Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing a formal demand to correct the parliamentary record and apologise after wrongly telling MPs that £1 billion had been committed to offshore wind projects in Scotland.
SNP energy spokesperson Graham Leadbitter MP has written directly to the Prime Minister following Wednesday’s exchange in the House of Commons, where the funding announcement became the centre of a dispute over Scotland’s energy revenues.
The controversy began during Prime Minister’s Questions on 11 November, when Leadbitter challenged Burnham to establish a Scottish Wealth Fund that would retain revenues from Scotland’s oil and gas resources for investment in renewable energy.
Burnham responded by claiming that the National Wealth Fund had committed £1 billion to offshore wind developments off Scotland’s east coast.
However, the fund’s official announcement confirms that the £1 billion investment was allocated to the Vanguard East and Vanguard West offshore wind farms off Norfolk in England.
The financing comprises two commitments of £500 million, supporting projects being developed by RWE and KKR.
There is no Scottish offshore wind allocation within that particular £1 billion announcement.
The discrepancy has prompted Leadbitter to accuse the Prime Minister of misleading Parliament and demand that he correct his statement at the earliest opportunity.
Under the Ministerial Code, ministers are required to provide accurate information to Parliament and correct inadvertent errors promptly.
The rules distinguish between an inaccurate statement and deliberately misleading Parliament, with no evidence presented that Burnham knowingly made a false claim.
Leadbitter’s letter challenges the accuracy of the Prime Minister’s response and calls for a formal apology.
The letter reads in full:
Dear Prime Minister,
Yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions, in response to my question on a ring-fenced fund for investment in Scottish renewables, you told the House that it came “on the very day that the National Wealth Fund has committed a billion pounds of funding to support offshore wind off the east coast of Scotland”, adding that “I would’ve thought he would have stood up and welcomed that announcement today.”
Despite what you said, no £1 billion investment by the UK Government in Scottish offshore wind was announced.
Instead, the Vanguard wind farms in Norfolk in England received £1 billion. No such money came to Scotland.
What you told Parliament was categorically untrue. You announced £1 billion of supposed investment in Scotland by your government which you are not making.
This was materially misleading to the House.
Indeed, your own Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero appears to have been misled by your words, never mind the rest of the House, having taken to social media to welcome your words.
The ministerial code, by which you are bound, is clear that “It is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.”
As such, I expect you to return to the House at the earliest opportunity, as required by the ministerial code, to correct the record, and to apologise for misleading the House.
The Prime Minister’s remarks are recorded in the official parliamentary record, while the National Wealth Fund’s published announcement identifies Norfolk as the location of the projects receiving its £1 billion commitment.
The wider question raised by Leadbitter concerns whether revenues generated from Scotland’s oil and gas resources should be retained for investment in Scotland’s energy future.
For now, the immediate issue is whether Burnham will acknowledge the discrepancy between his statement to MPs and the investment announcement made by the National Wealth Fund.
