A major North Sea gas project that could supply energy for around a million UK homes could win approval as soon as September, The i Paper has learned.
The controversial Shell-operated Jackdaw gas field could be given the green light within weeks.
Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Andy Burnham had personally promised him he would expand drilling in the North Sea.
Speaking from the White House, the US President said Burnham made the pledge during a phone call on his first day in office. “The new gentleman, when I spoke to him, he said he’s going to open up the North Sea,” Trump said. “Let’s see if that’s true”.
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Ex-Royal Marine featured in Netflix documentary missing after avalanche
A renowned climber who served in the British special forces is missing after an avalanche on one of the world’s highest mountains.
Nims Purja on the summit of Gasherbrum II (Photo: Nirmal Purja/PA Wire)
Broad Peak avalanche
Nirmal Purja scaled the world’s 14 highest peaks in record time in 2019, a feat documented on Netflix and in his bestselling memoir ‘Beyond Possible‘.
Here’s what we know about the incident:
Purja was leading a team on the 8,051m Broad Peak in northern Pakistan.
An avalanche struck on Thursday between 08:57 and 09:30 local time, and communication with the group was lost.
Three GPS trackers have been located at altitudes ranging from roughly 6,000m to 7,000m, according to local officials.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan said four bodies had been found.
It identified two of them as Nadhira Al Harthy from Oman, and Pur Bahadur Gurung “Yukta” from Nepal.
‘Still some tiny hopes’
As well as those confirmed to have died, Purja was on the mountain with four other Nepalese climbers plus nationals from Pakistan, China and the US.
Himal Gautam, a spokesperson for Nepal’s Tourism Department said the incident was “unprecedented” but hope remains.
Caption: FILE PHOTO: Mountaineers practice walking on a ladder during a training session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha/File Photo
Photographer: Purnima Shrestha
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Big Read
10 min read
Who is Nirmal Purja?
Purja, 43, is one of the world’s most renowned climbers.
He scaled the world’s 14 highest peaks in a record six months in 2019 – Norwegian climber Kristin Harila beat him four years later. Purja, who was born in Nepal, was in the military for 16 as part of the Royal Marines and special forces.
Having spent a decade in the special forces, Nims Purja decided that he needed a new challenge
(Photo: Netflix)
Mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja is the subject of Netflix documentary ’14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible’
Caption: Migrants try to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Photographer: Antonio Sempere
Provider: AP Photo/Antonio Sempere
Source: AP
news
Thousands of migrants cross Spain-Morocco border
Thousands of migrants swam from Morocco to Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta on Thursday, prompting a increase of security in the area.
At least 18 people drowned while attempting the crossing, which is about 3.1 miles long.
The latest
It was unclear how many people crossed the border, but Spain’s interior ministry estimates 49,000 crossed in the last 24 hours, official estimates state.
There were unconfirmed reports of clashes in Ceuta.
There were also of migrants crossing the border in Melilla.
Exclusive
3 min read
Spanish PM pledged to return things in Ceuta to normal
A Spanish official said the border was in total collapse, the BBC reported.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, is due in the territory on Friday along with his interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
Sanchez has so far resisted declaring a national emergency.
WORLD
4 min read
OPINION
3 min read
Migrants cannot be returned
Local officials appealed to Madrid for help after a recent rise in attempted crossings.
Spain’s Supreme Court ruled this month that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish enclave, cannot be returned to Morocco.
Caption: Migrants cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Photographer: Antonio Sempere
Provider: AP Photo/Antonio Sempere
Source: AP
Explained
3 min read
Italy mulls closing border to Spain
Spain’s interior ministry accused human trafficking networks of exploiting the fresh Supreme Court ruling to “encourage the flow of undocumented migrants”.
