer said that he would not cancel the authorisation for the widely opposed oil project, despite his party’s commitment to issue no new oil and gas licences.

Following Wednesday’s announcement that a licence has been granted for the exploitation of the massive Rosebank field, estimated to contain 545 million barrels of oil, Sir Keir claimed that to withdraw it would undermine economic “stability.” 

“What we’ve said is no new licences to be granted when we’re in power, but we won’t revoke anything, any licences that are granted before we come into power,” he told Nick Robinson’s Political Thinking podcast.

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