
SNP Government accused of 'dereliction of duty' over nuclear power snub
The SNP Government has been accused of a "dereliction of duty" after failing to carry out any analysis of the potential economic benefits of building new nuclear power stations in Scotland.
Nationalist ministers have also so carried out no research on the economic impact of decomissioning the two remaining nuclear plants north of the Border.
The SNP has long been opposed to nuclear energy and has instead pushed for greater investment in renewables. The UK Government has taken a different approach and recently announced a £14.2 billion investment to build the Sizewell C reactor in Suffolk.
The GMB union is now urging the Scottish Government to reconsider its ban on new nuclear power to help meet net zero targets, deliver secure energy and create thousands of well-paid jobs.
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, branded the failure of the Scottish Government to properly analyse the potential economic benefits of nuclear energy 'a dereliction of duty.'
She said: 'New nuclear can help provide a baseload of safe, clean and secure energy while creating thousands of good, skilled, unionised jobs in Scotland. The Scottish Government's refusal to discuss the potential benefits in public is one thing but to discover it is not even analysing them in private seems beyond belief.
"To allow ministers' ideological opposition to nuclear energy to block analysis of its potentially huge economic benefits is a dereliction of duty.'
She spoke out after the union asked the Scottish Government for its analysis of the economic impact of decommissioning the Hunterston nuclear plant, in Ayrshire, now underway, and Torness, in East Lothian, where decommissioning is due to begin in 2030.
It also asked for the analysis of the economic benefits linked to the potential expansion of new nuclear stations in Scotland. In response, to the request submitted under Freedom of Information legislation, the union was told: "The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested."
Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said the need for Holyrood ministers to end their opposition to nuclear power has become even more urgent after the UK Government recently announced £14 billion investment in a new plant at Sizewell C.
Meanwhile, the nuclear plant being built at Hinkley Point C in Somerset is estimated to have created 1,600 jobs for Scots workers and the awarding of almost £300m of contracts to Scots firms.
Analysis by the GMB suggests suggests four small modular reactors (SMRs) could create up to 800 jobs generating £60million a year in wages. At Torness, two new reactors would create up to jobs for 1,000 workers being paid £90m annually.
Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour energy spokeswoman, said: "Scottish Labour has been clear that we will end the SNP's ideological opposition to nuclear power that is holding Scotland back and blocking the creation of high-quality jobs.
"At the stroke of a pen, the SNP could unlock billions of pounds of investment. And yet, we now learn that the Scottish Government hasn't even bothered to carry out an analysis of the benefits that nuclear energy would bring.
"Only Scottish Labour has the vision to set a new direction for Scotland which maximises the opportunities available through clean energy and economic growth."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government is focussed on supporting growth and creating jobs by capitalising on Scotland's immense renewable energy capacity rather than expensive new nuclear energy which takes decades to build and creates radioactive waste which is difficult and costly to dispose of.
"Significant growth in renewables, storage hydrogen, carbon capture and decommissioning are key opportunities for our future energy workforce in Scotland – with independent scenarios from Ernst and Young (EY) showing that with the right support, Scotland's low carbon and renewable energy sector could support nearly 80,000 jobs by 2050."
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Times
an hour ago
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SNP transition fund spends £43m on just 110 jobs for oil workers
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
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We ought to be focusing on how to turbocharge economic growth as a source of tax receipts, using growth receipts to invest in public spending and, over the longer term, seeking to pay down debt. What is missing is a material programme to drive up growth and investment. Where is the sense of urgency that recognises an acceleration of growth over a sustained period is the only way of improving finances and allowing for the investment in public services we all want to see? It is the lack of consistent, material economic growth over the last 17 years that led to increased Government spending as a shock absorber for the financial crisis, Covid, and the impact of the cost of living. That is what has resulted in today's high-debt, high-tax outcome. Heaven help us if we face another external shock, given UK PLC's balance sheet. I shudder to think how the UK could finance another Covid-style crisis. When Labour was last in power from 1997 to 2010, reasonable economic growth allowed for public sector investment to grow without increasing Government spending as a percentage of GDP. Indeed, the ratio fell from 37.4% of GDP to 36.3% of GDP between 1997 and 2007. The financial crisis of 2008 saw the Government having to stand behind the financial system, and by 2010 the debt ratio had increased to 70.3%. It has climbed continuously since, reaching 96.4% in May 2025, a record for any May, up from 95.9% the previous year. Never mind the ratio. Our debt now sits at a mouth-watering £2,867 billion and results in debt servicing costs of over £100 billion. That is a lot of cash that could have been invested in public services. International comparisons make clear that investors impose a risk premium on UK debt. The current 10-year UK Government gilt yield is 4.5%. In Germany, it is 2.6%. In Switzerland, a modest 0.4%. Our neighbour Ireland has a rate of 2.8%. We are paying a price for the perception of investors of a lack of financial competence. We make jokes about Liz Truss and her cataclysmic approach to financial management, but her predecessors and successors hardly earn an A-plus. The financial markets have delivered their judgment on UK PLC. We are all paying the price. High interest rates crowd out public spending and also have a knock-on effect for business borrowers. The UK pays a premium and a higher cost of capital — additional costs that feed into higher prices. If I were the Chancellor, I would be concentrating not just on the budget for the coming year but on addressing the structural weaknesses that are self-evident in the UK. Hoping for growth will not do. For the public, the catastrophic failure to deliver an economic policy that supports sustainable growth has meant declining living standards. The last Westminster Parliament was the first in the post-war period during which living standards fell. I would not bet on this Parliament delivering a different outcome. It is little wonder the Tories paid a price at the UK General Election. But what next if Labour fails to deliver in this Parliamentary cycle? With an increasingly discontented population, the potential for populist parties is plain to see. The rise of Reform ought to worry all of us in the mainstream parties. The threat of a Reform government cannot be discounted. What does this mean for Scotland? For the SNP Government, whose budget is largely based on Barnett consequentials, it means an ongoing squeeze on real-terms spending. The 2026 election will largely focus on devolved responsibilities, but the capacity to deliver over the next Parliament will be constrained by the UK financial settlement. Politics ought to be about hope. The SNP can seize the opportunity to paint a landscape showing how things could be different in Scotland. I have previously argued for the establishment of an industrial council. It is much needed. Or, if one is not to be established, the SNP at the very least needs to set out how it will drive a step change in investment, jobs, and growth. We have the opportunity to drive economic opportunity from our massive potential in green energy. Not green energy in itself, but using that power to create a sustainable green industrial future — building on our strategic opportunity to create a competitive advantage from affordable green energy. Doing our bit for net zero while creating the circumstances for a sustainable increase in economic growth. When we talk about independence, it is not about an abstract concept. It is about transforming life chances. More of the same within the UK — low growth and public services under pressure — can be broken. The SNP needs to spell out how it can change the landscape and unlock economic growth by harnessing our natural resources and, of course, our human capital. There is a better way. It is up to our leaders to chart it. Ian Blackford was SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 2015 to 2024, and served as the party's Westminster leader from 2017 to 2022.