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni (Photo: Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images)
Caption: CEUTA, SPAIN – MAY 19: A young migrant who has crossed the border between Spain and Morocco by swimming along the Tarajal beach, steps out of the sea towards a member of the Civil Guard, before he is returned to Morocco on May 19, 2021 in Ceuta, Spain. After a diplomatic conflict between Spain and Morocco, thousands of migrants have taken advantage of the little Moroccan police activity to cross the border, mainly by swimming. This has caused a migration crisis, with the entry of more than 8000 migrants from the African country. (Photo by Joan Amengual/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Image )
Photographer: VIEW press
Provider: Corbis via Getty Images
Source: Corbis News
Copyright: 2021@VIEWpress
The breach has prompted backlash from Italy’s government, which said it was considering closing the open border Schengen agreement with Spain. France has also announced it will strengthen border checks with Spain.
In pictures: Thousands cross the Spain-Morocco border
Caption: Migrants gather around a torched vehicle while waiting for a chance to cross to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the Moroccan side of the border in Fnideq, Morocco, July 31, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Ahmed El Jechtimi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Photographer: Ahmed El Jechtimi
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Caption: CEUTA, SPAIN – JULY 30: Hundreds of migrants have attempted to swim from Morocco to the Spanish city of Ceuta in North Africa, while the number of arrivals exceeded 1,500 in just over a week, according to local news in Cueta, Spain on July 30, 2026. As Moroccan and Algerian migrants attempted to reach Ceuta by swimming, most were reportedly intercepted by Moroccan patrol boats. Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service and the Spanish Red Cross rescued 117 people from the water, while the Civil Guard assisted around 200 others with patrol boats. The Spanish Civil Guard also found two bodies which raised the death toll along Ceuta’s coastline so far this year to 29. (Photo by Marcos Moreno/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Photographer: Anadolu
Provider: Anadolu via Getty Images
Source: Anadolu
Caption: Migrants try to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Photographer: Antonio Sempere
Provider: AP Photo/Antonio Sempere
Source: AP
Watch more on this topic
Migrants flood into Spain’s Ceuta exclave from Morocco.
Madrid says it will despatch soldiers to Ceuta to ensure security after thousands of migrants entered Spain’s north African exclave from neighbouring Morocco and hundreds more are headed there pic.twitter.com/A9oaQ4OCu7
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 31, 2026
news
All you need to know as Trump announces Hamas disarmament
Caption: A fireball erupts following an Israeli strike near a tent encampment sheltering people displaced by war in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2026. Violence has persisted in Gaza despite a ceasefire which came into effect on October 10, with both Israel and Hamas regularly accusing each other of violations. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: EYAD BABA
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
The Board of Peace has reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, Donald Trump has said.
In an announcement late on Thursday, Trump called it “a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government”.
‘Intensive’ negotiations
A senior Hamas official told the BBC they had agreed to completely disarm in Gaza.
The Board of Peace – established by Trump in January – said the agreement concludes months of “intensive, good faith negotiations”, and is now focused on implementation.
More than 90 per cent of homes in Gaza were destroyed during the war (Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images)
Hamas forces have regained control in half of Gaza (Photo : Doaa Albaz/Anadolu/ Getty)
Inside the US-brokered ceasefire plan
It is part of the second phase of a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan, which includes the disarmament of Hamas, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed a push from the mayor of New York City to arrest him (Photo: Nathan Howard/AFP)
Caption: President Donald Trump speaks about Dulles International Airport modernization, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Photographer: Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Provider: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Source: AP
Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The agreement, seen by the BBC, provides for the inventorying and storage of Hamas’ remaining heavy weapons under Palestinian supervision.
US ‘disappointed’ if Israel doesn’t withdraw
Israel has yet to comment on the plan.
US officials say that Trump will be “very disappointed” if Israel does not withdraw as part of the agreement.
The US believes Israel would continue to be a good partner.
It marks the first time that Hamas has said it would completely disarm.
Analysis
4 min read
The winners and losers of Burnham’s income tax devolution
Plans to let mayors keep a portion of income tax could lead to some areas of the UK receiving vastly larger sums than others, analysis for The i Paper shows.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 29: Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks to residents, care workers, volunteers and social care stakeholders during a care home visit on July 29, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Photographer: WPA Pool
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
How the plan could work
It is not yet known how Andy Burnham’s plan could work, but a proposed model by Re:State, a centre-right think-tank close to Burnham, proposes that mayoral authorities collect a flat rate of up to 2.5 per cent of the 20p basic rate of income tax.
