SALMOND DEMANDS “SCALED UP CARBON CAPTURE” IN NORTH EAST OF SCOTLAND AND NO MORE BROKEN WESTMINSTER PROMISES
Let’s see the colour of Sunak’s money before celebrations warns Salmond
Former First Minister, Alex Salmond, has welcomed the funding commitment to the carbon capture ACORN project centred on St Fergus but pointed out that successive Westminster Governments have reneged on every Scottish carbon capture project since 2007.
Commenting the former First Minister and Alba Party leader said:
“I welcome the announcement of funding for the ACORN project but we should demand that the funding is immediate and scaled up. Thus there should be no celebrations until we see the colour of Richi Sunak’s money. In the last 16 years successive Labour then Tory governments have committed to carbon capture projects in the North East of Scotland and then went back on their commitments.
"They have promised support and then reneged on Scottish carbon capture proposals since the Miller project at Peterhead in 2007. Given that track record of betrayal, we need to see the colour of Sunak’s money before any celebrations.
"Since 2007, £75 Billion has flowed in oil revenues from Scotland to the London Treasury and we know from last year’s budget statement tens of billions more will be taken out of the North Sea in revenues. If a bare fraction of that had been invested in carbon capture then Scotland would right now be leading the world in the planet-saving technology and advancing into the hydrogen economy.
"Thus we need the cash for ACORN offered immediately and scaled up. In addition, it should be made a consent requirement of all new oil and gas projects to have a carbon capture commitment. In that way, we can both save jobs in the North East of Scotland and save the planet.
"Labour and SNP should beware. Their student politics posturing and their failure to connect carbon capture with a continuation of oil and gas development is opening the door to the Tories to pose as the friend of workers in the North East of Scotland.
"In reality the Sunak administration is deeply anti-Scottish, raking in billions from our resources and offering only the crumbs from the table in return.
"Scotland needs both control of our own resources through independence and grown-up politicians directing the nation’s destiny.”
