Exclusive:SNP 'all over the shop' as Aberdeen conference poised to shun oil and gas debate

First Minister John Swinney faces accusations of leaving energy workers “in the dark about their future” as the SNP government is yet to publish its final energy strategy and just transition plan, which will include its position on new oil and gas developments. The draft was revealed in May 2023.

Ahead of the SNP conference this weekend, campaigners have warned the Scottish Government has “abandoned” key strategies to help workers into green jobs.

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, has demanded the UK government allow unlimited drilling in the North Sea, putting him at odds with SNP Energy Secretary Gillian Martin, who has indicated climate compatibility tests should be used.

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As delegates gather in Aberdeen, concerns have been raised at the lack of debate over the future of the industry - with a fringe event organised by Offshore Energy UK and a motion on the just transition that does not mention oil and gas the only avenues for debate on the fossil fuels sector.

Friends of the Earth Scotland oil and gas campaigns manager, Rosie Hampton, accused ministers of “dither and delay” and warned “the SNP is all over the shop when it comes to the necessary transition away from fossil fuels”.

She added: “Stephen Flynn is going on solo runs on behalf of the oil industry demanding more drilling whilst Scottish Government ministers hide behind a supposed climate harm test for new oil that they have never explained.

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“Key strategies to support workers into green jobs have been abandoned despite the hard evidence from the Grangemouth oil refinery closure of what happens when politicians leave it up to big business to decide what our energy future looks like.”

Scottish Conservative shadow energy secretary Douglas Lumsden said: “It’s appalling that the SNP – who are holding their conference in the oil capital of Europe – won’t even acknowledge this crucial sector.

“They still haven’t published their energy strategy, almost three years after they released the draft.

“As a result, oil and gas workers are being left in the dark about their future, with 400 jobs disappearing every fortnight because the SNP have decimated the sector.”

The Scotsman understands that, in her speech to SNP conference tomorrow, STUC general secretary Roz Foyer will claim the Scottish Government’s current industrial strategy amounts to nothing more than a “glorified prospectus for the finance sector”.

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An STUC spokesperson said: “We need the Scottish Government to be taking bold, concrete steps in ensuring we have a proper industrial strategy and plan for a just transition.

“Manufacturing jobs in Scotland have declined by 130,000 since the advent of the Scottish Parliament and we cannot countenance the loss of thousands of jobs in the North Sea without a proper plan to create the equivalent number of good, green, unionised jobs.

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"It is simply not good enough that we have been waiting more than three years for a coherent energy strategy and just transition plan.”

SNP MSP Jackie Dunbar said: "The SNP believes that our energy industry is absolutely crucial to Scotland's economy.

"The first motion for debate at this year's SNP conference recognises that, highlighting our commitment to a just transition, and our ambition that the North East is the renewables capital of the world.”