World

Labour government would stop new North Sea oil and gas projects – reports

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2023

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New oil and gas developments in the North Sea would be blocked under a Labour government, it has been reported.

Granting new licenses for oil and gas in the North Sea “will do nothing to cut bills”, according to a Labour source.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce the block in Scotland next month when he sets out his net-zero energy policy, the Sunday Times reports.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said the country had to move towards more renewable sources of energy.

“What we’ll be doing in the coming weeks is outlining how we want to invest in the green jobs of the future to bring bills down to create a more sustainable energy supply,” he said.

“We’ll be outlining that in a significant mission in the coming weeks and we’ll be announcing more details then.

“But we know we’ve got to move to more renewable sources of energy. It’s important for our climate change commitments, but it’s also the way in which we can bring energy bills down for consumers.”

In January, the Scottish government said in its draft energy strategy that there “should be a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas”.

However, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed new oil and gas exploration and the government in Westminster is in charge of energy licences.

A Labour source said: “We are against the granting of new licences for oil and gas in the North Sea. They will do nothing to cut bills as the Tories have acknowledged.

“They undermine our energy security, and would drive a coach and horses through our climate targets.

“But Labour would continue to use existing oil and gas wells over the coming decades and manage them sustainably as we transform the UK into a clean energy superpower.”

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Mr Ashworth said Labour would continue to manage current oil and gas fields.

“This isn’t about shutting down what’s going on at the moment, we will manage those sustainably,” he said.

“If you stop all new exploration, you are going to have to fill the gap from somewhere and it won’t all come from wind. We know that but the sums have been done.”

Labour hopes investment in renewable energies will create more jobs – up to half a million, according to the Sunday Times.

“We do need to invest in wind. We need to invest in tidal, we need to invest in nuclear,” Mr Ashworth added.

“We need more sustainable sources of energy supply in order to bring bills down for consumers and actually create jobs in this green transition.

“There are hundreds of thousands of jobs that will come online from the transition.”

The North Sea Transition Authority held a licensing round in January for oil and gas exploration projects and said it received more than 100 bids.

Two oil fields, Cambo and Jackdaw, have been given licences.

‘Dead’ Thai woman sent to crematorium wakes up in coffin

Published

3 hours ago

November 25, 2025

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'Dead' Thai woman sent to crematorium wakes up in coffin

A woman brought in for cremation at a Thai temple was found alive in her coffin.

The 65-year-old had been taken to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, after she appeared to stop breathing two days earlier.

Her family had travelled hundreds of miles with her body in the coffin and were preparing for her to be cremated.

However, moments before the service began a shocked temple manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said he heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.

“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said.

“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”

The cremation was due to be live-streamed by the temple.

Thairath, the nation’s best-selling newspaper, named the woman in question as Chonthirat Sakulkoo, and said she was brought in by her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo.

The brother said she had been bedridden for about two years before her health deteriorated further and she became unresponsive, appearing to have stopped breathing, according to Mr Soodthoop

So, the brother placed her in a coffin and drove her 300 miles (500km) from their home in Phitsanulok province, in the north of the country, to the capital, Bangkok.

The Bangkok Post reported that the woman’s brother had been told by local officials that his sister had died.

The woman had wished to donate her organs to a hospital in the Thai capital, but her brother was turned away as he did not have the relevant paperwork.

Instead, he went to the temple, which offers a free cremation service.

After the woman was discovered alive she was assessed and sent to Bang Yai Hospital, Thairath reported, where she was treated for hypoglycemia, before being released back to her brother.

Asked how he felt to learn that his sister is still alive, Mr Sakulkoo said he was indifferent, according to the newspaper.

Mr Soodthoop, said the temple would cover her medical expenses.

Flights cancelled after Ethiopian volcano erupts for first time

Published

3 hours ago

November 25, 2025

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Flights cancelled after Ethiopian volcano erupts for first time

Flights have been cancelled over ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi, a long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia, erupted for the first time in recorded history.

Plumes from the volcano pushed across the Red Sea through Oman and Yemen into India on Monday evening, leading airlines Air India and Akasa Air to cancel some flights.

Air India cancelled 11 flights, and Akasa scrapped flights to destinations such as Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi, while carrier IndiGo said on social media that it was monitoring the situation “in coordination with international aviation bodies”.

The India Meteorological Department said that ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi, northern Ethiopia, are moving towards China, and are expected to clear Indian skies by 7.30pm (2pm in the UK).

It comes after the Ethiopian volcano erupted for the first time in recorded history on Sunday morning, leaving the neighbouring village of Afdera covered in dust.

The eruption sent ash plumes up to 8.7 miles (14km) high, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mohammed Seid, a local administrator, told the Associated Press at the time that there were no casualties but that it could cause issues for livestock herders.

“While no human lives and livestock have been lost so far, many villages have been covered in ash and as a result their animals have little to eat,” he added.

Ahmed Abdela, a local resident, also told the news agency that “it felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash”.

World

Overnight attacks in Russia and Ukraine as Zelenskyy eyes talks with Trump over peace plan

Published

12 hours ago

November 25, 2025

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Overnight attacks in Russia and Ukraine as Zelenskyy eyes talks with Trump over peace plan

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to hold talks over the Ukraine peace plan.

US and Ukrainian officials have held discussions in Geneva about a controversial 28-point proposal drawn up by America and Russia, which has since been countered by an amended deal drawn up by Kyiv’s European allies.

The White House said there were still a “couple of points of disagreement” as of Monday night, but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there was a “sense of urgency” to strike an agreement.

“The president wants to see this deal come together, and to see this war end,” she added.

Mr Zelenskyy echoed that message, saying “there is still work for all of us to do to finalise the document”.

“We must do everything with dignity,” he said in his nightly video address, adding: “The sensitive issues, the most delicate points, I will discuss with President Trump.”

It comes after Mr Trump, who had accused Ukraine of not being grateful enough for US military support while the Geneva talks were under way, suggested the process could be moving in the right direction.

He had earlier given Kyiv until Thursday to agree to the plan, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the deadline, saying officials could keep negotiating.

Moscow, however, has already signalled its opposition to the European version of the peace plan.

It would halt fighting at present front lines, leaving discussions of territory for later, and also include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.

The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, had begun with Mr Rubio denying the original plan was written by Russia.

It appeared to include a number of longstanding Kremlin demands that have proved impossible for Kyiv, including sacrificing territory Russian forces have not even seized since the war began.

Ms Leavitt has also insisted the US is not favouring the Russians.

Starmer to lead talks of Ukraine’s allies

Ukraine’s allies in the so-called “coalition of the willing” will hold a virtual meeting today, chaired by Sir Keir Starmer.

The British prime minister said the alliance was focused on achieving a “just and lasting peace”.

It “matters for all of us, because the conflict in Ukraine has had a direct impact here in the UK”, he added.

Russia and Ukraine report overnight attacks

The talks will begin hours after the governor of Russia’s Rostov region reported three people had been killed and 10 more injured in a Ukrainian attack overnight.

The Russian defence ministry said 249 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russian regions in total.

Meanwhile, Russian drone strikes in Kyiv left at least two dead and triggered fires on residential buildings – forcing evacuations, and leaving several people injured.