Andy Burnham has been invited to the Highlands to visit the proposed site of a £1.5 billion wind turbine factory and explain why the UK Labour Government blocked the development.

SNP Energy spokesperson and local MP Graham Leadbitter has written to Burnham challenging him to visit Ardersier and face people in the Highlands over the loss of a project carrying the prospect of around 1,500 jobs.

Chinese renewable energy company Ming Yang had proposed what was expected to become the largest wind turbine manufacturing facility in the UK.

The UK Government intervened amid national security concerns surrounding Chinese involvement in strategically important infrastructure.

Leadbitter’s invitation follows growing political pressure over the decision and questions about why Chinese backed investment has been permitted in major infrastructure projects elsewhere in the UK.

In his letter to Burnham, Leadbitter said:

Dear Andy Burnham,

My constituents, energy workers and families across the Highlands have been left dumbfounded that the UK Labour Government blocked 1500 jobs in the Highlands and a £1.5bn investment in our renewables industry. 

We watched as the Labour Party backed a multitude of Chinese backed projects in England, including nuclear power plants, a Chinese super-Embassy, and Heathrow Airport.

We were left aghast as Labour MPs and MSPs from Scotland sat silent as a Labour Government shutdown Grangemouth, allowed Mossmorran to close, put 1000 energy jobs a month at risk and wrecked investment in renewables through crippling transmission charges.  

It is time you came to the Highlands, visited the proposed site and looked Highlanders in the eye to explain why Chinese investment in English energy and critical infrastructure is fine, but when it comes to jobs in Scotland it is a very different story. 

I look forward to your response. 

Yours sincerely,  

Graham Leadbitter MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey