Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of failing to take the North Sea seriously after handing a third job to the “part-time” minister overseeing the oil and gas industry.
Michael Fallon, who already holds extensive responsibilities in the energy and business departments at Westminster, has now been appointed the new “minister for Portsmouth” as well.
Labour and the SNP rounded on the Conservative Party after the appointment was announced yesterday, claiming it demonstrated “complacency” towards the multibillion-pound offshore sector.
It is the first appointment of its kind since Michael Heseltine was made minister for Liverpool in the 1980s, and follows the loss of almost 1,000 shipbuilding jobs in the Hampshire city, which is also a key electoral battleground for the Tories.
Mr Fallon, who was born and raised in Scotland but represents Sevenoaks in Kent, became minister for business and enterprise in September 2012, with his brief including economic deregulation and improving competitiveness, as well as the legacy from the London Olympics.
He kept the portfolio in March last year when Mr Cameron made him the UK’s 14th energy minister in 16 years, taking on extra responsibilities for North Sea exploration, licensing, revenues and decommissioning, the coalition government’s policies on the gas, coal, nuclear and renewables industries and developing carbon capture and storage technology.
The UK Government insisted that the Portsmouth job was an extension of Mr Fallon’s brief in the business department and there “wouldn’t be any issues with him fulfilling his role as energy minister”.
But SNP energy spokesman Mike Weir said: “There seems to now be a tradition that the minister responsible for the North Sea oil and gas industry is parachuted into various other jobs. This industry is a vital part of the economy yet successive governments seem to think it can be done by a part-time minister. This is yet another indication that they do not take the industry seriously.”
Labour’s shadow Energy minister, Tom Greatrex, said: “Michael Fallon is already a part-time energy minister at a time when the UK faces considerable energy challenges. To make him a part-time, part-time minister demonstrates a complacency about vital energy issues at the heart of government.”
Alix Thom, of Oil and Gas UK, defended the minister, saying the industry body had made contact with MPs and trade unions in Portsmouth to establish whether former shipyard workers could switch to the offshore sector. He added: “We look forward to working with Mr Fallon, a great supporter of our industry, in his new role as minister for Portsmouth.”
Mr Fallon said: “I will be championing Portsmouth at the heart of government and banging the drum for this great city at every opportunity.”
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