Labour and the SNP have been warned to end their “ideological war” on North Sea oil and gas or the emergency summits, task forces and rescue packages in response to job losses will be never-ending.
The UK and Scottish governments are currently arguing over who should front talks in response to the closure of the Mossmorran ethylene plant in Fife, while there are reports that support for Grangemouth, following the closure of the oil refinery, will be announced in the UK budget.
But the Scottish Conservatives say that instead of merely reacting to crises, Labour and the SNP must address the root cause of them: namely, their “reckless” opposition to new North Sea oil and gas projects, which is costing an estimated 1,000 jobs per month.
Holyrood’s largest opposition party will lead a debate on the issue tomorrow (Wednesday) in which they will call for the SNP to reverse their ‘presumption against’ new North Sea developments and Labour to ditch the Energy Profits Levy.
Scottish Conservative shadow energy secretary Douglas Lumsden said: “Instead of Labour and the SNP arguing over who can react quickest to the latest catastrophe in the oil and gas industry, they need to end their ideological war on the sector from which each stems.
“Scotland is losing 1,000 skilled jobs per month because of the reckless opposition of both governments to new projects in the North Sea.
“When it comes to Mossmorran and Grangemouth, the horse has already bolted. The task forces, summits and rescue plans are a product of Labour and the SNP’s failed policies.
“This stream of oil and gas-related job losses will continue unless both governments support new North Sea drilling and Rachel Reeves ditches the Energy Profits Levy.
“The stance of Labour and the SNP amounts to an act of national self-harm which is devastating North East communities and leading to higher fuel bills for everyone by forcing us to rely on costly imported fossil fuels.
“It’s madness that Keir Starmer and John Swinney are turning their nose up at a plentiful energy source in our own waters when renewables don’t yet come close to meeting our energy needs – and the SNP’s equally reckless opposition to nuclear power just compounds this folly.”
Notes
The Scottish Conservative motion reads: That the Parliament regrets the Scottish Government’s ideological drive to end North Sea oil and gas exploration and production; notes the negative impact on oil and gas jobs, energy security, the economy and the environment of the Scottish Government’s failure to pursue an informed, data-led, evidence-based North Sea policy; demands the immediate and unequivocal reversal of the Scottish Government’s presumption against new oil and gas exploration and production, and calls on the UK Government to immediately abolish the energy profits levy.