Cross-party Rosebank letter to the Prime Minister
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Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing as a cross-party group of Members of Parliament and Members of the Scottish
Parliament to voice our collective opposition to the Rosebank oil field.
The decision your Government now faces is about more than just a single oil development –
a defining test of your commitment to the UK’s economic resilience and climate security.
Opposition to Rosebank spans across parliamentary benches and the nations of the UK.
Approving this development would be fundamentally incompatible with our legally binding
climate obligations and, crucially, with the secure future that energy workers and communities
deserve.
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While the oil and gas sector has previously served an important role in the UK’s economy,
claims that Rosebank would guarantee UK energy security or protect jobs do not hold up to
scrutiny. Most of what would be produced by Rosebank would be sold on international markets,
while profits continue to flow overseas rather than revitalising the industrial communities
currently struggling in the North East of Scotland, the North of England and beyond. The oil and
gas industry has scaled back on domestic renewable investment alongside repeated rounds of
redundancies, leading to increasingly insecure employment for the workforce.
Approving Rosebank would markedly diminish the UK’s standing on the world stage. At a time
when global climate action requires bold leadership, approving one of the largest undeveloped
oil fields in the UK would undermine our international credibility and weaken our ability to lead
on the world stage.
Instead, we urge you to use this pivotal moment to signal a decisive shift towards the green
industrial revolution. This is not a political choice between jobs and climate. This is a choice
between prolonging our dependence on volatile, declining markets, or instead investing directly
in British clean energy manufacturing capabilities that will provide employment for years to
come. Our focus must be on creating secure, well-paid jobs that place oil and gas workers at
the very heart of a genuinely fair energy transition.
The decision on Rosebank will be one of the defining choices of your premiership. We urge you
to reject this development, cement the UK’s climate leadership, and work with us to build a
fairer, cleaner, and more prosperous future for all of the communities we represent.
Yours sincerely,