Trump welcomes reports Andy Burnham could open up North Sea oil drilling

US President Donald Trump has said people in the Scottish city of Aberdeen will be “dancing in the streets” following reports Andy Burnham could back new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

The incoming UK prime minister, dubbed the “King of the North” for his work as ‌the mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England, has not confirmed reports that he is considering approving new fossil fuel production, particularly in the North Sea’s Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.

But in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump claimed Burnham had said he would.

The president, a vocal supporter of fossil fuels, said further drilling in the North Sea would “make the United Kingdom, from a Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World”.

And in his latest attack on wind power he suggested the UK would “move the old and horrible looking windmills, which loom over and destroy the City of Aberdeen”.