Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 December 2020
No, I will not, because it is a matter of joint working, as I said earlier in my speech.
Scottish Renewables told the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee that
“Unfortunately, investments that could have been made over decades, which would have seen the UK being able to compete with European supply chain companies on things like fabrication, simply were not made”—[Official Report, Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee, 24 November 2020; c 33.]
and pointed out that in previous years Scotland had been very competitive against countries such as Belgium and Spain.
We know, too, that the SNP invested £3 million of taxpayers’ money in a South Korean company that now has only one full-time member of staff in a factory at Machrihanish, and no orders.
We also know—I am sure that my colleague Murdo Fraser will say much more about this in responding to the debate—that Kate Forbes is not prepared to say how she will make £2.2 billion of the £8.2 billion boost for the Scottish budget part of the Scottish investment.
It is not as though the Scottish Government has been meeting its own climate change targets, as measured by several independent bodies such as the Energy Saving Trust, or meeting pledges on energy savings in new buildings and renewable heat targets. It has also abandoned its not-for-profit energy company. Consultants were paid thousands of pounds—