Andy Burnham refuses to back down on Net Zero pledge amid mounting pressure over energy costs

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The Prime Minister said the best way to lower bills was to cut the link between gas and the price of electricity

Andy Burnham has said there was “no change at all” to his commitment to tackling climate change.

The Government has come under mounting pressure over soaring energy. On Wednesday, the Ofgem price cap jumped four per cent to its highest level in three years.

Opposition parties have blamed surging costs on green levies and the race to Net Zero. Both the Tories and Reform have pledged to row back on climate commitments.

But Mr Burnham said he stood by comments he made a decade earlier, when he said that Labour, under his leadership, would “never turn our back on either our duty to tackle climate change or the prospects offered by the green economy”.

Asked whether that was still the case, the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to South Wales: “It completely stands.”

He said that the best way to lower bills was to cut the link between gas and the price of electricity.

He said: “I think if we’re going to get people’s energy bills down, we have to work towards the day when we can de-link gas and electricity pricing.

“That would be one of the biggest moves we could make to support people with the cost of living, and that is linked to renewables and building out renewables.”

He said the transformation of Port Talbot, “one of the biggest green industrial transition projects in the UK”, was “amazing for Wales”.

The South Wales steelworks, where blast furnaces closed in 2024, is moving towards green steel production with new electric arc furnaces.

Mr Burnham continued: “This is where we’ve got to turn our thinking – to future industry that is clean powered, and it’s exciting when you start to think about things in those terms.

“I led Greater Manchester with a carbon-neutral ambition of 2038… So, you know, people can look back at my record, and none of that changes.”

Mr Burnham is also under pressure over the future of the North Sea, with ministers set to make a decision on the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields after consultations for both closed in recent weeks.

Environmental activists have urged Mr Burnham to refuse consent for the developments due to concerns about the climate impact.

But the oil and gas industry and opposition politicians have argued permission would create thousands of jobs and cut bills.

Production had been approved by the previous Conservative Government, but those decisions were quashed after a legal challenge by Greenpeace, leaving Labour ministers to decide whether drilling should go ahead, with a decision expected in September.

Mr Burnham reiterated that he would take a “pragmatic” approach to the North Sea.

He told the Financial Times he had seen eco-tycoon Dale Vince take a pragmatic approach on BBC’s Newsnight.

Mr Vince argued that if the UK price controlled its own North Sea oil and gas, there would be a valid economic argument for permitting Rosebank and/or Jackdaw because that would lead to cheaper energy.