Meeting of the Parliament 26 November 2025
No, thank you. I had four minutes, and now I have less time than that.
There has been a complete absence of SNP strategic leadership. Let me be clear from the outset that Scotland’s oil and gas industry has made a profound contribution to our economy, to workers’ livelihoods and to energy security for decades. The people who built that industry—the engineers, the offshore workers and the supply chain businesses—deserve a future that is every bit as strong as its past. Instead, they have been given years of neglect. The Conservatives at Westminster and the SNP at Holyrood have both stood by without any plan for what comes next. Our amendment makes that point clearly. We regret that the SNP and the Tories have let Scotland’s oil and gas sector down, with no plan for the future.
Scotland should be a global leader in the energy transition. We have the engineering expertise, the offshore skills, the natural resources and the public support, but we have lacked leadership. That is why we welcome the UK Government’s plans, which are deeply rooted in energy security, fairness and a realistic path to net zero. Labour is clear that oil and gas will continue to be part of our energy mix for decades to come, because turning off the taps tomorrow is not an option. That would undermine energy security, push up bills and make us even more dependent on imports from other countries. We also need to make—