Gordon MP says Labour Party resignation shines spotlight on Starmer's energy plan
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Reacting to the resignation of Cllr Barney Crockett from the Labour Party, Gordon MP Richard Thomson has said: "Scotland needs energy independence - not more Westminster control" - as the former Labour Party leader of Aberdeen City Council quits the party over Keir Starmer's damaging energy plans.
Cllr Crockett, who led Aberdeen Labour Party twice and was council leader between 2012 and 2014, has quit the party over Sir Keir Starmer's energy strategy, which he said was “more brutal” than anything Margaret Thatcher did to Scotland's industrial communities.
Cllr Crockett told Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce he was "stunned and bemused" by Starmer's announcements and warned “Margaret Thatcher never delivered a more brutal put down of an industry than that delivered by Keir Starmer in Edinburgh.”
It comes as local figures, trade unions and industry representatives hit out at Starmer's bungled plans, with GMB general secretary Gary Smith and Offshore Energy UK chief executive David Whitehouse both warning the plans would "create a cliff edge" deterring investment, threatening jobs, and heightening the risk of energy shortages.
Commenting, Richard Thomson MP said: “The resignation of someone as high-profile in the Labour Party in the north-east shines a spotlight on Sir Keir Starmer’s damaging plans to carve up Scotland's energy sector and shows why Scotland needs energy independence - not more Westminster control.
“While it’s clear that a range of pressures mean a change in energy policy is necessary, the north-east needs a Just Transition and importance of that was underlined when First Minister Humza Yousaf paid an early visit here just shortly after being elected in April to announce more Scottish Government funding for the half a billion pound energy transition fund exclusively for the north-east.
“Equally important is the fact that it is a transition – anyone who argues for the production of oil and gas from the North Sea to cease immediately doesn’t have a credible plan for meeting our existing energy needs.”
