Andy Burnham has been accused of "running scared" of the Green Party after reportedly delaying approval of North Sea drilling at the Jackdaw oil field until after the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. He had been expected to lift the drilling moratorium at next week's Trade Unions Congress conference, but the decision has apparently been pushed back until after the 8 October vote for Sir Keir Starmer's former seat, where Labour faces a strong challenge from the Greens.

Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie accused Burnham of putting party interests before the national interest, warning that gas from Jackdaw could be feeding into the grid by winter if approved without further delay, while fellow Conservative Harriet Cross branded the postponement "pathetic". Green leader Zack Polanski, who won 84 per cent of the vote to become his party's by-election candidate, said the climate crisis was "very much on the ballot" in the contest, disputing Labour's jobs argument by claiming Jackdaw would create only around 27 jobs. Labour has held the seat since 1983 but is under pressure after Green gains in May's London council elections.