THE SNP have responded to Keir Starmer’s headline announcement that the UK Government will provide £200 million in funding for the future of Grangemouth.
Scotland’s only oil refinery, the site is due to close later this year and some 400 workers have been given redundancy notices.
The UK and Scottish Governments have both been under pressure to take action to find a future for the site and help the hundreds of families impacted by the job losses.
Trade union Unite organised a protest outside the Scottish Labour conference on Friday calling for the UK Government to step in – and in a speech on Sunday the Prime Minister said they would do so.
He said Grangemouth “could have a future in bioengineering, in biofuels, or in hydrogen energy”, adding: “We will allocate £200m from the National Wealth Fund for investment in Grangemouth.”
Starmer later told reporters that the public funding would be used to leverage private investment worth “three times that”, so £600m for a total of £800m.
Responding to the announcement, First Minister John Swinney said he welcomed “this response from the Prime Minister to my call earlier this week for the UK Government to provide its fair share of support for Grangemouth”.
Swinney went on: “It is a step in the right direction and this funding must be made available immediately.
“Everyone working at Grangemouth’s refinery is a valued employee with skills that are key to Scotland’s net zero future. We will continue to work constructively with the UK Government to secure the site’s future.”
MP Dave Doogan, the SNP’s net zero spokesperson at Westminster, said it was “about time Keir Starmer stepped up to support Grangemouth”.
“This announcement, on the back of the SNP Government's £25 million pledge, is a welcome step after months of silence from the UK Labour Government,” he went on.
“But given the scale of investments already made by Labour elsewhere, this is only the first step of what is needed to secure Grangemouth’s future.
“John Swinney made clear last week that the SNP will continue to work constructively for Grangemouth, helping protect jobs and developing new industries.
"This weekend the Labour Party has revealed their plans to cut social security support payments, sack hundreds of NHS workers, and copy the Elon Musk populist playbook in a scramble to beat Nigel Farage to second place – that is not the new direction Scotland needs.”
Elsewhere, Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham also welcomed the £200m Grangemouth fund – but said it must be “the start not the end in delivering a real workers' transition”.
“Following this announcement, it is essential that all stakeholders come together to put the meat on the bones and that this investment counts for jobs and our security”, she went on. “Clear timescales will be important as well as details on jobs.”
Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, also said further money from both the UK and Scottish Governments would be needed.
Foyer said the £200m could “not be dismissed lightly”, but insisted: “This funding will only have a transformative impact if used correctly and is accompanied by even further investment from both governments.”
The Scottish trade union chief further noted that Starmer’s announcement “neglects” proposals put forward by Unite for the Grangemouth plant to be transformed into a production centre for sustainable aviation fuel.
