MacAskill: Labour Need to Step Up
It was a privilege to address the Keep Grangemouth Working march for jobs. The Boness and Kinneil Brass Band would led off the demonstration showing the communities which would be affected by its closure extend far beyond Grangemouth straddling the entire central belt, if not all of Scotland.
As I pointed out once again, if it closes then Scotland will be left in the perverse position of being the only major oil producer without a refinery. Scotland’s in the top 25, and yet will be akin to nations such as Trinidad and Tobago and the Republic of Congo both of whom produce significantly less. Our resource, which has bolstered the UK economy for trillions over decades, will be taken from us for a song and then resold to us at the pumps and in our homes. But at a premium that we’ll be forced to pay.
Yet the plant is profitable and it’s closure would worsen the environmental impact as tankers would be coming in and out not just the Forth but Clyde taking crude oil out and bringing the refined product in. The increase in shipping traffic is considerable and all at a time of growing fears for energy security.
It’s why the demand for extend, invest and transition must be heeded. No one denies the need to switch from fossil fuels, but it needs paced to allow our economy and society to adapt. It’s a just transition that’s needed.
Grangemouth is well placed to provide for that new world. Sustainable Aviation Fuel is coming fast, and the refinery already provides all of Scotland’s and much of the north of England’s supply. Also, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage are also now being planned. The former offering clear benefits with not only fuel for transportation but a link with local manufacturing. Alexander Dennis Ltd in Camelon produces electric and hydrogen buses.
It’s not rocket science to join the dots and run your services on a cheap and renewable source and at the same time boost your industrial base. That new world can be reached and provided for by the plant, but it takes time and then means extending beyond proposed closure in 2025 and investing to allow for that transition.
The threat has been hanging over the refinery and community since late 2023. But we’ve now had a change of government and the Tories’ contempt for the economic, environmental and energy security situation is no more. But a welcome political change has to be matched by a policy change.
Labour needs to support the extend, invest and transition policy of the stewards and Unite the Union. The key to that is using the leverage that the UK government has which is to turn off the tap for support for the new Ineos plant in Antwerp, if they insist on the closure of Grangemouth. Why should millions be given to a corporate to invest in a foreign land if they’re harming this country’s economy and community. Labour now needs to deliver.
Not a penny for Antwerp, if Grangemouth shuts.
