Buy up assets in North Sea call

Unite is urging the Scottish Government to back Scottish Labour’s call for public investment in crucial North Sea assets at risk of being scrapped amid the oil downturn.

North-east MSP Lewis Macdonald has tabled a motion at Holyrood suggesting the SNP administration and UK Government use their borrowing powers to buy a stake in infrastructure such as pipelines and platforms.

It will be debated at Holyrood today.

As the Press and Journal revealed earlier this week, a similar motion will be brought forward at Scottish Labour’s conference this weekend.

Drafted by Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency Labour party, it urges the UK and Scottish Governments to temporarily acquire strategically important assets.

Some 120,000 posts

“Union’s members the worst affected by the crisis”

have been axed in the last two years as oil prices plummeted, according to estimates.

Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty said the union’s members were the worst affected by the crisis and acknowledged the sector was going through a difficult time.

He added: “The Scottish Government can’t do everything to help us out of these difficulties, but it should be leading by example.”

Mr Macdonald said he hoped to secure commitments from SNP ministers to explore the possibility of a “more proactive response to the downturn in the North Sea”.

Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “The Scottish Government has repeatedly demanded action from UK ministers, who retain the key levers to ensure the industry and its workforce have the future they deserve.”