The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Fewer than 25% of Scots want support for North Sea extraction to stop
Fewer than a quarter of Scots believe the Scottish Government should scrap support for North Sea oil and gas extraction, according to a new poll.
The survey, carried out for The Sunday Post by Survation, found 54% of those asked believe ministers should continue to back the practice, while just 22% said it should not be supported and 24% said they don’t know.
The future of the oil and gas industry has become a major talking point at this election and group research carried out by Survation for us revealed it is an issue of significant concern for voters across the north-east.
The SNP has said any government support for the sector will be conditional on the industry “contributing to a sustainable, secure and inclusive energy transition”.
In an exclusive interview this week, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie accused the Scottish Greens of “almost repeating the mistakes of Margaret Thatcher from the 1980s” over their own proposals for the industry.
Scottish Greens’ coleader Patrick Harvie believes oil and gas production should wind down within the next 10 years and his party has called on the government to stop issuing new licences for exploration and to end subsidies and tax breaks.
The north-east has been hit by a double whammy of the coronavirus pandemic as well as a fresh downturn in the North Sea industry, which it is feared could accelerate its ultimate decline and the loss of up to 100,000 jobs.
Concerns for the future and the need to transition the economy during the pandemic recovery were raised in our focus group research, and the latest polling suggests Scots are not yet ready for their government to turn its back on the North Sea.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said that, “while we must tackle the climate emergency and achieve our net-zero ambitions, we can’t simply throw these jobs away”.
“This poll shows that people clearly recognise that we must help the sector transition in the coming years towards a renewable future,” he said.
“The UK Government’s recent support for a £16 billion North Sea Transition Deal shows their clear commitment to the industry and to safeguard jobs.
“Instead, the Greens want to risk 100,000 jobs and demand an end to exploration within the next decade as part of joining forces with their friends in the
SNP.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said politicians need to be more honest with communities in the north-east when it comes to the future of oil and gas.
“Put simply, the sector cannot continue to explore ways to expand if we are going to survive as a species because new extraction is not compatible with efforts to lower Scotland’s emissions in line with international agreements,” he said.
“Therefore, instead of pretending that the sector isn’t in decline, the only responsible thing to do is invest in the alternative jobs and careers now, to allow a just transition to take place and secure a sustainable future for these communities.”
Gillian Martin, who is running for the SNP in Aberdeenshire East, said oil and gas “continues to play a vital role in the Scottish economy and supports thousands of jobs in the north-east, and still remains part of the energy mix in Scotland”.
She said that without it the country would be forced to import and this would have a “much larger carbon footprint”.
Ms Martin said her party is “determined that those working in the oil and gas sector are supported at every opportunity” and that it will not allow the north-east “to suffer the same devastation the Tories caused to former shipbuilding, mining and industrial communities”.
“To achieve our just transition we must ensure we take the workforce with us and our transition fund will protect existing jobs and create new ones in the north-east and across Scotland,” she said.
“It will also open up opportunities.”