Ed Miliband faces deadline to approve Falklands oil drilling after banning all new North Sea licences

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Ed Miliband, now Foreign Secretary under Andy Burnham, holds sole power to grant or renew licences for Falkland Islands oil exploration — and faces a December 31 deadline to approve the £2.25 billion Sea Lion project and a new field called Darwin. The man branded 'Mr Net Zero' blocked all new North Sea drilling when he was Energy Secretary, raising fierce Tory alarm that he will let the Falklands licences lapse by default. Argentina is simultaneously threatening legal action against any firms drilling in the territory it claims, piling pressure on Miliband from two directions.

The Sea Lion field, 136 miles north of the Falklands, is believed to hold the equivalent of 900 million barrels of oil and would deliver royalties and corporation tax directly to the islands' government.

Tory energy spokesman Andrew Bowie warned Labour 'cannot be allowed to let this slide by the wayside' with Buenos Aires threatening sanctions and every licence outside Sea Lion expiring on New Year's Eve.