(Image: NQ)
Aberdeen could be “decimated” unless politicians get the transition away from oil and gas right, an SNP MP has warned as she challenged her own party to rethink its approach to the North Sea.
Kirsty Blackman, the MP for Aberdeen North, said the Jackdaw and Rosebank developments should both be approved and warned the city’s economy could not cope with oil and gas activity being reduced as quickly as she fears.
She also urged SNP members to approach the issue “with your head, not with your heart” as the party prepares for a major conference debate on energy at the SNP conference.
Her intervention comes as new Survation polling, commissioned by an SNP group keen to influence energy policy, found 62% of Scots believe the UK Government should approve Jackdaw, with 18% opposed, while 64% back Rosebank and 16% oppose it.
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Almost 59% support continued expansion of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, while more than 65% also support expanding offshore wind.
The findings will add to pressure on John Swinney over the SNP’s energy stance as members gather in Aberdeen.
The poll was commissioned by the Forum for Research on Energy (FoRE), a new SNP-linked group seeking to influence the party’s policy.
Former SNP MP Richard Thompson, who chaired a FoRE fringe event where Ms Blackman spoke, also pressed the party to update its approach to energy.
Delegates are due to debate an energy resolution entitled “It’s Scotland’s Energy” on Friday, before Mr Swinney delivers his keynote speech on Saturday.
The conference at P&J Live comes as the party faces competing pressure from members demanding stronger support for the North Sea and others seeking tougher action against fossil fuels.
Asked directly by The Herald whether Jackdaw and Rosebank should be approved, Ms Blackman said: “Yes.”
She warned that getting the transition wrong would have devastating consequences for the north-east.
“Aberdeen will be decimated if we don't get this transition right.
"If Labour were to, for example, turn the taps off, if they don't move away from the EPL to the new system, if they don't provide a measure of confidence in the industry, particularly the Labour government, most of this, almost everything to do with this is reserved.
"I don't think that politicians sitting in Westminster, who do not have this slightest clue about Aberdeen, should be making those decisions without coming here without understanding all of the obligations of those decisions.”
But Ms Blackman also turned her fire on her own side, warning the SNP that the promised replacement economy had not materialised quickly enough.
She said: “We need a new future for Aberdeen. We need to build that future, but we're not there yet. We don't have the jobs yet. We don't have the electricity grid yet in order to be able to do the things that we need to do in order to create that future.”
Ms Blackman told The Herald her own view had changed as the reality facing the north-east had changed.
“I think that the facts have changed. I think that the reality has changed. My position has changed on this because the position that we're in has changed. We have not moved as quickly as I would like to see, either with North Sea or you know the just transition itself. By we, I mean the UK has not moved, the economy has not moved the local economy. So my view has changed, and it's had to change.”
In a pointed message to SNP activists ahead of the conference debate, she added: “I want all to deal with this with your head, not with your heart. Right? Look at the facts and figures. Come to a conclusion about it.”
The comments expose the difficult balance facing Mr Swinney as he attempts to reconcile the party’s climate commitments with fears over jobs and investment in the north-east.
Offshore oil and gas licensing and taxation are reserved to Westminster, while the North Sea Transition Authority regulates exploration and development.
That means decisions on Jackdaw and Rosebank are not Mr Swinney’s to make.
However, the Scottish Government has significant influence over the transition through areas including planning, skills and training, economic development and renewable energy consenting.
That leaves the First Minister under pressure over whether the SNP should explicitly support Jackdaw and Rosebank and adopt a more favourable political stance towards continued North Sea production.
The polling found almost two thirds of Scots believed the Scottish Government should support the projects, while 55% said ministers should be more supportive of continued North Sea oil and gas production generally.
Ms Blackman urged Mr Swinney to examine the economic, environmental and energy security consequences.
“Look at all of the data that is there. Look at what the alternatives are. If we don't approve Jackdaw, particularly in relation to the gas, where are we getting it from? What are the climate impacts of that? What are the economic impacts of that?
“But actually, you know, if the if the key things you care about, John Swinney was very clear earlier this year that the climate change impacts, the environmental impacts, but also the energy security impact. I don't see how anyone can make a different decision than, particularly for Jackdaw, than approving Jackdaw.”
The row also places pressure on Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who is due to visit Scotland on Friday.
Ms Blackman said: “So Burnham needs to make a decision imminently. Burnham needs to come to Aberdeen and listen to folk. Listen to the Chamber of Commerce, listen to all of the industry, listen to the taxi drivers in Aberdeen. I mean, jeez, if you want a view, speak to a taxi driver in Aberdeen, and you know they tell you what's happened with the industry.
“They tell you that folk are moving away. You know, we're going to foreign countries to work in oil and gas in foreign countries. I don't think our economy can cope with this being reduced as fast as I fear it might be.”
The event also heard from Unite representative Bob McGregor, University of Aberdeen Professor John Underhill and energy commentator Dick Winchester.
Prof Underhill called for the Scottish Government to update its energy strategy and described the current transition as “very unmanaged, disorganised, and unjust”.
With the argument now moving onto the SNP conference floor, Ms Blackman’s intervention leaves Mr Swinney facing pressure from within his own party to spell out whether its position on the North Sea is about to change.