SNP Westminster Leader, Stephen Flynn, has branded Labour “clueless” as it emerged the Scottish Acorn Carbon project was once again snubbed for funding in favour of English sites.
In 2021, the Acorn project, situated at St Fergus near Peterhead, was snubbed in the Track 1 stage of funding for carbon capture sites and was instead given ‘reserve status’.
This followed a previous funding snub in 2015, when the Tories withdrew £1billion from Peterhead despite promising the investment ahead of the 2014 independence referendum.
In July 2023, then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited the site and pledged support to the project, but little has moved forward since.
Now, the Labour Government has confirmed £22bn for two carbon capture sites in England, with the Scottish Cluster left hanging in the balance again.
Commenting, Mr Flynn said:
“This really isn’t that hard – if you want economic growth, if you want to create jobs, if you want to develop a domestic supply chain, and if you want to hit Net Zero then you invest in the Acorn project.
“For years we’ve been waiting for the Tories to back this project and despite offering ‘change’ the Labour Government have followed the same path by prioritising projects in the North of England, offering the Scottish cluster no certainty at all.
“We’ve seen with Grangemouth what happens when you don’t invest in the energy transition and, at this point, Labour look desperate to repeat those mistakes with their absurd tax changes and failure to invest in CCUS here in the North East.
“We know that Ed Miliband and the Labour Party have lofty ambitions for Net Zero but their clumsy and clueless approach to the North East indicates that they have no idea how to actually deliver on their aims.”
