Labour say they have a world leading plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030, and the plan will be “made in Scotland”. But the Scottish Conservatives have said that the Labour plans on energy are ruinous for the oil and gas industry.
Keir Starmer is in Scotland this morning pledging the green future as he announces that GB Energy, Labour’s publicly-owned energy company, will be headquartered in Scotland.
If the Labour is returned to power at Westminster then a Labour government would create Great British Energy (GBE), a new, publicly-owned clean energy generation company to harness the power of the sun, wind, and waves to cut energy bills and deliver energy security for the UK.
Starmer will explain Labour’s mission to deliver cheaper zero carbon power by 2030, including plans to attract investment in the UK’s industrial heartlands – and will directly benefit Scotland particularly communities linked historically to the oil and gas industry.
The Labour Party has commissioned research which they say proves that under its Green Prosperity Plan investing in British clean energy, the number of jobs generated in Scotland in the clean power sector alone would more than double compared to numbers under the SNP.
The party states that its commitment to rapidly create jobs in the renewables industry would benefit Scotland given its renewable energy assets and it “stands in stark contrast to the abysmal records of both Conservative and SNP governments, which have resoundingly failed to deliver on promises made to workers in the offshore wind industry”.
The SNP’s promise for a Scottish publicly-owned energy company was scrapped, and their promise to create 130,000 green jobs by 2020 was abandoned, with just 20,500 green jobs being delivered by that point.
Speaking alongside Anas Sarwar, Keir Starmer will outline the ways Labour will succeed where the SNP and Conservatives have failed and spell out three key benefits for Scotland of Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan:
- setting up the public energy company that the SNP failed to deliver in 2017. GB Energy will be headquartered in Scotland, building on Scotland’s proud energy and industrial history. It will serve all four nations of the United Kingdom.
- doubling the number of jobs in low carbon sectors in Scotland, with 50,000 direct and indirect jobs in Scotland in the clean power sector alone.
- driving forward with creating a clean power system by 2030 saving Scottish households £8.4bn over the rest of this decade, which, combined with Labour’s Warm Homes plan, will mean up to £1,400 off bills for every family in Scotland every year.
Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said: “The route to making Britain a clean energy superpower, slashing energy bills and creating tens of thousands of quality jobs runs through Scotland.
“That is why GB Energy, our publicly owned energy company, will be headquartered in Scotland, the heart of the British energy industry.
“I mean it when I say that our energy plans will be made in Scotland- cutting energy bills for Scottish families and delivering the jobs and investment in Scottish communities that for far too long have been let down by the SNP and Conservatives.
“When it comes to capitalising on Scotland’s energy resources, for fifteen years the SNP Government has chased the headlines but not done the work. Labour will deliver- lower bills, good jobs, and energy security for Scotland and the whole UK, as Britain leads the world in the fight against climate change.”
Anas Sarwar MSP, Leader of Scottish Labour, said: “I am determined to leave our children and future generations a better planet than we have now.
“But to do this, we need to sweep out both of our bad governments and deliver urgent action, because we are running out of time.
“What we are announcing today is the boldest energy plan Scotland and the whole UK has seen in generations – delivering a clean energy revolution by 2030.
“It will deliver 50,000 clean power jobs for Scotland and lower bills for working people.
“I’m delighted to announce it will also mean a publicly-owned Great British energy company – headquartered here in Scotland.
“GB energy – backed by the strength of the UK treasury – will make strategic investments to maximise our opportunities and bring jobs and prosperity to Scotland.
“A Labour government will unleash Scotland’s massive energy potential by making those strategic investments – that’s the change Scotland needs.”
Conservatives
The Scottish Conservatives have, in response, called for Ed Miliband to be sacked as the climate change and net zero spokesman over his “ignorant” oil and gas policy.
The Scottish Conservatives shadow net zero, energy and transport secretary Liam Kerr MSP, has warned that Labour’s ideological opposition to new oil and gas would “betray” highly skilled workers in the North East of Scotland.
He said: “Ed Miliband’s influence over Keir Starmer has led to a ruinous policy being drawn up for our oil and gas industry, as Labour have joined the SNP and Greens in turning their back on North Sea oil and gas.
“Ed Miliband’s reckless position – which would throw up to 90,000 highly skilled workers in the North East under a bus pretty much overnight – has no place in government.
“Yet incredibly, his misguided views are alive and well in Scottish Labour, too. Only last year more than a third of their MSPs – including one who is supposed to represent the North East – backed calls to block future oil and gas developments.
“This naïve approach displays breath-taking ignorance of the climate emergency, the need for energy security, and plays fast and loose with tens of thousands of UK jobs.
“That is the definition of economic and environmental illiteracy. We all want a just transition to net zero, but we don’t yet have the capacity from renewables to meet our energy needs. Halting domestic oil and gas production now would force us to import fossil fuels from overseas at huge cost, increasing our carbon footprint in the process and betraying highly-skilled UK workers.
“Keir Starmer should show some leadership by ditching these ignorant plans and sacking the man who apparently devised them. Ed Miliband should pay for this ignorant and economically illiterate policy with his job.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
