Scots Conservative leader says North Sea jobs must be prioritised: press
The UK should prioritise protecting industry jobs in the North Sea on a par with meeting its 2050 net zero climate commitments, according to the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Douglas Ross, who made the comments while speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio show September 8.
Ross did not deny the climate emergency was of "crucial" importance and batted off suggestions he was a sceptic on climate change, dismissing comparisons with the UK's new energy and business secretary Jacob-Rees Mogg, who has said the impact of emissions is still a matter of debate.
However Ross does believe work must be done to protect North Sea oil and gas jobs focused around Scotland's industry hub in Aberdeen, drawing a fault line between his Scottish Conservatives and the governing Scottish National Party-Green pact in Edinburgh, whose policy favours an accelerated switch to renewables.
Ross refused to be drawn on whether increased North Sea investment would undermine the UK's climate obligations, stating: "I think Scottish and UK North Sea oil and gas jobs should absolutely be prioritised. Rather than the SNP/Green approach to shut off the tab to decimate that industry then import American gas and Russian oil.
"I’d like to see far more of that done here in Scotland and across the UK where we will benefit and Scotland and UK jobs will benefit."
The UK's 2050 net zero emissions goal is supervised by the central government in London, and as such falls outside Edinburgh's remit, although Scotland hosts the vast majority of North Sea oil and gas reserves. The devolved SNP-led government aims for Scotland to become carbon neutral by 2045.
Ahead of the new UK Conservative prime minister Liz Truss's anticipated energy policy speech to the UK parliament later on September 8, Ross praised her efforts to make a swift intervention to tackle rising consumer bills. He argued plans to borrow more against the national debt were necessary to boost "domestic energy supply" and criticised the Labour opposition's suggestion that the UK should instead increase industry taxes to fund lower energy prices.
"It is a massive intervention... I think this rapid announcement by the UK government, on top of the £37bn that has already been provided, shows the scale of the problem affecting individuals and familes across the country, and crucially businesses that need support because they have all been looking at massive energy cost increases that are simply unaffordable."