Prepare for fight if you step in to approve giant new oilfield, Labour MPs warn Starmer

Senior Labour figures are warning of a political fight if Keir Starmer tries to give the go-ahead to a giant new oilfield off Shetland.

- Kiran Stacey Jessica Elgot Matthew Taylor

MPs and ministers have told the Guardian they are prepared to oppose the prime minister should he try to give final consent to the Rosebank development, which is Britain's biggest untapped oilfield.

Many in the party see the battle over Rosebank as the next front in the struggle between its environmental wing and those around Rachel Reeves pushing for economic growth above all else. It comes after the chancellor signalled her support for a third runway at Heathrow this week as part of the government's latest push to stimulate the economy.

One ally of Ed Miliband told the Guardian that any attempt to give consent to Rosebank would be met with a "punchy" response from the energy secretary, who is leading the government's climate agenda. "Ed will come to that fight armed with a lot of evidence about what Rosebank will do to our carbon emissions," the source added.

A spokesperson for Miliband declined to comment.

A Labour backbencher said: "[A decision around Rosebank] will be a moment to speak out. There are a lot of us, on every wing of the party, who would go nuts if that happened."

The Rosebank development lost a major court case this week when a judge in Scotland ruled the decision by the previous government to give it the green light had been unlawful. The judge ruled that ministers should not have given it consent without knowing how much carbon would be generated by burning the oil the field would produce over its lifetime.