Kate Forbes: I have no interest in spat with the UK Government over Mossmorran

Kate Forbes said she had “no interest in a spat” with the UK Government following a row over two different taskforces set up to support more than 300 Mossmorran workers at risk of losing their jobs.

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister repeated previous comments that “any reports of conflict” did a “disservice to the workers” at the ethylene plant.

There had been confusion about the two governments’ strategies for the employees after they invited each other to different meetings.

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander had invited Ms Forbes to the Fife Council-led roundtable on Monday, which she did not attend, and said that was Labour’s preferred route.

Ivan McKee, Scottish public finance minister, attended for the Scottish Government.

Instead, Ms Forbes attended Mossmorran on Tuesday where she met with the company, the local council, workers and trade unions.

Mr Alexander said the at-risk workers “deserve unity rather than political squabbles between governments”.

Speaking to the PA news agency at Mossmorran, Ms Forbes played down the row.

“I have absolutely no interest in any spat,” she said. “I think any reports of conflict do a dis-service to the workers who have just been meeting here at Mossmorran.

“My objective is to identify alternative employment for workers at risk and to safeguard a plant like this for the future.

“To that end, Ivan McKee obviously joined the event that was organised by the Secretary of State for Scotland and Fife Council yesterday, and I’m delighted to be joined by Scottish Enterprise, the company and representatives from all the political parties today to talk about what the future looks like.”

Ms Forbes defended the decision to hold an additional meeting on Tuesday, saying it had been agreed last week.

She said: “Last week, I engaged with the unions and we engaged very quickly with Scottish Enterprise to look at how we could retain employment at the site, and out of that meeting it was decided that I would host a meeting today with the support of the trade unions.

“I then learned about the meeting yesterday, hosted by Douglas Alexander, and our primary interest is the workforce, so we were more than delighted to support the meeting arranged by Douglas Alexander yesterday and very pleased to see the cross-party representation today.

“Going forward, the objective is to work together and ultimately to see if there’s a way of safeguarding the jobs here.”

Global energy giant ExxonMobil announced on Tuesday that it will close its manufacturing plant in Fife.

The Fife ethylene plant – which produces the base material for plastics – is expected to shut in February.

According to the company, 179 directly-employed jobs will be at risk along with 250 contractors, with the possibility of 50 staff transferring to the Fawley petrochemical complex almost 500 miles away in Hampshire.

Following Monday’s meeting, the Scottish Secretary said nearby defence firm Babcock had signalled a willingness to look at taking on some of the workers impacted by the Mossmorran closure.

He said on Monday: “Today was a constructive and purposeful discussion: it was the ‘Team Scotland’ approach the workforce deserve. I was grateful to Fife Council for convening the meeting to discuss the closure of the plant.

“The council brought together the UK Government, Scottish Government, Fife College, trade unions and major Fife employers.

“I confirmed that I have raised with the UK Government’s Office for Investment my goal that it would help broker any possible buyer for the Mossmorran facility.

“The Mossmorran plant and its operation was, rightly, the focus of our discussion at this time.

“But I also welcome Babcock’s willingness to explore whether, in time and if required, they could employ some of the skilled workers from Mossmorran.”