Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 December 2020
During the 2014 Smith commission process, the Scottish Government did seek a wholesale transfer of energy policy to the Scottish Parliament; however, sadly, it must be recalled that the Labour Party made no proposals at all to the Smith commission for the comprehensive transfer of energy policy competences. For the sake of completeness, I point out that no such proposals were made by the Liberal Democrats or the Tories either.
Some may conclude that it is just a bit rich for the Labour Party—which has not supported the transfer of energy policy to this Parliament and, as such, does not support the Scottish Parliament having the necessary powers to do the job—to point a finger, when it has been quite content over the past six years for the Scottish Government to operate with one hand tied behind its back. It is a perennial curiosity of the Labour Party’s position that it would prefer that energy policy in Scotland be driven by the imperatives of Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg et al, rather than by our Scottish Parliament, members of which are elected by the people of Scotland.
It is self-evident that, in energy-rich Scotland, there can be a bright future for the renewables sector in Fife and across the country. For the BiFab workers at this time, I know that the Scottish Government continues to explore all options that are open to it, and it continues to have discussions, in particular with Saipem. It is also self-evident that, to maximise the potential of our renewables sector, we simply cannot afford to see our workers being let down by a UK energy policy that does not work for, and has demonstrably worked against, Scotland.
At its heart, politics is about people, and it is about dignity.