John Swinney has warned Sir Keir Starmer he could become "a second Thatcher" unless he acts now to remove the Energy Profits Levy destroying the industry.
The first minister made the scathing remarks during a speech at Glasgow Science Centre, where he said the UK government had left the oil and gas sector "left high and dry" the windfall tax was "sucking the economic life out of one of our country's most dynamic and important industries".
Swinney revealed that during a meeting with the prime minister late last week, he laid bare the stark reality of the impact of the levy, drawing comparison "destroyer of industry and communities" Margaret Thatcher.
He said: "Deep roots in our society, but also in our national psyche. The oil and gas industry has been an important part of Scotland's story, a fundamental part of who we are.
"That is why, when I met the prime minister on Friday, I made clear the existential nature of the current threat.
"I left him in no doubt that, unless he changes course, what we face is a second wave of 80s-style deindustrialisation, 80s-style economic devastation.
"Today Sir Keir Starmer is an even less popular Prime Minister than Liz Truss – and that takes some doing - but if he does not change course on the energy profits levy, he will enter our national story as a second Thatcher, a second destroyer of industry, a second destroyer of communities, and Scotland will not forget.
"We use the phrase 'Just Transition', but as with many such terms it hides the reality of people whose lives and livelihoods are dependent on us getting the move from oil and gas to renewables right.
"Have no doubt, if Scotland is to make the most of our renewables wealth, we need the skills of the people working today in the North Sea, and so we must not abandon them."