SCOTTISH Labour have been accused by climate campaigners of “hypocrisy” for accepting £25,800 from a company behind plans for a new fossil fuel burning power station in Aberdeenshire.
Energy giant SSE – which operates a number of fossil fuel plants but also has a large renewable energy business – made the hefty payment to Scottish Labour in June 2024 – just before the General Election, according to Electoral Commission data.
The payment appears to be for the SSE Parliamentary Lounge and Clean Power Pavilion at Scottish Labour conference – which the party’s conference agenda in 2024 described as a “private space with refreshments for Labour parliamentarians and staff to host meetings throughout the conference”.
The energy firm will also be sponsoring a “Conference Lounge” at Scottish Labour’s 2025 conference in Glasgow next weekend.
SSE controls Peterhead power station in Aberdeenshire, which has been one of Scotland’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.
The firm – which also develops and operates onshore and offshore wind farms and hydroelectric generation across the UK – is also planning to open a new gas-fired plant in Peterhead, much to the ire of climate campaigners who have already called on the First Minister John Swinney to reject the plans.
But now, Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoE) have hit out at Scottish Labour for taking the money from SSE, especially given past comments and promises from senior party figures.
In October last year, for example, energy minister Michael Shanks (below) outlined the importance of “protecting billpayers from the rollercoaster of volatile fossil fuel markets for good”.
His colleague, Labour MP and fellow energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, also said in October: “The UK Government believes the only way to protect billpayers permanently is to speed up the transition towards homegrown clean energy and remove our dependence on volatile international fossil fuel market.”
The environmental charity, who will also be paying for exhibition space at Scottish Labour conference this year, said it is “hypocritical” for Labour to make those arguments while “failing to speak out” about the plans for the Peterhead plant – which they argue could drive up household bills for the next 35 years.
“SSE know this proposal is bad news for bill payers as well as being hugely damaging to the climate due to its dependence on failing carbon capture technology,” FoE just transition campaigner Rosie Hampton told The National.
“The company is scrambling around looking for political support for this fossil fuel project through relentless lobbying and huge donations.”
She added: “Taking money from a firm who’ve made billions in profit from the fossil fuel price crisis is a deeply out of touch decision by Labour.
“Building new fossil fuels infrastructure like this will undermine the fair and fast transition that is needed by workers and communities across Scotland. People are campaigning strongly against this proposal because we recognise that fossil fuels are costing us the earth and renewables represent an affordable, reliable energy future.”
Maggie Chapman (above) said that Scotland “can’t afford to be locked into fossil fuels for another generation”, adding that there’s no amount of money “Labour can accept that will change this fact”.
The Scottish Greens MSP went on: “These plans for a new gas plant would gut Scotland’s climate targets. It would emit five times as many emissions as the developers claim, and would do so for over a decade after our net zero target.
“In return, Scots would once again be left at the mercy of profiteering fossil fuel companies. We’ve all felt the impact of what this means as our bills skyrocketed over the last few years.
“The science and the economics are clear. To double down on the past, instead of investing in our huge renewables potential, would be a generational mistake.”
A spokesperson from SSE said: "SSE is strictly politically neutral and like many other businesses and charitable organisations, we engage at all major Scottish and UK party conferences.
The fee in question constitutes a commercial transaction as an exhibitor at conference and is subject to VAT. It is not a political donation."
Scottish Labour have not responded to a request for comment.
