Exclusive:Stephen Flynn ‘calling the shots’ as UK minister declares SNP in 'chaos' over Grangemouth
The SNP were accused of not having a plan on Grangemouth
Stephen Flynn has been accused of “calling the shots” in the SNP, as a Labour minister claimed Scotland’s ruling party was in “chaos” following its calls for the nationalisation of Grangemouth.
Energy minister Michael Shanks criticised Scottish Government calls to nationalise the refinery. He claimed those calls showed Mr Flynn, the SNP Westminster leader, was now running the party, rather than First Minister John Swinney.
Mr Shanks, the MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said the Scottish Government had not mentioned nationalisation once despite almost weekly meetings with the UK government, and claimed the move was not a “serious proposition”.
Speaking exclusively to The Scotsman, Mr Shanks said: “For the past eight months, we have had a very productive relationship and we have agreed on the direction of travel for Grangemouth, and that has led to us working collaboratively on things like Project Willow and on the skills support.
“But for some reason in the past few days, the chaos currently in the SNP, in terms of who is calling the shots, has meant that that has fallen by the wayside. We now see Stephen Flynn clearly deciding that nationalisation is something that he wants to pursue and John Swinney following along.
“Before Flynn even gets to Holyrood, he's now deciding government policy. And the truth is that [nationalisation] has never been mentioned in any of the conversations we've had with Scottish Government ministers, including just a few weeks ago with the First Minister himself where he didn't even want to discuss that as a possibility.”
Mr Shanks claimed the possibility of nationalisation had not been mentioned once by the First Minister in meetings, and insisted the UK government approach was the only way to protect workers.
He said: “It’s a convenient line that they’ve produced in the past 48 hours. There’s various industrial examples in Scotland where I think their leadership on industrial policy has not been particularly favourable to a lot of industries in Scotland.
“The reality is the only way for a sustainable future for Grangemouth is to invest in the new industries that are coming next. Nationalising Grangemouth was clearly always an option that could be looked at, but it simply wasn't a sustainable option. It would have cost the public a huge amount of money and at the end of it, we still wouldn't have had a sustainable refinery at Grangemouth and the workers would have been in the continued precarious position week after week, month after month.
“What we did - and what we thought the Scottish Government were on board with - was working out what is the long-term investable proposition, which is what Project Willow came up with.
“We put £200 million on the table because we're serious about that investment future at Grangemouth. We'll carry on trying to make that happen and hope the Scottish Government will find a way to do so as well.”
The First Minister recently warned Scotland must not be an “afterthought” for the UK government, joining calls from Mr Flynn for the Grangemouth refinery to be nationalised.
Mr Shanks said this change of heart came from the SNP Westminster leader, who is hoping to be elected to Holyrood. The Labour minister suggested it showed Mr Flynn was already running the party.
“Clearly, there's a power play at the heart of the SNP at the moment,” Mr Shanks said. “Before he even gets to Holyrood, Flynn is trying to take control and that seems to be working because he said one thing and 24 hours later, the First Minister is repeating it. That’s for them to figure out.
“But in the interim we've this is a critical moment for us to build confidence that Grangemouth is an investable proposition. We need to be on the same page. We need to be speaking about the positives of Grangemouth and the future that Grangemouth has and the longer I think that we go back into these arguments that we thought were settled, the further we are from actually delivering that and that the jobs and investment that Grangemouth needs.”
Mr Shanks also accused the SNP of having no plan and questioned the timing of the calls for nationalisation.
He said: “I think the fact that this has all emerged after redundancies have been handed out shows that this isn't really a credible plan from the SNP. We've been working for eight months, barely a week has passed where me or [UK energy secretary] Ed [Miliband] hasn’t had a meeting with the Scottish Government to talk about Grangemouth. Our officials are talking every single week on a lot of the detail of this. We had a plan, we'll continue to work towards that plan.
“I don't believe that this is a serious proposition from the Scottish Government. If it had been, when we met with the First Minister a few weeks ago, he probably would have brought it up. But he didn't bring it up, because I don't believe that this is something they seriously want to pursue.”
Brian Leishman, the Scottish Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said “all of Scotland” was demanding better from both administrations.
He said: “I don’t want to comment on any internal SNP decision making or power struggle because it’s absolutely nothing to do with me, of zero interest to me and frankly is a distraction from the matter in hand - what happens to Grangemouth, the workers, their communities, and Scotland’s fuel and national security.
“Yes, both the SNP in Holyrood and the Tories when in power at Westminster have been abject. Two governments that stuck their heads in the sand and did nothing for Grangemouth.
“But now that we have a Labour government in Westminster, Grangemouth and all of Scotland is demanding better than what we have had.”
Calls to nationalise the Grangemouth refinery have grown after UK ministers last weekend fast-tracked plans to nationalise the British Steel site at Scunthorpe to keep it open.
Mr Leishman said: “The decision to step in and save Scunthorpe and British Steel was the correct choice. What was right for Scunthorpe is also right for Grangemouth and, indeed, all of Scotland.
“If the UK government does actually have a credible industrial strategy for Scotland, then that means stepping in, saving the jobs at Grangemouth and safeguarding our oil refining capacity until the new energy industries of the future are ready. “
An SNP spokesperson said: “The public will be wondering why the Labour UK energy minister responsible for allowing Scotland’s only oil refinery to close is more interested in attacking the SNP than keeping the refinery open and saving skilled jobs.
“If Michael Shanks spent more time doing his job on Scotland’s behalf, rather than Westminster’s behalf, he might be talking about saving Grangemouth rather than managing its decline.
"After all it was [Scottish Labour leader] Anas Sarwar who only last year at the general election publicly promised to 'step in to save jobs at the refinery'. Now Scottish Labour seem to have launched a co-ordinated campaign to tell Scots why Grangemouth's refinery must close instead of keeping their original promise.
“But that’s the thing with Labour MPs from Scotland. They’d rather defend the UK government than Scotland - and the public are wise to that.”
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