Meeting of the Parliament 26 November 2025
For years, we have talked about a just transition, and we now have it—live—in front of us but lacking a joined-up approach. Last night, I was at the Mossmorran working group, which I thought was quite an open and reflective event, but the deal was already done, the jobs have gone and there is no just transition plan for Mossmorran, as had been promised.
That happens over and over again. I understand that the Scottish Government will point to the Westminster Government, but the reality is that we do not have a plan whereby things work together in a joined-up way to make the transition work. Today, the UK Government has buried on page 71 of its budget document the replacement for the EPL, the oil and gas price premium, which is projected to be replaced by 2030, with a consultation in the year 2026-27. However, the UK Government is so far behind the curve that the OBR does not even have projections for what tax that would raise.
We need to get real. We can see, right now, the impact of jobs going in the north-east—the Aberdeen Cyrenians have already been referred to—and it is a handbrake on the region’s economic prospects. We have seen the impact at Mossmorran, on my doorstep, and at Grangemouth, where Petrofac is going into administration with 2,000 jobs. Many of those people will not go for other opportunities in Scotland; they might just disappear abroad, and we will lose the skills base that might be essential for developing the renewables potential that this country clearly has. The transition must be managed.