First Minister Humza Yousaf has hit out at Labour’s North Sea strategy which he claims would “completely abandon every single worker in the north-east”.
The SNP leader took aim at Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during a fiery exchange between the pair at First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood on Thursday.
He said Labour’s plans “put the workers of the north-east on the scrap heap”, which he pledged his party was “not prepared” to do.
However, the SNP’s own draft energy transition plan, published in January, has a presumption against new North Sea exploration.
Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Edinburgh on Monday to unveil major policy plans with the aspiration of making the UK a clean energy superpower by 2030.
But there has been a significant backlash over the party’s suggested ban on future oil and gas licences from industry leaders, trade unions and within his own party.
Backlash to plans
On Wednesday, it emerged Barney Crockett, the former Labour leader of Aberdeen City Council had quit the party over its plan to end North Sea exploration.
The councillor described Sir Keir’s energy strategy as “more brutal” than anything Margaret Thatcher did to industrial communities in the 1980s.
The first minister was keen to capitalise on the anger around the plan, which he said had been “panned”, before going on to quote Mr Crockett in the chamber.
Mr Sarwar praised the strategy as an “ambitious” plan which will deliver lower bills, more jobs, improve energy security and make Scotland a global climate leader.
He said: “And it’s backed up by GB Energy – a new publicly owned energy company – that will be headquartered here in Scotland.”
But Mr Yousaf said: “Not for the first time, Anas Sarwar and the Scottish Labour Party are prepared to completely abandon every single worker in the north-east.
“We simply will not do that. When it comes to the just transition, we have put our money where our mouth is.
“A £500 million just transition fund. What Scottish Labour will do is put the workers of the north-east on the scrap heap and we won’t be prepared to do that.”
He continued: “Of course, GB Energy would be based in Scotland because we’ve got the majority of the renewables and natural resources here in Scotland.
“Anas Sarwar says we should be thanking our London masters for the crumbs off the table.”
But Mr Sarwar took aim at the first minister for the SNP’s own record in government when it comes to energy.
He said the party had scrapped their own plans for a publicly owned energy company and had failed to deliver on a promised 130,000 green jobs by 2020.
Mr Yousaf said: “The difference between Anas Sarwar and I is that he believes turning off the taps today will be good for the north-east and good for the Scotland.
“I believe in a just transition which means that we will not leave a single worker of the north-east on the scrapheap. It’s a shame UK Labour don’t feel the same way.”