Alba react with fury as SNP candidate reveals they will adopt presumption against Oil & Gas

Alba: "The SNP’s betrayal of the North East of Scotland will cost over one hundred thousand jobs”

ALBA Party have accused the SNP of betraying the North East of Scotland after it was revealed they set to adopt a presumption against the issuing of new oil and gas licences.

Alba say that the SNP policy position is now aligned with that of the Labour Party which experts predict could cost Scotland 100,000 jobs.

Speaking on the BBC’s Drivetime show, SNP candidate Tommy Sheppard who has been a member of Parliament since 2015 was pressed on whether or not the SNP should make its position known in regards to new licences in advance of the General Election.

Presenter Fiona Stalker put to the SNP man that “in 2023 the Scottish Government has announced a presumption against new oil and gas exploration as part of its new energy strategy.”

Responding Mr Sheppard revealed that the SNP will likely adopt a presumption against new oil and gas licenses. He said:

“That is what the public consultation was about and I think that it is reasonable to assume that at the end of the day that will be the policy.”

Alba Party Candidate for Aberdeen North Charlie Abel says that a presumption against new exploration will will cost over one hundred thousand jobs and that “the position of the SNP and Labour in regards to wrecking the North East economy is now identical.”

Last year’s GERS figures showed that North Sea Oil and Gas Revenues were a record high for Scotland with £9.4 billion raised in the past financial year. Alba candidate Charlie Abel says that “ it would be daft to sacrifice such an overwhelming bounty for Scotland when Scotland’s Oil & Gas can be the engine room of an independent Scotland and the resource which is used to fund the development of a Net Zero future.”

Alba Party want to see new fields licensed with a condition for them to be a zero carbon development and they say this can be achieved by carbon capture - a technology Alba claim Scotland could be the world leader in if the UK Government invested fraction of oil revenues for a “rapid development of a carbon capture network.”

Commenting Alba Party Candidate for Aberdeen North Charlie Abel said:

‘’It would be an act of great folly to sacrifice the enormous potential of Scotland’s Oil and Gas Sector, the billions it generates in revenues and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it sustains all to appease the Greens who don’t want any new oil fields to be developed.

“An SNP candidate has now let the cat out of the bag that they are trying to get through the election and then announce a presumption against new oil and gas exploration. This betrayal of the North East of Scotland will be unforgettable and unforgivable.

"There is a bright future for the industry, that uses technology such carbon capture to have net zero licence requirements to new fields. That is the sort of sensible policy that Scotland needs.”