Trump calls Burnham “extremely liberal” and urges North Sea oil push

Donald Trump has branded Andy Burnham “extremely liberal” in his first comments of the PM-in-waiting – and urged him to do one thing Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly refused.

Describing him as “a mayor of a town”, the US president last night said Mr Burnham should open up the North Sea when he gets into No10.

Mr Trump suggested the former Manchester mayor should start taking oil from the North Sea if he becomes the next Labour leader.

He then slammed Sir Keir once again over Britain’s response to the Iran war.

Mr Trump’s comments follow a series of swipes at Sir Keir over his refusal to open up the North Sea and his decision to instead greenlight more wind turbines.

He has blasted the outgoing PM on several occasions over the last two years, at one point calling him “no Churchill” for his inaction in the Middle East.

Asked about what he thought of Mr Burnham, the US leader said he thought the frontrunner for No10 was very left-wing and progressive.

Mr Trump said: “I don’t know, I think I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town.

“I hear he’s extremely liberal, extremely, so that means he probably won’t open up the North Sea.”

He added: “I gave Keir Starmer some pretty good advice. I said, open up the North Sea, go to Aberdeen, which was the hottest city of the whole continent.

“It was the oil city of Europe, and they closed everything. It was terrible. I couldn’t believe it.”

“The North Sea is loaded, I have had every oil company come to see me ‘Sir, could you give us access to the UK? We would do anything to drill in the North Sea’.

“The amazing thing is, they buy their oil from Norway, which gets the oil from the North Sea. Think of it, and they pay a big premium.

“Norway’s got now two trillion dollars in the bank, and the UK is dying, so they should open up the North Sea, and it’s an easy one, and a lot of good things are going to happen.

“It’s among the greatest deals in the world.”

It comes as Mr Burnham continues to face similar demands from MPs in the UK – including many from his own party.

Labour MPs are urging him to break with Ed Miliband’s green crusade and approve the controversial Rosebank and Jackdawoil and gas fields amid fears for jobs and the UK’s energysecurity.

Some Labour MPs, quoting Mr Trump, are urging MrBurnhamto “Drill baby, drill” and slash carbon taxes to revive growth.

Labour sources are optimistic Mr Burnham will be more pro-oil and gas than the Starmer administration, and that the topic is “crucial” to who he will pick as Chancellor.