Exclusive:SNP warns Labour risking energy jobs and 'national security' over £2bn cuts for defence plans
The UK government plans to cut around £2bn to find defence infrastructure will not be announced until the autumn.
SNP ministers have accused the Labour UK government of “undermining” national security and putting energy jobs at risk after it emerged around £2 billion will need to be found by Ed Miliband or key projects face being scrapped or paused.
On Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled his controversial defence investment plan (Dip), amid reports he has left Andy Burnham, who is poised to replace him in Downing Street in the coming weeks, with a funding gap of around £5bn to pay for it.
The Labour government has confirmed that around £2bn of the shortfall will be made up of energy projects and savings - amid fears that funding for key parts Scotland’s infrastructure could be delayed or scrapped in order to pay for the military upgrades.
As he unveiled his Dip, Sir Keir said that "important but not immediately vital" energy projects will "no longer go ahead as planned".
READ MORE: Faslane to receive multi-billion pound upgrade from UK Government's Defence Investment Plan
The Scotsman understands that any energy projects that will need to be forced to be paused, delayed or cancelled will not be announced until the autumn - and will be another headache for Mr Burnham to wrestle with once he enters Downing Street.
Last spring, Sir Keir announced at Scottish Labour conference that around £200m of the national wealth fund will be used to held get the so-called project willow, plans to revitalise the Grangemouth industrial cluster, off the ground. The SNP government has repeatedly vented its frustration that that fund has not yet been spent.
After years of delay, the UK government finally agreed fund the Acorn carbon capture and storage project, based at St Fergus near Peterhead, with £200m, subject to a final business case being agreed.
The Scottish government’s legally-binding climate plan to cut harmful emissions is reliant on the Acorn project coming to fruition.
SNP Energy Minister, Stephen Gethins, has warned Scottish energy jobs have been put at risk by the UK government’s strategy, and has warned national security is also on the line.
He said: “The publication of the defence investment plan was welcome but it has created as many questions as it has answers.
“Westminster can seemingly always find money for nuclear weapons or a nonsensical Brexit that is costing hundreds of millions a day whilst making us less secure – no matter the cost elsewhere in the economy.
“However, cutting or delaying vital capital projects to pay for them simply serves to undermine the UK’s resilience in other areas, at a time when investment is badly needed. In an uncertain world, energy security is not a luxury – it is an essential component of our overall national security.”
Mr Gethins added: “The idea that we must wait until the autumn for any more clarity is clearly unacceptable to the thousands of people whose jobs depend on this investment – undermining our just transition and our climate objectives.
“The people of Scotland live in a country of energy abundance yet Westminster mismanagement is costing us all dear.
“The Scottish government will continue to press the UK government for clarity – the next UK prime minister must look again at these cuts and delays as a matter of urgency.”
The Scotsman understands that the UK department for energy security and net zero is hopeful a substantial amount of the £2bn of savings can come from efficiencies and underspending on other projects - helped by the department being handed a more generous settlement at the last spending review than other parts of the UK government.
In a written statement to the Commons, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “As departments with larger capital budgets, the government has decided to ask the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to make further contributions.
“DESNZ will find an additional £2bn of savings – including £400m financial transactions – while maintaining the fastest growing capital budget out of any department across this spending review period.
“DESNZ will reshape its capital budget in a way which continues to protect the clean power mission, drive renewable and nuclear build-out and insulate us from future gas price spikes on the path to energy independence. More detailed plans will be shared by autumn.”
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