UK Government unwilling to support Scottish industry, John Swinney claims

The UK Government seems unwilling to support Scottish industry, First Minister John Swinney has said ahead of meeting Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Swinney will meet the Prime Minister at the British Irish Council in Wales on Friday.

The meeting comes after job losses announced last month at an ethylene plant in Mossmorran, Fife, owned by oil giant ExxonMobil risking more than 400 jobs and a further 100 set to be cut at Harbour Energy in Scotland’s north-east.

Both owners have cited UK Government policy as one of the reasons behind the decisions.

Ahead of the meeting, the First Minister said Scotland is an “afterthought” to Westminster, pushing for independence and stressing the “urgent necessity” for the UK Government to step in.

“This Labour UK Government has failed workers in Scotland – and I will be setting out to Keir Starmer the urgent necessity for his Government to provide support for Scottish industry,” the First Minister said.

“In Grangemouth, in Mossmorran and right across the north-east of Scotland, workers are facing job losses and families are struggling to make ends meet – all while this Labour government fails to provide the necessary support.

“People in Scotland will rightly be asking why the workforces at Grangemouth and Mossmorran did not see the same interventions from the UK Government as industrial towns south of the border, like Scunthorpe.

“So far in this Labour Government, Scotland has been treated as an afterthought.

“This economic vandalism is continuing today, with the UK Government’s tax grab on Scotland’s energy costing 100 jobs this week alone and that will sadly continue to rise. Experts have warned the tax grab could cost 1,000 jobs a month.”

Offshore industry body Offshore Energies UK said the windfall tax on excess profits for oil and gas companies is costing 1,000 jobs per month in the North Sea.

The First Minister added: “Keir Starmer promised that Scotland would be at the heart of the Labour government – but he has done little to support our key industries.

“The fact is for Westminster, Scotland will always be an afterthought.

“We cannot afford to leave crucial decisions about our economy in the hands of a UK Government that does not seem willing to support our industry – we need the fresh start of independence to unlock Scotland’s true potential.”

Speaking to BBC Scotland during a visit north of the border on Thursday, the Prime Minister stressed the UK Government’s approval of allowing oil and gas companies to drill in adjacent areas to currently operating field – described as so-called “tie-backs”.

Asked why the Government did not scrap or reform the windfall tax on oil and gas in last week’s Budget, Sir Keir said: “We looked very carefully at that, but of course as the name makes perfectly clear, that’s a tax that only kicks in in relation to a particular levels of profit, so it only kicks in at a particular level, that’s the trigger for it.

“Equally important is the measure we’ve taken on tie-backs.

“We’ve listened very carefully to what the sector has been saying to us, they’ve asked for tie-backs and that’s what we’ve been able to announce and that means that, within the existing fields, better use, more use can be made of the oil and gas that is drilled out.”