Burnham to say his government will be ‘unashamedly Labour’ in first speech as party leader – UK politics live

Special conference' to take place at noon where Burnham will be formally announced as Labour leader

Andy Burnham will reportedly allow more drilling in the North Sea when he becomes PM.

A story for Bloomberg says:

Officials are working on a range of options. They include signalling willingness to approve new oil and gas fields at Jackdaw and Rosebank, and an expansion of so-called tiebacks which allow further drilling on or near existing fields.

No final decision has been made on what form the North Sea announcement will take, but Burnham is likely to indicate he is in favour of more drilling, the people said.

Burnham has told Scottish Labour MPs that he will make an early visit to Aberdeen to underline the importance he attaches to the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Gary Smith, leader of the GMB union, and Sharon Graham, leader of Unite the Union, have slammed the Labour government's policy of ending new exploration licences in the basin on environmental grounds as economic madness" and an act of self-harm" respectively.