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The UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field has been given the green light by the regulator, amid warnings about the climate damage of new fossil fuel projects.

Norwegian state oil giant Equinor expects to pump 325 million barrels of oil from Rosebank, 80 miles west of Shetland, from 2027.

The UK government says more oil will add to energy security, although the majority will likely be exported.

It is the UK’s last major undeveloped oil site, three times the size of the controversial Cambo oil field, which was the subject of huge, high-profile protests in 2021 before being paused last year.

The contentious decision is one part of a broader row over whether the UK should continue to develop new oil and gas fields, with Labour pledging to end North Sea exploration.

Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said although the government is investing in renewable power, “we will need oil and gas as part of that mix on the path to net zero and so it makes sense to use our own supplies”.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas called the decision “morally obscene”.

She said energy security and cheaper bills would be better achieved by “upscaling abundant and affordable renewables, and properly insulating the nation – ensuring clean air and water, thriving nature and wildlife, and high-quality skilled and stable jobs in the process.”

Tessa Khan, executive director of campaign group Uplift, said: “We are teetering on the edge of surpassing 1.5Cof warming – a limit agreed on by world leaders and essential to ensuring a habitable planet.

Yet the government allows companies like Equinor to “blow through” pollution targets “for the sake of profit.”

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Labour: ‘We don’t support Rosebank’

Rosebank’s “immense size, its location relative to marine protected areas, and the threat it poses to the climate have made it a lightning rod for criticism”, she told Sky News.

Project owners Equinor and Ithaca Energy expect Rosebank to bring £8.1bn in direct investment to the UK economy.

A spokesperson for the regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), said its decision had been made “in accordance with our published guidance and taking net zero considerations into account throughout the project’s lifecycle”.

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Does the world need more oil?

The government recently doubled down on its commitment to hand out further oil and gas licenses for the North Sea, insisting they are compatible with climate targets and could provide greener, local sources of fuel.

A Labour government would stop issuing new licences – a radical move that has drawn fury from unions.

The leading global climate science authority the IPCC, and the world’s foremost energy agency, the IEA, say no new oil and gas projects can go ahead if the world is to limit warming to internationally agreed safer limits.

However, the IEA also forecasts global demand for oil to keep growing until at least 2028, and some fear cutting supply before supply falls could push up prices.

The UK’s climate advisers, the CCC, expect the country to need some oil until at least 2050. However, around 80% of oil produced in the UK is exported.

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Starmer’s new oil and gas plans

Campaigners estimate that burning through that amount of oil would generate more CO2 emissions than 28 low-income countries produce in a year.

Emissions just from getting the oil out of the ground at Rosebank, before it has even been burned, would be enough to blow the rest of the emissions the UK has budgeted for from oil and gas production, according to analysis by Uplift.

The NSTA says it makes a holistic assessment of the impact of any project and the government argues that local production is greener.

The CCC says the impact on global emissions of new UK oil and gas extraction is “not clear-cut”.

Equinor says the oil will be much greener than the average for the North Sea, at 12kg CO2 a barrel vs approximately 20kg CO2 a barrel, which could fall to 3kg if it successfully electrifies operations later on.

Its spokesperson Ola Morten Aanestad said: “Equinor has a net zero plan that is in line with the Paris Agreement. There’s no scenario that anybody has produced that says in 2050 there would be absolutely no need for oil and gas.”

Watch The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm and 7.30pm on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, and on YouTube and Twitter.

The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.

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M4 and M48 closed after human remains found

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M4 and M48 closed after human remains found

Two motorways have been shut after human remains were found on the road. 

Several drivers reported a body on the carriageway between junctions 20 and 21 of the M4 – between Almondsbury and Awkley – at about 6.40pm this evening.

The body is believed to be that of a man in his forties, whose next of kin have been told.

A police investigation to establish how the person came to be on the motorway continues.

Parts of the M4 and M48 motorways near Bristol are likely to remain closed until the early hours of Sunday morning, Avon and Somerset Police said.

In a statement, the force said: “Police are keen to hear from anyone who was travelling along that stretch of the M4 has any relevant information or dashcam footage.”