Caption: Person working at a home desk checking a receipt while entering amounts on financial paperwork with a calculator. Household finance organization, annual filing documents, tax preparation materials and general personal budgeting content.
Photographer: portishead1
Provider: Getty Images
Source: E+
Analysis
3 min read
Caption: Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks with locals during a visit to the Hare Inn in Harlow, east of London with the Chancellor John Healy (not pictured) on July 23, 2026. The UK government Thursday announced a tax cut for struggling pubs, clubs and live music venues as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham aims to ease the cost of living crisis. (Photo by Richard Pohle / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: RICHARD POHLE
Provider: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Policy could be damaging for the PM
Burnham has been warned he must come up with a fair formula for any income tax devolution or risk further deepening existing regional inequalities.
The Prime Minister also risks opening up a political fight among regions if some are permitted the new tax and spending powers but not others, such as parts of the south-west.
The top five winners of Burnham’s income tax devolution
1London – £2.3bn
2 Manchester – £674m
3 West Midlands – £666m
4 West Yorkshire – £553m
5 East Midlands – £541m
Andy Burnham speaks to residents during a care home visit in London. A new ‘Dementia Tsar’ will be in place within weeks to ‘help drive forward much-needed improvements’ (Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Getty)
explained
The four options to fund Burnham’s social care plans – and the risks
The new Prime Minister wants to revolutionise social care, but hasn’t yet set out how he will pay for it
science
UPF scaremongering is overblown – this study shows why
Caption: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 11: In this photo illustration, food products manufactured by Mondelez and Coca-Cola are shown on December 11, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Both companies are among those named in a lawsuit that accuses major food companies of marketing ultra-processed and addictive foods to children. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Photographer: Scott Olson
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images North America
Copyright: 2024 Getty Images
The UPF theory is that the chief determinant of a healthy diet is whether you mainly make meals from scratch or whether you buy pre-prepared food like ready meals.
But now, some preliminary research suggests that this might not be the best way to look at your diet.
How did the anti-UPF movement start?
Research on the subject had been ongoing for several years, but it was the book Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food… and Why Can’t We Stop? by TV doctor Professor Chris van Tulleken that started it.
The cause has since been embraced by many other food gurus.
Campaigners say processed food is bad for our health because it contains harmful ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup.
The study
There are lots of studies that find people who eat more UPF are more likely to get fat and have worse health.
But the results could be obscured by the fact that most UPF is also fatty and sugary.
The latest research used existing data from three studies that had analysed the diets and tracked the health of over 200,000 US adults from the 1980s through to the 2020s.
By the end, about half the people had died or developed heart disease or type 2 diabetes. And these people generally had more unhealthy diets.
However, there was no correlation with poor health and how much UPF someone ate.
Steak is not UPF but mainstream diet advice is to limit red meat (Photo: bettphotos/Getty/500px)
Science
How your diet affects your risk of dementia – and four things to do about it
Researchers have claimed that ultra-processed foods cause dementia, but brain experts recommend a different approach to diet.
world – Maga’s next act
Inside the Maga push to make America have more babies
Caption: circa 1945: A baby sits on a blanket , wearing an oversize top hat with a band of stars and holding an American flag. (Photo by Lambert/Getty Images)
JD Vance’s wife Usha has just given birth to their fourth child – the first to be born to a sitting vice president for more than 150 years.
After stating, “I want more babies in the United States of America”, Vance has been as good as his word.
An obsession with fertility
Having many children appears to have become the standard for many Maga acolytes. Katie Miller, influencer and wife of White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, also recently gave birth to her fourth child, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just returned to work after giving birth to her second child.
Caption: Stephen Miller and Katie Miller at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner held at the Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)
Photographer: Kristina Bumphrey
Provider: Variety via Getty Images
Source: Variety
Copyright: photographickris_2026
Caption: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: SAUL LOEB
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Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
The current obsession with fertility comes after the launch of “Trump accounts”, offering $1000 (£750) to children born during Donald Trump’s second term.
