{"id":709600,"date":"2026-07-24T22:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/709600\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:42:08","slug":"michael-shanks-mocked-for-renewables-boast-as-labour-eye-new-north-sea-oil-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/709600\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Shanks mocked for renewables boast as Labour eye new North Sea oil fields"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n On Friday, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) issued a release celebrating the Commonwealth Games<\/a> being powered by renewable energy.\n<\/p>\n

\n The department claimed that wind and solar projects consented to by the UK Government<\/a> since they came to power in July 2024 could generate enough electricity in a day that would power 850 billion television sets for the duration of a 100 metre sprint \u2013 approximately 11 seconds.\n<\/p>\n

\n They also suggested the same amount of electricity could inflate over 900 billion netballs using an electric pump or lighting almost 700,000 Olympic-standard velodromes for one hour.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Is Scottish whisky exempt from Donald Trump’s new trade tariffs?<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n It comes as several newspapers have reported that new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is poised to \u201cmove quickly\u201d to scale up oil and gas production in the North Sea.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Burnham and new Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, who visited Aberdeen<\/a> on Thursday, are said to be considering whether to sign off on production at Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n However, approving production in the fields will not lower energy bills, and the plans have come under fire from environmental campaigners.\n<\/p>\n

\n Celebrating the Commonwealth Games being powered by low-carbon energy, Shanks said: “The Games show what is possible when we build the clean power Britain needs, and we’re making great progress.\n<\/p>\n

\n “By generating our own energy we protect families from global price shocks and at the same time create thousands of jobs across Scotland \u2013 growth in every postcode of the country”.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"ETAPThe UK Government is reportedly looking to sign off on Rosebank and Jackdaw (Image: BP)\n<\/p>\n

\n In response, a spokesperson for the Scottish Greens<\/a> said: \u201cWhile the power to inflate 900 billion netballs may be impressive, Labour\u2019s climate credibility remains completely deflated.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt is nothing compared with the amount of hot air Michael Shanks is producing and apparently not enough to power the lightbulb he needs to spot the contradiction in backing renewables and new oil fields at the same time.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n They added that Labour cannot boast about renewable power in Glasgow while preparing to approve Rosebank and Jackdaw.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThese developments would do nothing to cut household bills, but would hand billions more to fossil fuel giants while blowing a hole in Scotland\u2019s climate targets,\u201d they added.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Expert issues warning to Andy Burnham as FOUR Labour ministers snub Scottish media<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cMichael Shanks can count televisions, netballs and velodromes all he wants, but all his gimmicky comparisons would be blown out of the water by the costly nuclear power stations and climate-wrecking oil fields his government in London appears determined to impose on Scotland.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cScotland does of course have enormous renewable potential, but it must be matched by investment in publicly owned clean energy, affordable bills and secure green jobs: not more of the same handouts to oil giants and costly nuclear projects.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n SNP<\/a> MSP David Linden added: \u201cThe brass neck of Michael Shanks to boast about the energy powering the Commonwealth Games when his Labour Government is ruining Scottish energy jobs and destroying investment in renewables.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cPoor Michael Shanks thought he was being passed the Scotland Office baton, but it was all a false start as he was left high and dry by Douglas Alexander and Anas Sarwar<\/a>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n It comes after the UK Labour Government was slammed for identifying sites in Scotland for nuclear power plants<\/a> despite the Scottish Government<\/a>\u2019s ongoing opposition to new developments.\n<\/p>\n

\n The report from Great British Energy Nuclear, published in June, identified three sites already linked with nuclear power, and other areas they see as ripe for development in the Firth of Forth estuary and eastern coast of Scotland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Friday, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) issued a release celebrating the Commonwealth Games…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-709600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}