The road closures were likely to cause significant delays in and out of Wales tonight, with closures starting on the English side of the Prince of Wales Bridge and the Severn Bridge.

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National Highways said the M4 is shut in both directions between junctions 20 and 21, while the M48 eastbound is closed from junction 1 near Aust.

The links from the M5 junction 15 south to the M4 junction 20 west, and the M5 junction 16 north to M4 junction 20 west were also closed.

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Starmer asks US to stand by Ukraine with security guarantee as bad peace deal would be ‘disaster’ for all

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Starmer asks US to stand by Ukraine with security guarantee as bad peace deal would be 'disaster' for all

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to stand by Ukraine with a security guarantee as he warned a bad peace deal would be a “disaster for everyone”.

The prime minister is due to meet the US president for talks in Washington DC next week amid fragile relations between America and Europe after Mr Trump launched a verbal attack on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The US president called Ukraine’s leader a “dictator” on Wednesday and later said Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom will visit the White House in the coming days, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.

Sir Keir Starmer leaves after a meeting in Paris with European leaders on Ukraine on 17 February. Pic: Reuters
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Sir Keir Starmer met with European leaders in Paris on Monday to discuss Ukraine. Pic: Reuters

Sir Keir said a good peace “can only be won through strength” and Ukraine “must have a voice in negotiations about its future”.

And he warned that a “peace deal which does not stop Putin from attacking again would be a disaster for everyone”.

Writing in The Sun on Sunday, he said Kyiv needs strong security guarantees “so the peace will last” and America “must be part of that guarantee”.

This could mean providing air defence and a promise that the US will come to the aid of a NATO country if Russia attacks them, the paper reported.

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So far, talks aimed at ending the war have been taking place between US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia, which have not included the Ukrainians.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey has said “any negotiations about Ukraine cannot happen without Ukraine. We all want the fighting to end, but an insecure peace risks more war”.

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‘Turn the screws’ on Russia

The third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is on Monday.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he will unveil new sanctions to “turn the screws” on Russia on Monday to coincide with the anniversary.

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Sir Keir also said the UK must increase its defence spending and play a bigger role in NATO.

And he is open to British troops playing a role in any European force in Ukraine after a peace agreement.

He added: “This is not something I say lightly.”

Sir Keir, along with other European allies and UK opposition parties, has backed Mr Zelensky as a “democratically elected leader”.

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Conflicting views over Ukraine deal

Also, Washington has warned that Europe must shoulder more of the cost of its own security.

Sir Keir is expected to use his upcoming trip to the US to confirm a timeline to raise UK defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in a bid to ease tensions.

It comes amid pressure from defence chiefs and opposition critics including Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who wrote to the prime minister on Saturday demanding he set out a plan for meeting the target.

:: Education secretary Bridget Phillipson, campaigner for global health and education Sarah Brown, and shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge will be discussing all the latest political stories in the UK and around the world on the Trevor Phillips on Sunday show on Sky News from 8.30am

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Girl, 3, dies after tram and van crash in Manchester city centre

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Girl, 3, dies after tram and van crash in Manchester city centre

A three-year-old girl has died after a collision between a tram and a van in Manchester city centre.

The girl was taken to hospital but died from her injuries, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

“No arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing,” the force said.

The child was a pedestrian and was not travelling in either the tram or van, GMP said.

The fatal collision happened on Mosley Street shortly before 10am, a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) spokesperson said.

“All of our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. We are supporting police with their investigation,” a statement said.

A North West Ambulance Service spokesperson said two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and two air ambulance crews attended the scene.

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TfGM said there was continued disruption across the Metrolink after the incident and advised people to check the Bee Network website and app for the latest travel information.

Manchester‘s Bee Network said: “Due to a road traffic collision on Mosley Street in the city centre, no tram services are operating between St Peter’s Square and Piccadilly Gardens.”

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An X post from GMP’s traffic officers said: “Our officers are currently in attendance at a collision, involving a tram and another vehicle in Manchester city centre.

“We are presently trying to establish the circumstances however we envisage there will be a lengthy closure of surrounding streets near to St Peters Square.”

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