Labour and the SNP stand accused of “throwing the communities of North East Scotland under a bus” with their “illogical” opposition to the oil and gas industry.
The Scottish Conservatives will lead a debate on the topic this week following Keir Starmer’s recent announcement that he would block any future oil and gas projects in the North Sea and the SNP-Greens’ stance that there should be a presumption against all new exploration and production.
Shadow cabinet secretary for net zero, energy and transport Liam Kerr says turning the taps off in the North Sea would be an act of “economic self-harm”, which would force the nation to satisfy domestic demand for oil and gas by imports from overseas, increasing our carbon footprint and exposing the UK to turbulent regimes such as Russia.
During Wednesday’s Holyrood debate, the Scottish Conservatives will argue that a just, fair and managed transition to net zero needs to be done in conjunction with our world-leading oil and gas industry, which inevitably will form part of our energy mix for years to come.
Their motion will condemn the “unevidenced, ignorant” policies of Labour and the SNP.
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for net zero, energy and transport Liam Kerr MSP said: “Adopting Labour and the SNP’s illogical, ideological opposition to any future oil and gas projects in the North Sea would amount to an act of economic self-harm.
“It would also be environmentally harmful, offshoring our climate responsibilities.
“We all want to see a just transition to net zero – but ‘just’ has to be the operative word.
“There is nothing ‘just’ in pursuing unevidenced, ignorant dogma which would throw the communities of North East Scotland under a bus by halting all future oil and gas projects.
“That would abandon tens of thousands of skilled workers to the scrapheap overnight and wreak havoc on the local and national economy.
“The stance of Labour and the SNP hinges, for any semblance of credibility, on the nation’s energy needs being able to be met by renewables alone. But, as anyone with an ounce of knowledge about the sector knows, we’re nowhere near that point yet.
“Banning domestic extraction now would simply mean us having to import fossil fuels from abroad, increasing our carbon footprint in the process and shamefully offshoring our climate responsibilities.
“Keir Starmer’s reckless announcement that a Labour government would block all future domestic oil and gas licences from being granted has brought this issue back to the top of the political agenda and that’s why we demand it must be debated.
“The SNP-Greens take a similarly naïve and short-sighted stance to Labour, meaning that the Scottish Conservatives stand alone in defending North East Scotland, our energy security and the livelihoods and jobs of tens of thousands of Scots.”