Scottish leader launches taskforce to secure renewables jobs

Anas Sarwar will tomorrow tell the Labour conference of his plans to establish a Scottish Energy Transmission Commission.

The Scottish Labour leader’s speech will announce that former UK energy minister Brian Wilson will chair a new taskforce to look at how jobs can be created and protected as the country moves to renewable energy. Wilson, who served as industry and energy minister in Tony Blair’s government, will lead the new body.

The Scottish leader said the commission would “help plan a path to a brighter, greener and more prosperous Scotland”.

According to Labour, there are only 21,400 people working in low-carbon and renewable energy jobs in Scotland, despite the SNP claiming there could be 130,000 people working in the sector by 2020.

Sarwar said: “The transition to net-zero holds tremendous opportunities for Scottish manufacturing and our economy, but we cannot trust the SNP to deliver jobs here in Scotland.

“We cannot allow a repeat of the end of mining, where communities were hollowed out, workers were stripped of their dignity and our industrial skills base was destroyed.”

He added: “The only way to avoid that injustice is to put at the heart of everything we do a focus on creating and supporting a jobs-first transition which has the support of workers and the local communities.”