Rachel Reeves has been invited to Aberdeen to meet workers whose jobs are at risk by Labour’s plans to end North Sea oil and gas production after failing to visit the city on her last trip to the North East.
Liam Kerr MSP has written to the Chancellor urging her to visit Aberdeen to see the “escalating crisis” caused by the UK Government’s decision to stop new oil and gas licences.
He has offered to accompany her around the city to speak to workers, companies and community representatives who are “bearing the brunt” of her decisions.
It comes after a Scotland-wide Survation poll showed overwhelming support for using our domestic energy supply by extracting more oil and gas from the North Sea.
The poll of more than 1,000 people found 58% of respondents “strongly” or “somewhat” support the development and extraction of North Sea oil and gas. Just 13% said they opposed it, with the remainder undecided.
In his own survey, almost 90% of respondents told Mr Kerr that they backed further extraction from the North Sea.
Reeves attended RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and the St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire last August but failed to include Aberdeen in her visit to the North East.
Mr Kerr slammed her decision not to include Aberdeen in her visit, stating it had “not gone unnoticed”.
In his letter to the Chancellor, Scottish Conservative North East MSP Liam Kerr said: “Over recent weeks, thousands of jobs have been put at risk and lost.
“Major employers across the region – including Harbour Energy, BP, Apache, Verlume, Well-Safe Solutions, Hunting, Altrad, Kaefer, Bilfinger, Wood Group, Chevron, Weatherford, and Xodus Group – have all reported significant consequences. The uncertainty is deepening by the day, and the sense of devastation is real.
“In August last year, you visited RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and St Fergus gas terminal in Aberdeenshire. Yet Aberdeen – the heart of the UK’s energy sector and the community bearing the brunt of these decisions – was notably absent from your itinerary. That omission has not gone unnoticed.
“So, I hereby extend a formal invitation to you to come to Aberdeen as my guest, to see the situation for yourself, and meet the people whose futures are on the line.
“I will personally take you around the city and wider region and show you exactly what is happening on the ground.
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“You will be able to speak directly with workers, companies, and community representatives, and see the consequences of your government’s current policy first hand.
“I extend this opportunity in good faith in order that decisions taken by your government are informed by the lived reality of those most affected.
“The people of the North East deserve to be seen, heard, and understood.”
