Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2026 [Draft]
I put it on the record that I was formerly employed at Mossmorran, although that was many years ago.
The closure of the Mossmorran ethylene plant marks a profound moment for Fife, for Scotland’s industrial heritage and for hundreds of workers whose livelihoods have been thrown into uncertainty. For more than four decades, Mossmorran has stood as a symbol of Scottish engineering excellence. It was opened in 1985 by Exxon Chemicals alongside Shell’s natural gas liquids plant and it represented the kind of skilled, high-value industrial work that Scotland has always excelled in.
However, today, we are confronted with the consequences of a decision that was made far from the communities that it affects. On 18 November 2025, ExxonMobil announced its intentions to close the plant. On 3 February 2026, that closure became a reality.
Workers at Mossmorran did not fail, and Scotland did not fail. What failed was the wider policy environment that was created at the UK level. That is an environment that has left key industry sites uncertain and unable to plan for the long term. For years, Scotland’s energy-intensive industries warned that the UK’s approach to energy policy and industrial strategy was placing them at a disadvantage. The situation at Mossmorran is now one of the clearest examples of those warnings being realised.
There are highly skilled engineers, technicians, apprentices and contractors there, whose expertise is vital to Scotland’s future.