A LABOUR MP has admitted he “does not know” what happened to Anas Sarwar’s pledge to save jobs at the Grangemouth oil refinery.
Brian Leishman, who represents Alloa and Grangemouth in Westminster, said it was “not good enough” that Labour had failed to step in an save Scotland’s last remaining oil refinery.
It comes after Leishman joined Grangemouth workers in slamming Labour's £1 billion pledge to Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe to redevelop Old Trafford while he closes the refinery.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show, Leishman was shown a clip of the Scottish Labour leader (below) promising during an election promising that a Keir Starmer government would “put hundreds of millions of pounds” into a scheme to “save those jobs and protect the future” of Grangemouth.
Leishman accused Sarwar of having gone "quiet" on Grangemouth.
Host Martin Geissler quoted Sarwar’s words from before the election back to Leishman and asked: “What happened to that?”
Leishman replied: “I honestly don’t know, Martin.”
He added that he wanted to know, “because I believed Anas when he said that”, adding: “I think it was only 48 hours after, assuming office as Prime Minister, we had Keir Starmer in Scotland saying that it was a number one priority issue.
“Well, we’re over seven months in now and workers have been issued their redundancy notices. That’s not good enough.”
Challenged on opposition attacks that Sarwar lied to voters during the election campaign, Leishman said: “I’m not going to say that Anas is a liar, I don’t know what conversations Anas has had with Keir Starmer.
“Did Keir Starmer as he said, it was his number one priority, did he make assurances? That’s something that I want to find out.”
After coming to power, Starmer visited Scotland for a meeting with First Minister John Swinney where he claimed that saving Grangemouth was a “real priority for me”.
Asked whether he had been told about a plan by Labour high command to save the refinery, Leishman said: “I haven’t had sight of a plan but if Anas Sarwar said it on the leadership debate, then I listen to my leader and all the mood music that I heard during the campaign was that we were going to step in, we were going to save jobs at the refinery.
“And now, it’s one thing being in opposition and making promises, now that we’re actually in government we should follow through and make good on them.”
Petroineos, a joint venture between the Chinese-state owned PetroChina and Ratcliffe's Ineos, delivered redundancy notices to Grangemouth workers last week.
The company's plans to close the refinery and turn it into a fuel import hub are expected to result in the loss of around 400 jobs and the facility could be shut as early as this May.
Sarwar endured a gruelling interview on Thursday in which he refused to be drawn on allegations he had lied to voters with his pledge to protect jobs at the refinery.
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "The decision by Petroineos to decommission this site is a deeply disappointing one.
“Since the election Labour has been working to support the Grangemouth workforce and attract investment and jobs into the area.
“In just four months, the UK Labour Government put together an unprecedented £100 million package to support the community and invest in the local workforce, including investment in skills, local energy projects, and wider growth initiatives.
“As well as continuing work on industrial futures for the site, the Government is also providing tailored support to ensure workers can secure good, alternative jobs.”
