A LABOUR MP candidate struggled to explain what GB Energy is during a BBC radio appearance.
Kate Blake, the party’s nominee for the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat, was speaking with BBC journalist Laura Maxwell on Good Morning Scotland on Tuesday and was asked what GB Energy is.
“There seems to be some confusion about it. Keir Starmer said that it wouldn't produce any electricity, but yet it's still, we're told, going to produce tens of thousands of jobs,” Maxwell said.
“How do you not produce any energy and yet still produce tens of thousands of jobs?”
Blake responded: “So, GB energy will be the way that … it would be a vehicle that we work with private industry as well as to create thousands of clean power jobs here in the North-East of Scotland and in Scotland. It's about investing.”
The Labour candidate then confirmed that the headquarters would be in Scotland but couldn’t confirm where exactly.
Maxwell then asked: “If it's just one great big investment vehicle, what happens if those investments go wrong? And private companies don't do brilliantly with the government money?
She added: “What happens to the jobs and the transition to net zero then?
Blake said there are “a number of different strands to this”.
“Obviously, there is GB Energy. There is the other things that we're looking at that, will obviously be around our commitment to upgrade hundreds of thousands of homes. Cold and drafty homes. There is obviously the investment in ports.
She added: “So there's a number of different strands to this, to how we will take forward clean energy and deliver lower bills.”
Blake’s explanation of Labour plans for the publicly-owned energy company, which Scottish Labour leader has claimed will lead to more than 69,000 jobs, led to widespread condemnation on social media – with Twitter/X users describing it as “embarrassing” and a "car crash" interview.
🙏 With all due respect to my opponent in West #Aberdeenshire & #Kincardine, the problem here was not the question nor the attempted answer. 🤨 The problem is #Labour policy and the creation of #GBEnergy as an investment vehicle, not an actual energy company. https://t.co/rctm8F2XmB
— Glen Reynolds (@glenreynoldsSNP) June 18, 2024
The SNP candidate for the seat, Glen Reynolds, said (above): “With all due respect to my opponent in West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine, the problem here was not the question nor the attempted answer.
“The problem is Labour policy and the creation of GBEnergy as an investment vehicle, not an actual energy company.”
SNP MSP Elena Whitham added: “Well, that's cleared up that then. #VoteSNP for a just transition.”
