Kemi Badenoch has urged the Prime Minister to "Get Britain Drilling Again" when MPs return from their summer break. The Conservative Party leader has long called for the country to make full use of its wealth of natural resources to help bring down energy bills.
Yet Andy Burnham has so far appeared reluctant to enable further drilling, despite rumours that Labour may give the Jackdaw oil licence the go ahead.
Badenoch's message to Burnham
Writing for the Sunday Express, Mrs Badenoch says: "Decisions about how Britain powers itself for decades cannot depend on the temperature outside Downing Street - even if Downing Street North is a few degrees cooler."
"That isn't pragmatism, it's cowardice."
"The people whose livelihoods depend on the North Sea cannot put their mortgages on hold until the weather changes. Businesses deciding whether to invest billions in Britain cannot wait while ministers check the forecast - or which way the political wind is blowing."
Jackdaw and Rosebank licences
"And approving Jackdaw alone is just a piece-meal offering - especially to those in limbo waiting for an answer on Rosebank."
Despite suggestions he may break to demands, Mr Burnham is likely to face resistance from his own MPs and even Cabinet should he bow to demands to open new extraction in the North Sea.
Political opposition
His close ally, Ed Miliband, the former Net Zero secretary, once railed against the need to expand on drilling, instead pushing for more solar energy.
And early this year his party's deputy leader Lucy Powell said that she expected Mr Burnham to stick to the party's manifesto commitments which had ruled out new licences to drill.
"We've been really clear that the way to achieve in the long term energy security and lower bills is by ensuring that we do have our own homegrown, clean, much cheaper energy," she said at the time. "But we've been absolutely clear that North Sea gas and oil is an important part of that transition."
"It's an important part of the mix, and I think what Andy's talking about is taking a more pragmatic approach and working with the industry to make sure that it can contribute to that [energy] transition and to the mix that is needed over the long term."
Pressure from Trump
US President Donald J Trump has also called for Mr Burnham to increase extraction in the North Sea, calling it "invaluable".
Mr Burnham has not spoken in detail about his energy plans since becoming MP, but will likely face mounting questions on them when MPs return to parliament next week.
