Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has insisted that oil and gas from the North Sea will “remain part of our energy system for decades to come”, as the government faces mounting criticism over job losses and investment uncertainty in the sector.
Appearing in the Commons, Mr Alexander said ministers were “strengthening energy security” through investment in “home-grown clean power” and the creation of Great British Energy.
He added that he would travel to Aberdeen next week to meet companies “from across the north-east” as part of efforts to manage what he called a “fair and orderly transition”.
Conservative MP Dr Ben Spencer accused the government of pursuing an “unsustainable” energy policy, arguing that new North Sea tiebacks were essential to keep prices down and protect UK energy security.
“If we want to increase energy security and reduce energy prices for households and businesses, we must expand the use of the energy resources available to us, including North Sea oil and gas,” he said.
Mr Alexander countered that “there was an abject failure by the previous Government to manage” the transition, leading to “tens of thousands of jobs going in the North Sea without the level of investment that we are now seeing from GB Energy”.
Labour’s Torcuil Crichton added that “77,000 jobs drifted out of the North Sea under their Government, and they did not lift a finger,” praising the current £18 million transition fund for workers moving into renewables.
“The last Conservative Government did not believe in industrial strategy—it is as basic as that,” Mr Alexander told MPs.
“It is not just a difference of policy; it is a difference of philosophy. We believe in open markets and an active state. That is why we set up GB Energy, that is why there is a transition fund and that is why people can rely on Labour.”
But Andrew Bowie, the Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, accused ministers of pursuing the “destruction of our oil and gas industry” while importing fuel from Norway.
“Scottish workers are being made unemployed in their thousands,” he said. “Come on, Secretary of State; it is all a little unhinged, isn’t it?”
He drew a terse response from Mr Alexander, who said: "I gently remind the shadow Secretary of State that there is a difference between abuse and argument."