Sir Keir Starmer has snubbed the offer of a summit to review oil and gas policies after a visit by Donald Trump saw the US president slam “very high” North Sea taxes.
Mr Trump met the Prime Minister and First Minister John Swinney during a four-day visit to Scotland in July, and opened a second 18-hole golf course at his Menie estate.
Mr Trump described North Sea oil and gas as the UK’s “treasure chest” and bemoaned the 78% headline tax rate paid by producers — 30% from corporation tax, 10% from a supplementary charge and 38% from the so-called “windfall tax”.
Ahead of that visit, business leaders has urged Mr Trump to “talk sense” into Sir Keir.
Shadow Scottish secretary Andrew Bowie called on the Prime Minister to hold a review of North Sea policy “in partnership with industry leaders, our world-leading supply chain business, and the local workforce to ensure a coherent and sustainable path forward”.
However that call has been snubbed, as the correspondence to the Prime Minister was responded by junior energy minister Michael Shanks.
Mr Shanks said: “On tax, we are taking a responsible and proportionate approach. We have provided certainty to the oil and gas sector that the Energy Profits Levy will end by no later than 31 March 2030, or earlier if prices fall for a sustained period under thresholds set by the EPL Energy Security Investment Mechanism.”
Mr Bowie, the Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said:
“No disrespect to the minister, but this was an urgent message to Keir Starmer at a time the whole world could see our oil and gas industry is on the brink.
“Snubbing the industry itself and the tens of thousands of Scottish jobs which are reliant on it, is not a good look for the Labour government.
“This 2030 end point almost five years away is a millstone around the sector’s neck, and it will undoubtedly cost careers at a time when there are precious few renewables jobs to move into.
“Turning a blind eye to the North East in particular is going to have serious repercussions on Labour’s fortunes in Scottish elections over the next five years, if not longer.”
