Labour 'can't win in Scotland' because of North Sea oil and gas ban, warns union chief
Labour will lose next year's Holyrood election because of the UK Government's opposition to new oil and gas developments in the North Sea, a trade union chief has predicted.
Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB, said Keir Starmer's party had failed to understand the energy sector was an "emotional issue in Scotland".
The UK Government is expected to grant permission for the giant new Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea to go ahead as they already have licenses approved. But Ed Miliband, the UK Energy Secretary, has repeatedly said no future licenses will be granted by Labour - meaning the North Sea sector will continue to shed jobs over time.
Smith, whose union is a major financial donor to Labour, said the party's opposition to oil and gas was a gift to Nigel Farage.
"On the current policies, I don't believe that Labour can win in Scotland," the union chief, who lives in Paisley, told the New Statesman. "People don't get that energy is an emotional issue in Scotland. We went hundreds of miles out in this inhospitable sea and built this incredible, groundbreaking energy infrastructure.
"If you're on the west coast of Scotland, most people of a certain age have a drop of oil from Sullom Voe because there are so many families who were involved in building that project when they landed the oil in Shetland. This was an emotional story about Scotland. It's important to its sense of self and the economy, and I don't think people have really got that."
Asked if he thought Labour would ultimately be forced to rethink its policy, Smith added: "They will have to rethink it because the consequences in terms of energy prices, in terms of national security, in terms of the economy and jobs, are so profound.
"What we should be doing is taking a public stake in what is left of the oil and gas sector and using the profits for that sector, or part of them, to invest in a new green future.
"We should be talking about North Sea Two, how we're going to collaborate with Norway – not just decarbonising the North Sea, but what comes next. Oil and gas is not the enemy: it's actually the gateway to whatever comes next, and we've got to stop seeing it as a threat.'
But Smith said his union was not reconsidering its donations to Labour as a result. It comes after Unite members voted to review its financial relationship with the party.
The union chief said: "It's up to Unite what they do. We're not interested in what other unions do.
"For us, a relationship with government should be contentious, there should be disagreement and debate. But I'd much rather have a Labour government in power than the alternative. And let's be clear about the Tories – they're done – the alternative is going to be Reform."
The Record asked Scottish Labour for comment.
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