The popularisation of pronatalism
Boosting the number of American babies has seemingly been a core Maga objective in Trump’s second term, spurred on by pronatalists such as tech mogul Elon Musk – the father of at least 14 children.
They believe that society should produce more offspring to avert demographic and economic collapse.
WORLD
4 min read
Analysis
4 min read
Why birthrates are down
Even in Mormon-friendly Utah, formerly the top US state for fertility, births have dropped by 37 per cent in the last 20 years.
Women cite the same challenges as in the rest of America: high housing costs, the need to complete their education, build up steady finances and find the right life partner.
A lack of paid maternity leave and affordable childcare are also deterrents.
It’s the result of a cultural shift too, which Maga glibly blames on feminism.
Watch more from The i Paper
OPINION | “The White House has been drained of expertise since I left – Burnham faces peril,” writes Karine Jean-Pierre. “The guardrails that once protected foreign policy from personal whims have been weakened.” Read more at the link above about why the former White House press secretary believes Andy Burnham is entering a UK-US relationship shaped more by Donald Trump’s personality than by international process.
♬ original sound – The i Paper
Are you having as much sex as everyone else?
It’s natural for libido to wax and wane due to life events, dating status or hormonal changes.
And it can be hard to say what a “normal” sexual frequency is. But research and case studies give us a rough idea.
The statistics
When it happens
61%
A 2023 survey concluded that almost two thirds (61 per cent) of us wait until night-time to have sex.
Only 14 per cent opt to get busy in the early evening, and 10 per cent in the morning.
Three
Research from 2019 suggests that the average number of times British live-in or married couples have sex per month is three.
Are Gen Z having less sex than older people?
I see my partner on the weekends and have sex with others in the week.
Leanne, a 27-year-old influencer from Bristol has sex three or four times a week, but only sees her long-distance partner on the weekends. They have agreed they can both sleep with other people during the week.
Millennials
35-year-old Rebecca usually sleeps with her partner once or twice per week due to not having much child-free time.
Clare, 32, says her job is busy and she has to schedule sex with her partner on weekends, or some afternoons twice a month. “Occasionally this slips and I do worry that it makes us not as connected,” she says.
Gen X
Daisy, 56
I haven’t had the issue of my sex life drying up with menopause. I’m more aroused now.
Anna, 52
I’ve been married for 15 years. I love my husband, but our sex life is non-existent, and has been for about five years.
Mimi, 46
I’m not really motivated to seek out partners; I vaguely like the idea of it but not enough to take any action.
Boomers
I’ve been married for 20 years and sex has become something of a rarity. We maybe have sex once a week on a Sunday morning as we’re both relaxed and I can take Viagra late on Saturday night – without it, I can’t perform.
JACK, 63, OFFICE WORKER, KENT
Couple, talk and arguing with fight at house for disagreement, conflict and divorce discussion. Woman, explain and bored man for conversation, toxic relationship and drama and marriage fail in lounge – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
The seven rules that could save your marriage
Keep your sense of self
I did what I thought I was supposed to do and forgot my needs and wants. I think it’s really important that you’re an individual and not just a person who is married.
KATIE STRATFORD*, A 55-YEAR-OLD MUM OF TWO, WHO DIVORCED ATER 19 YEARS
Caption: A married couple sitting in silence, looking in opposite directions. The image captures the concept of female loneliness within a marriage, emotional disconnection, and relationship problems. Symbolizes quiet desperation and isolation at home
Photographer: Galina Zhigalova
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
Seven rules to save your marriage
(Photo: Kathrin Ziegler/Getty).
The small things
Small things, like being brought a cup of tea or saying thank you, make a big difference.
Therapists
Karen Deulofeu, who ended her six-year marriage, believes all couples should seek support, even before they think they need it.
Female psychiatrist discussing with mid adult woman during therapy session – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
(Photo: MTStock Studio/Getty).
Listen
Listen properly by repeating what you have heard and ask if you’ve got that right.
