Kemi Badenoch declares she 'isn't scared to back police officers' but issues trust warning after Henry Nowak case

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has unveiled her plan to "back" the police at the Police Federation conference in London.

Speaking to the conference, Mrs Badenoch said: "If we want a police force which keeps the public safe, we must fix these injustices for you, the police as well, and I have a plan.

"Part of it means backing you to do your jobs. Too often these days, we fail to recognise sacrifice and service. Whether it's hounding brave and elderly veterans through the courts, hounding police officers who try to do the right thing, or even ordinary members of the public who step in to help, only to find that they're in trouble themselves.

"It's no wonder the people in this country are becoming too scared to wade in, too scared to do the right thing. Well, I am different. I am not scared to wade in and I am not scared to back the police.

"I think it is telling the for two years in a row, the Labour Government has not sent anyone to address this conference. Not the policing minister, not the Home Secretary.

"You are the ones who enforce the law. You are the ones who ensure there are consequences for bad behaviour. That's why if we want law and order back in our country, back on our streets, we need to back the police."

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Kemi Badenoch declares Henry Nowak case a 'devastating police failure'

Kemi Badenoch has said many people see the police as a "ghost service" and "devastating police failures" like the case of Henry Nowak have left families suffering.

The Tory leader told the Police Federation conference: "I have met families who have suffered because of devastating police failures.

"Look at the case of Henry Nowak, and I know that many police officers – many of you, like all of us – were shocked by the decisions that were made that day.

"We can understand why people lose faith in the police when they’ve watched that video footage of Henry’s last moments.

"Often, instead of (being) given answers, those families then have to fight to uncover the truth themselves about what happened.

"Something is clearly going wrong when officers face lengthy investigations over open-and-shut cases, and then families are left to uncover serious wrongdoing themselves. We need a system that gets its priorities right.

"Accountability and fairness must go together. That is the balance that we need to restore. I want to rebuild policing around something that we all believe in: keeping the public safe.

"Right now, I know that you are stretched so thinly. Many in the public feel that you are becoming a ghost service. We’ve got to fix that. That means giving you the time, the equipment and the support to do your jobs properly."

Miatta Fahnbulleh will follow 'same process as Jackdaw' to make 'right' decision on Rosebank, Douglas Alexander says

Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander has said he wants Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to make the "right decision" on approving Rosebank.

Speaking to GB News, Mr Alexander said: "There are differences between the two fields, but the process will be the same. Both the decision in relation to Jackdaw and Rosebank had been challenged legally under our predecessors when the Conservative Government was in power, and that's why they became what were called quasi-judicial decisions that rest with the Department for Energy Security and Climate Change, Miatta Fahnbulleh's department.

"She had to reach a judgment in the round about Jackdaw yesterday. She is, in the days, weeks, and months ahead going to have to come to a judgement in relation to Rosebank. So the process is the same, but they're different fields, and therefore there will be some different considerations.

"I want Miatta Fahnbulleh, my cabinet colleague, to reach the right decision, and she will have all the evidence in front of her to allow her to make that decision. If I sound somewhat cautious talking about Rosebank, it's for a very good reason that we don't want further legal challenges to her decision when she makes it, in a way that we saw legal challenges under our predecessors.

"There have already been delays both in relation to Rosebank and in relation to Jackdaw, so if I'm very careful in my public comments as a cabinet colleague, it's specifically to avoid the legal risk of anything I say prejudicing the decision when Miatta ultimately makes it."

Labour's stance on Rosebank is 'madness' and Miatta Fahnbulleh 'must go further', Chris Philp tells GB News

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has hit out at the Labour Government over their stance on opening up the Rosebank oilfield.

Speaking to GB New, the Tory MP urged Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to "go much further" after giving Jackdaw the greenlight.

He said: "It's good the Government finally listened, but of course we've wasted a couple of years in the meantime. But they should go a lot further, they should definitely be drilling for oil in the Rosebank field, and indeed allowing new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea more widely.

"From a financial point of view, from an energy security point of view and even an environmental point of view, it is madness not to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.

"Miatta and her fanatical colleague Ed Miliband and the Labour Party more widely are completely wrong about this, and they are, frankly, a danger to our economy, and they're a danger to our energy security as well."

Labour's approval of Jackdaw but not Rosebank is 'suspicious', David Frost warns

Lord David Frost has warned that the Labour Government is "simply not facing up to the scale of the energy problem we face", following the approval of the Jackdaw gas field.

Lord Frost argued that it is "suspicious" that Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh did not also approve drilling in Rosebank.

He wrote in The Telegraph: "They could have approved Rosebank too. They didn’t. If it’s approved in future, they will get another day of criticism from the cranky green Left that they could have avoided.

"So one must be suspicious. One look at the stony faces on the benches behind Burnham told you everything about Labour’s real level of enthusiasm.

"The real charge against ministers is not that they have abandoned their net zero policy. It is that they have not."

Approving Rosebank after Jackdaw decision is 'common sense', says Shadow Energy Secretary

Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie has called on the Government to approve Rosebank following its decision to greenlight the Jackdaw gas field.

Taking to social media, Mr Bowie issued a stark plea to Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, urging her to "approve Rosebank now."

He said in a post on social media: "Every barrel of oil the UK exports to Europe is one less barrel they would buy from Russia.

"Revenue. Security. Common sense. Approve Rosebank now."

Energy Secretary branded 'completely mad' over Rosebank stance

Conservative MP Neil O'Brien has hit out at Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh after reports of planning to reject opening up the Rosebank oilfield.

Taking to social media, Mr O'Brien said in a social media post: "Completely mad.

"We are happy to import oil from Russia, but not allowed to take it out of our own North Sea."

Adura chief 'very confident' Rosebank will be approved

Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch has said he is "very confident" that Rosebank will be greenlit, despite reports of the Energy Secretary being poised to "reject" it.

He said: "We’ve seen a decision made that there is a process that can result in a decision, but it’s a matter for the Secretary of State and her team to examine the two fields separately.

"But we believe we’ve done as good a job in arguing our case with Rosebank as we did with Jackdaw. Obviously, the economic benefits of Rosebank are different.

"It’s a bigger field. It will last longer than Jackdaw, and so I’m sure she’ll take that into account when she makes her decision in terms of the jobs and economic impact for the UK. It’s about 6% addition to domestic gas flow into the UK."