Businesses are “abandoning the North Sea” because of Sir Keir Starmer’s decisions, Kemi Badenoch has claimed at PMQs, as he she criticised the “signal he is sending to investors”.
Her comments came after a Scottish court ruled that green lighting the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields was unlawful, following a court battle brought by environmental campaigners Uplift and Greenpeace.
Badenoch previously described the verdict as an “act of self-harm” and an example of “lawfare killing economic growth”, accusing Labour of being “too scared” to fight for growth.
The Conservative Party leader told the Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions: “I am speaking on behalf of the people of this country, when Labour negotiates, our country loses.
“He is talking about bringing growth and investment. Last week, he lost a £450m investment from AstraZeneca that we negotiated, and which would have delivered growth immediately.
“That same day, he also lost the £8bn oil field investment that would have delivered next year.
Business is abandoning the North Sea because of his decisions, what signal does he think he is sending to investors?
But hitting back in the Commons, Starmer replied: “As she knows, AstraZeneca was a commercial decision, she must understand that.
“But all she does is come here every week, carping from the sidelines, talking our country down.
“We’ve got the highest investment for 19 years, PwC says [the UK is] the second best place to invest in the world, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is upgrading growth, wages are up, inflation is down.
“There’s more to do, reforming planning and regulation, building new homes, supporting a runway – the third runway at Heathrow.
“What unites these? Championed by Labour, opposed by the Tories.”
A Conservative source said according to estimates from Equinor, the Rosebank project represented a direct investment of approximately £8.1bn, of which £6.3bn was likely to be invested in UK-based businesses.
The developer also estimated, they said, that at its peak the field would be producing 69,000 barrels of oil and 44m cubic feet of gas per day.