Don’t lose communication
People don’t talk about the deep issues; nobody else is going to do it for you. You don’t want to ask questions because it might rock the boat…you have to keep talking, and talk about what it is that you want within the relationship to keep going forward.
KATIE STRATFORD
‘One question is how to achieve such a longevity hack when most of us have relationships that unsettle us,’ says Dr Amir Levine (Photo: Oliver Rossi/Getty)
Seven rules to save your marriage
Remember that things change
“What you see on social media and what friends say is quite often the nice version. Everything is a phase,” says Deulofeu.
‘I’m genuinely considering returning to full-time work’ (Photo: PeopleImages/ Getty Images)
Caption: A senior couple spend time in an indoor sunny market. The woman looks through a clothes on a rail as her husband waits patiently behind her.
Photographer: Catherine Falls Commercial
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
Look at yourself first
“Focus on what’s in your control and what you can do differently, rather than the other person or a situation that you can’t control. Invest in understanding yourself,” she adds.
Burnham told reporters during a visit to Barrow-in-Furness on Thursday that he had vowed to Trump to take a “pragmatic approach” to the North Sea because “there is a resource there” that “we can’t ignore” while people are struggling.
Jackdaw – located around 150 miles off Aberdeen – could begin production within months, supplying gas by winter once the regulatory hurdles are cleared as most infrastructure is already in place.
Although privately funded, the UK controls a large section of the North Sea, giving it a legal right to approve and tax oil and gas production.
As The i Paper exclusively revealed in June, Ed Miliband, the former energy secretary, is understood to have laid the ground for the decision as part of his campaign to become Burnham’s Chancellor.
The new Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, has since told allies she will take a “pragmatic approach” to the project and sources familiar with the discussions now expect an announcement as soon as September.
Decisions on Rosebank, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field located west of Shetland, in Scotland, and Cambo, a nearby undeveloped oil and gas field, are expected to follow in close succession as both projects move through renewed environmental and regulatory reviews.
The outcomes will provide a key indication of the Government’s approach to future North Sea oil and gas development
A Government source said Burnham and other ministers were being careful about what they said publicly about the future of the North Sea because of the ongoing process about whether to sign off Jackdaw and Rosebank, which is supposed to be a “quasi-judicial” decision. “You’re not going to prejudge the position,” they said.
The source added that there was more the Government could do in terms of “tie-backs” – production in unlicensed areas which are close by and connected to infrastructure in already licensed areas.
They said that the Government had to protect employment in the north-east of Scotland while jobs in green industries like floating offshore wind are scaled up. “Where we have got to get this right is on the jobs side,” they added.
Jackdaw was originally approved in 2022 under the Conservative government, but the Court of Session quashed that consent last year after ruling the climate impact of burning the extracted gas had not been properly assessed.
Developer Adura – a joint venture between Shell and Equinor – submitted a revised environmental assessment, with the consultation window closing on 10 August. Adura’s chief executive, Neil McCulloch, has said the field is finished and could supply 6 per cent of the UK’s gas needs from 1 October, but only if ministers sign off in time.
Energy firms and unions, including the GMB, have urged ministers to approve the project, arguing it could support thousands of jobs and strengthen UK energy independence.
The project is forecast to yield hundreds of millions to several billion pounds in UK tax revenue over its lifetime, depending on gas prices and production levels.
Environmental groups, however, say the long-term impact on energy bills will be negligible and argue that investment should instead focus on renewables, insulation and heat pump roll-out.
Labour’s 2024 manifesto ruled out granting new North Sea oil and gas licences, but Rosebank and Jackdaw are being treated as separate cases because they already hold existing licences rather than requiring approval through a new licensing round.
The Government’s position is that these projects are progressing through established regulatory and legal processes, rather than representing new licences being issued.
Trump has needled successive prime ministers over the issue and repeatedly urged Sir Keir Starmer to approve North Sea drilling, saying on Wednesday: “I could not get Starmer to use it. It was incredible.”
He also renewed his attacks on wind power, telling GB News Burnham had “windmills all over the place” and that “any time you see windmills, you see a failing country”.