Paloma Faith, Lola Young and The Cure urge Starmer to block Rosebank development
The letter urges the Government to follow the science and states 'any new application to exploit Rosebank's reserves must be refused'.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Anthony Upton/PA)
The Government said it was committed to a fair transition in line with its climate and legal obligations, while also aiming to lower bills.
Ministers published new guidance last month on how the environmental impacts of oil and gas are included in assessments.
As a result, offshore developers can submit applications for consent to extract fossil fuels in oil and gas fields that are already licensed, which includes Rosebank and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen.
This came after the Supreme Court ruled that emissions created by burning fossil fuels should be considered when granting planning permission for new drilling sites, in a case that focused on an oil well in Surrey but reverberated through the energy sector.
Robert Smith of The Cure performing at the Glastonbury Festival in 2019 (Aaron Chown/PA)
A challenge brought by environmental campaigners in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, over approval for Rosebank and Jackdaw, was upheld at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in January.
Greenpeace and Uplift argued the UK Government and North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) had acted unlawfully when granting consent to the projects, as environmental impact assessments did not take into account downstream emissions resulting from the burning of the extracted fuels.
The open letter, co-ordinated by Earth Percent and backed by the Stop Rosebank campaign, is also signed by artists including Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway of Radiohead, rock band Enter Shikari, Imogen Heap, and Olly Alexander of Years & Years.
The signatories claim the expansion of operations at Rosebank will accelerate the climate crisis, deliver no meaningful benefit to the UK public, and burden future generations.
Producer Brian Eno, who co-founded Earth Percent, said: 'As musicians and artists our creativity is deeply connected to the state of the world around us. Being an advocate for greater climate action for many years, I feel deeply that the continued expansion of oil and gas, such as Rosebank, is a huge threat to that world.
'Fossil fuels are not only unsustainable – they are actively destructive. The evidence is clear: burning them accelerates the climate crisis, endangers our futures, and undermines the UK's credibility as a climate leader. We have the tools and the knowledge to make the transition.
'The Prime Minister must listen – reject Rosebank, and stop approving new oil and gas developments.'
Cathy Runciman, co-executive director at Earth Percent, said: 'The creative community is clear: the Prime Minister must reject Rosebank and commit to a clean, fair transition that protects people and planet alike.'
Lauren MacDonald, lead campaigner at Stop Rosebank, said: 'Opposition to Rosebank is not just found among climate activists, a broad church of opponents has developed since the field's approval in 2023.
'These artists aren't just speaking as individuals, they represent a creative community that understands what's at stake if the Government keeps backing oil giants over climate science and public interest.
'The UK cannot claim to be a climate leader while approving massive new oil fields like Rosebank.
'It won't bring down bills, it won't boost UK energy security, and it won't create the sustainable future people across this country are calling for. Rosebank must be rejected, and this is the moment for the Prime Minister to show he's listening.'
A Department for Energy Security & Net Zero spokesperson said: 'Our priority is to deliver a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good, long-term jobs.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
an hour ago
- Western Telegraph
Lucy Connolly to speak out for first time since being released from prison
The 42-year-old, wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, left HMP Peterborough on Thursday morning and it is understood she will be doing limited media interviews a day after walking free. She spent time with her husband, daughter and parents on the day of her release and was pictured walking her dogs in the evening, the Daily Mail reported. Lucy Connolly was jailed for posting an online rant about migrants (Northamptonshire Police/PA) Ms Connolly was handed a 31-month sentence after she posted on X: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.' She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year. The former childminder, from Northampton, was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence. It is understood that Ms Connolly was a passenger in a white taxi which left HMP Peterborough via the vehicle airlock, a set of two gates exiting the prison, shortly after 10am on Thursday. Her case has sparked debate, with some criticising her sentence as excessive. Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety Kemi Badenoch Reacting to her release, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Connolly's sentence was 'harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting'. In a post on X, Ms Badenoch compared Ms Connolly's case with that of Ricky Jones, a suspended Labour councillor who was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder at an anti-racism rally in the wake of the Southport murders. Writing on X, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Juries are a cornerstone of justice, but we shouldn't have to rely on them to protect basic freedoms. 'Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety. If the law does this, then the law itself is broken – and it's time Parliament looked again at the Public Order Act.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Ms Connolly's case as a 'symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain'. Welcome to freedom, Lucy Connolly. You are now a symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 21, 2025 A bid to challenge her sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, which was described by Mr Connolly as 'shocking and unfair'. The Northampton town councillor, and former West Northamptonshire district councillor, said his wife had 'paid a very high price for making a mistake'. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year. He was asked in May about Ms Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed. Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, Sir Keir said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. I am equally against incitement to violence against other people Sir Keir Starmer 'I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. 'But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' Ms Connolly was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages which included further racist remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. The post was viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before she deleted it.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Labour has lost control of our borders entirely – why can't our Government crack down on asylum rules?
