Chamber and committees

I note that the UK Government said this morning that, when Labour came into office,

“there was no plan for Grangemouth.”

Can the cabinet secretary confirm whether that is accurate? Although the UK Government might not have had a plan, it does not reflect my understanding of the Scottish Government’s efforts.

Scotland is an energy-rich country, but people are struggling with sky-high bills to heat their homes. For too many years, Westminster has squandered Scotland’s energy, while failing to provide any meaningful support to people in Scotland to raise living standards.

While Westminster is sitting on its hands, can the First Minister advise what steps the Scottish National Party Scottish Government is taking to support people on low incomes with their fuel bills this winter? Can he say any more about what we could do differently with full powers over Scotland’s energy from the fresh start of independence?

The way that Mr Hoy is speaking at the moment makes it sound as though he thinks that Government ministers should be micromanaging these contracts, which surely in itself would be very wrong?

Today, people across Aberdeen and the north-east are worried about their jobs, their families and the future of their communities. Investment in the North Sea is at a record low, and a Robert Gordon University report states that 1,000 jobs a month are being lost. Despite the swathe of warnings from experts, Labour failed to scrap the energy profits levy this week and remains wedded to that tax on the north-east. Does the First Minister share my concern that Labour’s choices will cost jobs and drive a more rapid decline in the North Sea? What steps will his Government take to preserve skills, save jobs and ensure a truly just transition?

The budget is a little over two hours old, and I have already had a number of messages and communications from constituents and family members about the content of that budget and the fact that the energy profits levy will remain. I have been told, “They are destroying Scotland’s energy future,” and, “They are taxing my job out of existence.”

Mr Lumsden seems to have forgotten that it was his party that introduced the energy profits levy in the first place. Rather than strutting about on his high horse, Mr Lumsden and the entire Tory party should be on their knees apologising to every single oil and gas worker for the horrific damage that the Tory energy profits levy has done to the industry. The Tories have gone, but, whether in relation to Brexit, eye-watering household bills or the energy profits levy, the promise of change has brought change for the worse under Labour.

The offshore industry desperately needs change for the better, and it desperately needs the energy profits levy to be abolished, not in 2030 but now. The levy needs to be abolished to keep oil and gas workers in jobs, to support the transition to net zero, to boost the economy and to protect communities in the north-east of Scotland.

The Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce estimates that 100,000 jobs will be lost if the UK Government does not get its boot off the neck of the oil and gas sector. It is not only the offshore oil and gas workers who will brave the perils of the North Sea or the Atlantic to ensure that the lights stay on and our homes stay warm this winter who will be affected; the tens of thousands of workers in the supply chain in every corner of Scotland and beyond will also be affected. The job losses have already begun. Just the other week, the Port of Aberdeen announced redundancies due to oil and gas activity falling by 25 per cent.

Labour must not do to the oil and gas workers what Thatcher did to our coal miners. Labour must stop following the Thatcherite blueprint of industrial decimation that has blighted Scotland’s pit villages. Instead, it must listen to Offshore Energies UK and unlock £50 billion-worth of UK oil and gas projects, which will sustain tens of thousands of jobs and, over time, deliver higher tax receipts while supporting our energy security and net zero ambitions.

This is about the ambition to reach net zero. We cannot transition to net zero without the investment, expertise and skills of our offshore industry and our oil and gas workers, because today’s offshore oil and gas workers are tomorrow’s offshore renewables workers. Today, the chancellor had the opportunity to abolish the energy profits levy, and I am gutted that she did not, as are thousands upon thousands of people who I and others represent. It is likely too late, but the chancellor could think again and abolish the energy profits levy. However, I do not think that she will, as neither she nor the Labour Party gives a flying futret for Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland.

Will the member take an intervention?

[Made a request to intervene.]

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how Brexit has impacted Scotland’s food and drink producers. (S6O-05194)

Today’s official statistics show that Scottish food and drink exports are worth £7.5 billion. Although the food and drink sector remains Scotland’s largest international export sector and accounts for a fifth of Scotland’s international exports, there has been a 5 per cent real-terms decrease since 2018. That decrease, which is a result of Brexit difficulties, has had an impact on jobs, the economy and communities, yet Westminster Labour will not even consider re-entering the EU, the single market or the customs union to help exporters. Is Westminster Labour wrong?

Will the member give way?