DOUGLAS Ross has been criticised for remaining silent when a news presenter described Scotland as a “region” at the Conservative party conference.
Appearing on Breakfast with Kay Burley on Sky News, the Scottish Tory leader spoke about the Tories' chances in Scotland and how winning seats in the General Election was “crucial” for the party – without addressing the description.
Burley introduced the segment by stating: “Hello again everybody, Douglas Ross is with us – one region that everyone will have their eyes on ahead of next year’s General Election, we think it’s next year, is Scotland after what has been a turbulent year for the SNP …”
When asked how important Scotland would be in the next election, Ross said it was “crucial” whilst sharing the Scottish Tories were “looking forward to a good election” whilst being “confident” his party would make seat gains.
Later in the interview, Ross claimed the UK Government were “a green government” when asked about the Rosebank decision.
He began to say, “it’s very popular, in terms of investment,” when Burley interrupted with “it's not very green, is it?”
Ross replied: “Well, it is actually, if you look at the carbon footprint of oil and gas, it's better to get it as close to home as possible.”
Burley challenged: “But we’re not going to use it, are we? We’re going to be exporting it, or am I wrong?”
Ross said: “Well, we are exporting some of it, yes, that’s absolutely clear.”
When asked what percentage, the leader said he didn’t have the figures at hand, to then focus on jobs created in the North East by the approval of the oil field.
The Scottish Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Christina McKelvie, reacted to the interview on Twitter/X, stating: “Extraordinary interview of Douglas Ross on Sky by Kay Burley. An utterly deluded Ross claiming the UKG is a green government!
“And Burley saying Scotland is a region, and of course Ross didn’t correct her. Scotland is a nation and will be an independent one.”
Located 80 miles west of Shetland, Rosebank is the UK’s largest untapped oil field and is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil.
It was given the green light by the UK Government’s regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) last week.
Development and production approval has been given to owners Equinor and Ithaca Energy, following reassurances over environmental concerns.
