Meeting of the Parliament 26 November 2025
Does the SNP no longer have any idea what should be in the plan, or does it fear the backlash when people realise what is in it? I agree with Mr Carson—I think that it is both.
The SNP does not want to be honest with offshore workers on its position on oil and gas. It does not want to be honest with our rural communities about the impact that the scale of expensive renewables will have on our countryside, whether that is monster pylons, battery storage or substations. It does not want to be honest with our fishermen about the impact that offshore wind will have on fishing grounds, nor does it want to be honest with households about the true cost of renewables and their impact on bills. Instead of the cabinet secretary jetting off around the world, she should meet communities and hear people’s concerns.
Scotland is blessed with one of the most highly regulated, low-carbon oil and gas basins in the world. The North Sea is not the problem; it is part of the solution. The public agree: 84 per cent of Scots support continuing domestic oil and gas production during the transition. Therefore, the Parliament must send a clear message today: that it does not support the SNP’s presumption against new oil and gas, it does not support Labour’s punitive energy profits levy and it stands with Scotland’s workers, Scotland’s energy security and Scotland’s economy.
This country needs a transition that is built on realism, not ideology. The SNP refuses to give clear support to the industry and Labour says that our future is not in oil and gas. However, we say plainly that Scotland needs its domestic oil and gas industry, it needs energy security and it needs a fair and affordable path to net zero. That begins with backing our own workers, our own resources and our own future. I urge colleagues across the chamber to back my motion.
I move,
That the Parliament regrets the Scottish Government’s ideological drive to end North Sea oil and gas exploration and production; notes the negative impact on oil and gas jobs, energy security, the economy and the environment of the Scottish Government’s failure to pursue an informed, data-led, evidence-based North Sea policy; demands the immediate and unequivocal reversal of the Scottish Government’s presumption against new oil and gas exploration and production, and calls on the UK Government to immediately abolish the Energy Profits Levy.
15:01