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Downing Street hits back at Speaker over Jackdaw dressing down in Chamber

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Church, S. (2026, October 22). Downing Street hits back at Speaker over Jackdaw dressing down in Chamber. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16229873/Downing-Street-hits-Speaker-Jackdaw-dressing-Chamber.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-22 · by Sophie Church

Quick Summary

Downing Street defended the government's decision to announce plans for North Sea drilling in the media before a parliamentary statement, arguing it follows long-standing practice to manage market impacts. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, criticized Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh for breaking parliamentary convention by first revealing the plans during a live TV broadcast from Aberdeen and not informing MPs directly beforehand. The government claims that announcements of commercially sensitive information are made early in the morning to avoid disrupting markets and that Parliament was informed simultaneously through a written statement.
Written by AI on 2026-10-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 21, 2026, the UK government approved drilling in the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea, despite previous legal challenges and opposition from environmental groups. The decision came months after a Court of Appeal ruling that green-lighted production but was delayed due to political considerations. Prime Minister Andy Burnham argued that tapping into existing energy reserves would protect hundreds of jobs and help keep homes warm during an energy crisis. He stated the project, which is operated by Adura (a joint venture between Shell and Norwegian state energy firm Equinor), would strengthen UK energy security for more than a decade.

However, this approval drew criticism from Labour backbenchers and environmentalists, with climate activists protesting in response to the decision. Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump praised Burnham's decision, saying it would make the UK "a very rich country." Despite these approvals, the government remains committed to its pledge of blocking new North Sea licences for oil and gas exploration beyond Jackdaw. Environmental groups argue that this move hampers efforts to address climate change and makes no meaningful difference to energy security. Protests against the decision continued following its announcement.

Written for “Jackdaw Gas Field Approval” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 29 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Jackdaw Gas Field Approval
Politics · 30 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 10% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 69/100
BBC News
Hedges 3 of 41 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe related events surrounding the Jackdaw gas field decision but cover different occurrences: Article A discusses the approval and environmental debate, while Article B covers Speaker Hoyle's criticism of the government's communication of the decision.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
2 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
30
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 9239 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sophie Church
27 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 A No 10 spokesperson said: 'It is not unusual for commercially sensitive announcements to remain public early in the morning before markets are open, and this ensures announcements that could potentially have a market impact are announced in a fair and orderly way, rather than igniting while markets are trading. '
Also by Sophie Church
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 27 articles by Sophie Church →

Topics

Aberdeen Commons Downing Street Energy Parliament

Subjects

Aberdeen GPE · 5× Lindsay PERSON · 4× Parliament ORG · 4× Energy ORG · 3× Fahnbulleh PERSON · 2× House ORG · 2× Lindsay Hoyle PERSON · 2× Miatta Fahnbulleh PERSON · 2× Michael Shanks PERSON · 2× the Department for Energy Security ORG · 2×

Narrative

Speaking after Prime Minister's Questions, a furious Sir Lindsay Hoyle accused ministers of announcing plans to greenlight drilling in the North Sea to the media before presenting a statement to Parliament Sir Lindsay berated Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh for leaving her deputy Michael Shanks to answer before MPs having previously appeared live on TV in Aberdeen revealing the plans Britain is currently suffering from high exposure to sustained global energy shocks brought on by Donald Trump's war in Iran. Tory-backed plans to drill the Jackdaw gas field is now expected to increase domestic gas production by around 6 per cent at its peak, safeguard hundreds of jobs and provide an estimated £2.9billion economic boost.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22
🔮 A No 10 spokesperson said: 'It is not unusual for commercially sensitive announcements to remain public early in the morning before markets are open, and this ensures announcements that could potentially have a market impact are announced in a fair and orderly way, rather than igniting while markets are trading. '

Claims (20 extracted, 2 hedged)

The Government has hit back at the Commons Speaker after he launched an angry tirade against ministers in the Chamber on Wednesday. asserted
he → hit → Wednesday
Speaking after Prime Minister's Questions, a furious Sir Lindsay Hoyle criticised the Government for announcing plans to greenlight drilling in the North Sea to the media before presenting a statement to Parliament. asserted
Hoyle → speak → Parliament
Sir Lindsay berated Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh for leaving her deputy Michael Shanks to answer before MPs having previously appeared live on TV in Aberdeen revealing the plans. asserted
MPs → berate → plans
But Downing Street on Thursday railed back at Sir Lindsay, insisting that announcing commercially sensitive plans in this way has been 'long-standing practice' for successive governments. asserted
announcing → rail → governments
A No 10 spokesperson said: 'It is not unusual for commercially sensitive announcements to remain public early in the morning before markets are open, and this ensures announcements that could potentially have a market impact are announced in a fair and orderly way, rather than igniting while markets are trading. ' uncertain
markets → say → way
I would also point out that Parliament were informed at the same time by a written statement ahead of the oral statement, which followed PMQs. asserted
which → point → PMQs
Nothing was briefed in advance of this. asserted
Nothing → brief → this
The spokesperson added ministers had adopted a 'long-standing practice that has taken place over successive governments' in announcing the plans, and that 'doesn't detract from the importance that we place on our duties to Parliament, which we will continue to uphold and take seriously.' asserted
we → add → which
It follows Labour finally giving the go-ahead for drilling the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea after months of wrangling over the decision. asserted
Labour → follow → decision
Speaking after Prime Minister's Questions, a furious Sir Lindsay Hoyle accused ministers of announcing plans to greenlight drilling in the North Sea to the media before presenting a statement to Parliament Sir Lindsay berated Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh for leaving her deputy Michael Shanks to answer before MPs having previously appeared live on TV in Aberdeen revealing the plans Britain is currently suffering from high exposure to sustained global energy shocks brought on by Donald Trump's war in Iran. Tory-backed plans to drill the Jackdaw gas field is now expected to increase domestic gas production by around 6 per cent at its peak, safeguard hundreds of jobs and provide an estimated £2.9billion economic boost. asserted
plans → speak → boost
Speaking in Aberdeen, Ms Fahnbulleh said: 'At a point when we have got conflict in the Middle East that is triggering an energy crisis, energy security is vital, and homegrown energy is key.' But Sir Lindsay accused the Energy Secretary of rejecting parliamentary convention, whereby ministers typically inform MPs of major decisions through statements to the House before telling the media. asserted
ministers → speak → media
'I'm sorry that Aberdeen is more important than the MPs they've elected,' he said yesterday. asserted
he → elect → MPs
He had earlier said: 'It is simply not good enough that it was trailed by the press last night and announced all over the media this morning by the Secretary of State before it could be properly scrutinised in this House. uncertain
it → say → House
And he questioned whether the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was 'deliberately briefing out to the media'. asserted
Department → question → media
Gas from Jackdaw, around 150 miles east of Aberdeen, will start to supply homes and businesses from the end of the month after Ms Fahnbulleh approved the scheme. asserted
Fahnbulleh → start → scheme
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the decision would 'protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter'. asserted
decision → say → homes
Despite this, it is thought Government is 'minded to reject' drilling the Rosebank oil field, one of the largest oil fields in the North Sea. asserted
Government → think → Sea
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: 'This is speculation. asserted
This → say → Security
As the Energy Secretary has said, each project will be assessed on its own merits.' asserted
project → say → merits
A spokeswoman from the Speaker’s Office said: ‘Mr Speaker has said all he wants to say on this matter.’ asserted
he → say → matter
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