Grangemouth has 'huge potential' and jobs will come soon, says Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister said he did not see the closure of the refinery “as one of those cases where decline is inevitable.”

He was speaking at the House of Commons liaison committee on Monday afternoon.

When asked by Scottish Affairs Committee chair Patricia Ferguson why it was taking so long to create new jobs at Grangemouth, the PM said: “Well, firstly, we obviously put £100m package in to support the community, invest in the local workforce, along with tailored support on good alternative jobs.

“Then we announced the £200m from the National Wealth Fund for Co-investment with the private sector.

“That has yielded about 100 inquiries from the private sector, which is a good thing, so we need to go through those.

“And at the budget, just a few weeks ago, we announced over 14 million pounds to support the projects that are viable going forward from that.

“So what we're doing is whittling that down. There has been a good level of support. I'm really pleased that that has happened.

“I think that is at least partly because we indicated we put the £200m down through the National Wealth Fund. Now we need to work through those that are viable and put the support. That's why the £14m was put down, to support the options that are viable, so that we can go with it.

“I think Grangemouth has a huge potential future, by the way. I think it's I absolutely do not see it as one of those cases where decline is inevitable. I think that the potential for Grangemouth is huge, particularly carbon capture and other projects. And so we need to seize that and make sure that Grangemouth is the successful future that I know it can be.”

When asked if there will be new jobs created at Grangemouth soon, Sir Keir said: “Yes, I hope so.

“And what we need to do is obviously have a support package for the workers that are there at the moment and work as quickly as possible to bring these, these inquiries and opportunities, to fruition.”

The oil refinery shut earlier this year after 100 years of operation. It resulted in 400 workers being made redundant.

It is now a fuel import terminal.