The Scottish Greens are the only party “prepared to tell the truth” about the need to end new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, according to party co-leader Gillian Mackay. She accused other parties of misleading voters by claiming that new fields could lower bills.
Speaking after BP reported a surge in profits to £2.4 billion in the first three months of the year, Mackay called for the windfall tax on oil companies to be tightened. “New oil and gas fields will do nothing to lower bills and will only fast-track the climate crisis,” she said.
Mackay argued that the war in Iran had demonstrated the dangers of relying on fossil fuels. “The huge price fluctuations caused by Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran show exactly why we need to shift away from fossil fuels and on to renewables,” she added.
She criticised First Minister John Swinney for calling for tax cuts for oil giants despite “grotesque” profits, and accused oil companies of failing to support a transition for workers. “We cannot drill our way out of the climate crisis,” she said.
Offshore Energies UK urged parties to back an “all-energy” approach. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The final boss of the 21st century will be climate change, but we can’t escape the reality that we still need oil and gas.” Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Douglas Lumsden argued his party was the only one fully backing North Sea jobs.