Lunatic asylum FAR from smashing the gangs, Labour has lost control of our borders entirely. For months ministers have insisted they have been cutting the use of hotels for illegal migrants. 1 In fact, numbers in them have gone UP in the last year. — another record — as 51,000 arrived on small boats. That's a 38 per cent increase in just 12 months. At the current rate, 181,000 may have come here illegally by the next election. The figures also reveal thousands are being quietly placed in blocks of flats among families in cities across the country, adding to the housing crisis. Worse, there is clearly widespread abuse of the legal migration system. More than HALF of asylum claims are from foreigners granted a student or work visa only to suddenly claim persecution in their home country when it expires. It should be obvious that anyone who comes here as a student or to work should be automatically banned from claiming asylum later. Sweden has cracked down on asylum rules. It has made language and culture tests harder, ramped up deportations and put failed asylum seekers in detention centres. Why can't our Government do the same? Cry freedom LUCY Connolly should never have served a year behind bars alongside drug dealers and murderers for a nasty tweet. What she published during last year's riots may have been unpleasant. But mum Connolly clearly immediately regretted the post and swiftly deleted it Her crime was never worthy of a 31-month sentence. As a comparison, Palestinian Hamas supporter Abu Wadee, who arrived illegally on a small boat and posted calls for the slaughter of British Jews, got just nine months. Childminder Lucy, also denied bail, has become a symbol for those who believe she was a victim of politically motivated two-tier justice. Did she really deserve her life and family to be so devastatingly torn apart? White trashed WHAT is the plan to help white, working class kids do better at school? Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson should be concerned by yet another overall fall in the GCSE pass rate. More concerning is the catastrophic performance of poor, white children — especially boys. Many will now join the ranks of the one million 16 to 24-year-olds currently not in work, education or training,
South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Culture minister says ‘biggest anxiety' is public service broadcasters' budgets
The commissioning budgets of PSBs have been 'squeezed by the real-terms reduction of the BBC licence fee', as well as a reduction in advertising revenue, according to a report from the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee published earlier in the year. The MP also spoke about the Government's rejection of a streamer levy, after the report called for platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+ and Disney+, to commit to paying 5% of their UK subscriber revenue into a cultural fund which would help PSBs through financing drama with a specific interest to British audiences. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, he said: 'We want to get a mixed economy. I love the fact that the streamers and big Hollywood houses make lots of shows in the UK … I want to mix it, to be making our own stuff.' Speaking about the importance of 'a mixed economy', he said: 'Film and TV, and high-end television in particular is fundamentally an international thing. 'I think that some politicians in the world don't seem to fully understand us, but one of the things I've been trying to achieve in the UK is, yes, it's great that the streamers do make fabulous stuff here, and lots of wonderful films made here. 'Tom Cruise is probably one of the biggest investors in the UK economy over the last decade. Brilliant. 'I really want to celebrate that, but I don't want everything that is made in the UK, all the IP (intellectual property), simply to go back to the West Coast of the United States of America. 'I'd like us to have some IP that remains here so that we can continue making investments and have strong UK production companies, which also make stuff which maybe sometimes is specifically made for a UK audience as well as for a wider audience. 'So I've been trying to make that mixed economy.' Cruise's blockbuster Mission Impossible films, particularly recent instalments, have frequently filmed in the UK, with locations including London, Derbyshire and the Lake District. Sir Chris added: 'My biggest anxiety is the state of public service broadcasting budgets, and if they haven't got any funding, they're not going to be making any progress.' After the report into British film and high-end television, chairwoman of the CMS committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, said 'there will be countless distinctly British stories that never make it to our screens' unless the Government intervenes to 'rebalance the playing field' between streamers and public service broadcasters (PSBs).
