Fracking question puts Sturgeon in a difficult position with her party and allies
As US imports of shale gas arrive at Grangemouth, the SNP’S moratorium on fracking remains in place and we must wait until over the winter for the outcome of its investigation into the wider impact of Unconventional Oil and Gas Extraction.
But is this what will truly drive Nicola Sturgeon’s decision whether to allow fracking in Scotland? Or will it be all about politics, not “science” as the SNP claims?
That Ineos is importing rather than extracting gas from the North Sea’s dwin- dling and increasingly highcost resources highlights that, regrettably, Scotland’s offshore energy boom days are over.
And low production, of course, would mean low tax receipts for an independent Scotland.
With Alex Salmond’s September 2014 glowing economic projections based on booming North Sea output rejected by voters and subsequently proven unfounded, if there is to be another vote on separation, Nicola Sturgeon must do better. And allowing fracking is the only way she can do it. Prior to the 2015 election, the SNP campaigned vigorously on a highly populist anti-fracking stance. But as Nicola Sturgeon will need a new source of tax revenues to bolster her indyref2 cause, should we anticipate a spectacular U-turn? MARTIN REDFERN Royal Circus
Edinburgh Now that the first shipment of US shale gas is arriving in Scotland, the SNP seem to be in complete disarray. While ongoing investigation regarding the environmental implications are still being carried out after the moratorium was imposed and also after Ms Sturgeon herself said, “we must not turn our back on new technology” regarding fracking, Martyn Day (SNP MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk) has stated that he will still oppose the extraction method in Scotland, even if Ms Sturgeon’s commissioned research proves that it is 100 per cent safe and she gives fracking the green light.
Mr Day claims that it will bring reputational damage to Scotland, but has clearly not considered that to fight against a policy that Ms Sturgeon herself might push through would cause him commensurately more reputational damage and perhaps a loss of Ms Sturgeon’s iron hand of authority over her representatives.
The quandary now facing Ms Sturgeon is, as ever, complex. She created a veil of populism surrounding fracking when the moratorium was announced, by distributing SNP paraphernalia bearing the legend Frack Off, while allegedly saying in private to INEOS chief Jim Ratcliffe that she wasn’t actually opposed to “fracking”.
So, in essence, she has to inevitably let somebody down again. Will it be her faithful, who are completely opposed, or the Greens, again, who are completely opposed, or perhaps it might be the up to 29,000 jobs that fracking will attract to Scots that she will deny? Answers on a postcard.
MARK WARD Dalmellington Road, Crookston, Glasgow