Chancellor Rachel Reeves has rejected claims that 1,000 jobs are being lost in the North Sea every month, a move described as a “new low” by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn. The claims, based on analysis from Robert Gordon University expert Professor Paul de Leeuw, were put to Ms Reeves during a visit to Grangemouth on Wednesday.
When asked if she believed the level of job loss was accurate, the Chancellor responded: “No, I don’t.” Her comments drew sharp criticism from Mr Flynn, who represents Aberdeen South. He said: “The sight of a Labour Chancellor denying expert evidence to justify Labour’s destruction of Scottish jobs is a new low.”
Mr Flynn accused the Labour government of ploughing ahead with “job losses on an industrial scale” and urged the Chancellor to explain her actions to the families of workers made redundant in Aberdeen. Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Douglas Lumsden also criticised Ms Reeves, claiming she is “in total denial” over the scale of the issue in north-east Scotland.
Mr Lumsden said: “Workers will be furious that she is so detached from reality that she cannot accept the damage that is being done by her reckless decision to keep the windfall tax in place.” He added that both the SNP and Labour governments were “killing 1,000 oil and gas jobs every month with their hostile policies and failure to support new projects in the North Sea.”
