Meeting of the Parliament 14 May 2025
I will move on, Deputy Presiding Officer.
What is the Government doing for oil and gas workers in the north-east? The answer is nothing. What a tragic stage this tired Government is in. It claims to want to protect jobs in the north-east, but it opposes Rosebank and Cambo. Do its hypocrisy and hubris know no bounds?
Enough is enough. Only the Scottish Conservatives are standing up for our oil and gas sector and our residents in the north-east: the jobs that the sector maintains, the families whom they support and the communities in which they live. Only the Scottish Conservatives are offering commonsense proposals for an affordable transition with oil and gas playing a pivotal role in it.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises the importance of reducing emissions in a way that is credible, costed and publicly supported; regrets the absence of a clear, deliverable plan for achieving net zero, particularly in relation to the future of Scotland’s energy sector and industrial base; condemns the Scottish and UK governments’ ideological opposition to oil and gas, nuclear power and a balanced energy policy; calls on the UK Government to end its policy of issuing no new oil and gas licences; notes with deep concern the economic and employment impacts of the closure of the Grangemouth refinery and recent job losses at Harbour Energy in Aberdeen; further notes that the increase and extension of the UK Government’s Energy Profits Levy has had a damaging effect on investment in the North Sea; argues that current Scottish Government policy on nuclear, oil and gas is having a detrimental effect on energy prices and energy security; points out that Great British Energy is a gimmick that will do nothing to bring down bills, and condemns the explosion of electricity infrastructure across the Scottish countryside, and calls on the Scottish Government to adopt a pragmatic, pro-growth energy strategy that supports the workforce, secures investment, delivers affordability and ensures energy reliability and national competitiveness for the future.
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