Power comes with great responsibility

ANDY Burnham will this week return to the green benches of the Commons as his supporters work to oust Sir Keir Starmer and install him in Downing Street.

If Mr Burnham has any political judgment, he will not allow his success in the Makerfield by-election to blind him to the emergency alarm sounded by voters in Scotland.

The citizens of Aberdeen South kicked out the SNP and abandoned Labour, turning instead to the Conservatives in a resounding rejection of Ed Miliband’s ban on oil and gas exploration in new fields.

There is good reason to expect that one day the UK will have abundant sources of clean and affordable energy. But, today, reliable supplies of oil and gas are vital and it makes no sense to depend on imports which are sold to the highest bidder and could be cut off in an all-too-conceivable conflict.

Businesses and families are at breaking point under the burden of high power bills and this must not get worse.

The chaos in the Strait of Hormuz and the presence of Russian ships around our coastline are sobering reminders of why we need to maximise our own resources without delay.

If Mr Burnham does become Prime Minister, we hope he will have greater success in standing up to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband than Sir Keir Starmer.