PA MediaDonald Trump has said he thinks he and Andy Burnham are “going to have a very good relationship” as he again stressed the need for the UK to tackle immigration and open up North Sea oil, claiming Britain was currently “a bankrupt country”.
The US president said the nation was “sitting on top of gold”, and that in a phone call on his first day in office the Prime Minister had “sounded terrific” on allowing the fossil fuel to be tapped.
He made his comments after Mr Burnham left the door open for future North Sea drilling and confirmed he told Mr Trump “we can’t ignore” the resources there.
Mr Burnham said he would “take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea”.
Labour’s 2024 manifesto said the party would not issue new North Sea licences, but Mr Burnham appeared to indicate a shift in stance.
Ed Miliband, who held the energy and net zero brief under Sir Keir Starmer and was a strong supporter of the election pledge, has now taken the Foreign Secretary role.
PA MediaHis successor as Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, has said the manifesto was clear there is scope to exploit existing licences and that oil and gas are “part of the mix” – but would not be drawn on whether there are plans to go further.
Mr Burnham’s Government is also facing calls from the energy sector to approve the Jackdaw gas field east of Aberdeen and Rosebank oilfield west of Shetland.
Campaigners have warned that doing so would break Labour’s election pledge.
Consultations on the projects are due to run until August 10 and August 17 respectively, with the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (Opred) due to make a recommendation to the UK Government after that.
Mr Trump had already talked up a change in policy that he anticipated under Mr Burnham before the former Greater Manchester mayor took office.
The US president, a vocal supporter of fossil fuels, has long railed against “windmills”.
He lost a legal battle with the Scottish Government to stop a wind turbine development visible from his Aberdeenshire golf course.
Speaking in the White House, Mr Trump said: “Two things are killing Europe. Number one is immigration. Number two is energy.
“When you look at the UK, they have one of the best energy fields in the world, North Sea oil. Now I think your new Prime Minister is going to actually open up the (North Sea), from what I hear.
“I spoke to him, and he sounded terrific on this subject.
“But you open it up, you’ll be a wealthy country.
“You keep it closed, you’re going to be a bankrupt country, which is what you are now. Essentially, you’re a bankrupt country.”
He added: “You’re sitting on top of gold, better than gold, and you don’t do anything with it.”
He went on: “You have your choice. Not every country has that choice. Almost no country has that choice.”
Mr Trump said: “You have among the highest energy prices in the world. You could cut them in half. You could give away free energy if you’d open up the North Sea, and it’s good for another 500 years, maybe more, probably 1,000 years.”
Referring to Mr Burnham, with whom he declared he was “very impressed”, Mr Trump said: “I think we’re going to have a very good relationship. We’ll see. I’m not going to tell him how to run his country.
“But I can tell you, immigration is an incredible problem for Europe. You’re allowing people in that, in many cases, are not going to help you. I’m going to be nice. They’re not going to help you.”
He added: “It’s very sad when I see what’s happening to Europe. It’s very sad to me, but they have a problem with immigration.
“They have a problem with energy. They have windmills all over the place. Windmills, you lose your shirt.
“Any country with windmills is a loser. Okay, you just have to look. If they have windmills, they’re a loser because you lose money with windmills.”
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