LABOUR have been accused of treating Scotland as an “afterthought” after the UK Government announced plans to pass emergency legislation to protect a British Steel plant in England.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has recalled MPs to the House of Commons to discuss the future of British Steel on Saturday and has insisted that “all options are on the table” for its future, including nationalisation.
SNP Westminster chief Stephen Flynn has highlighted the Labour leader’s hypocrisy over emergency government intervention regarding the closure of the Scunthorpe steel plant, but leaving Scotland’s only oil refinery to shut.
Petroineos, a joint venture between INEOS and the state-owned PetroChina and the owners of the Grangemouth plant, announced last year that it planned to close the oil refinery, leading to 400 jobs being lost and concerns over Scotland’s own energy security.
Flynn said if there was ever a sign that the “Union is completely broken,” then Westminster’s double standards around considering nationalising British Steel show it.
He said: “If British Steel is considered viable for nationalisation as an industry of strategic national importance then our ability to sustain our energy demand definitely is – it's the same old Westminster story with Scotland and our key industries an afterthought.
“Energy security is national security and if a steel plant in England, rightly or wrongly, merits Westminster taking the extraordinary step of recalling Parliament with a view to nationalise it, then why not our key energy asset at Grangemouth? If there was ever a sign that this union is completely broken then it is this.”
On Thursday, Flynn called for Labour to consider nationalising Grangemouth amid growing speculation that the UK Government would step in and take over British Steel.
The SNP MP said that the “global landscape has been turned on its head” following the news on Friday that the UK Labour Government is reportedly now willing to nationalise key industrial assets.
Flynn reaffirmed his position that considering nationalising the Grangemouth oil refinery should also be an immediate requirement by the UK Government.
He said: “In Scotland we are fortunate to retain vast energy wealth and we have a crucial role to play in supporting our European partners as the United States becomes an increasingly unreliable ally - we must be supported in that purpose with Grangemouth being central to that.
“The future of Grangemouth is a litmus test for any government that reports to take our energy security seriously and has ambitions for sustainable growth, but it raises a key question for this so called ‘Union of Equals’ – are industrial assets protected in England, but allowed to fall in Scotland?
“Sadly, it's all too clear where the priorities lie in broken, Brexit Britain.”
Last month, the Project Willow report into options for the Grangemouth site found the site must switch to green energy to meet its vast need for power.
However, funding models have remained unclear after the UK Government's £200 million pledge was cast into doubt. It was revealed the cash may come in the form of loans or only with outside investment.
Those developments followed UK ministers previously refusing to nationalise Scotland’s only oil refinery.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “When this government came to power, there was no overall plan for the future of the Grangemouth refinery. Within weeks, the UK government delivered an unprecedented £100m package to support the community and invest in the local workforce.
“The UK government is backing Grangemouth with a further £200m to support outcomes of Project Willow, which has identified credible long-term options for Grangemouth to forge a new path in low carbon energy production, as we drive growth and create jobs through our Plan for Change.”
