A fresh political row has erupted over Scotland’s oil and gas wealth, with the SNP demanding assurances that money raised from North Sea energy will not be used to finance nuclear power stations in England.
SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown has challenged the UK Labour Government to guarantee that every penny of its newly announced Energy Wealth Fund will be invested in Scotland’s renewable energy future.
The dispute follows Wednesday’s approval of the Jackdaw gas field, around 150 miles east of Aberdeen, alongside Chancellor John Healey’s announcement of a new £2 billion fund supported by North Sea oil and gas revenues.
The UK Government says the money will support renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure across Britain, with further North Sea revenues expected to contribute to the fund over time.
However, the announcement has raised questions about where the investment will go and whether projects outside Scotland, including nuclear energy developments in England, could receive funding.
No specific allocation from the new fund to an English nuclear project has been confirmed.
Brown believes the Scottish public deserves a clear guarantee before the money is distributed.
He said:
“Every single penny of revenue from our oil and gas industry should be invested in Scotland’s renewables future.
“The one trillion pound question for the Labour UK Government is will they guarantee that or will we see our energy revenues pay for English nuclear power down south.
“GB Energy was gutted to pay for nuclear projects in England, just as revenues from the hated tax on Scotland’s energy were too, this cannot happen again.
“Scotland’s energy has been hidden and stolen from us so let’s get this absolutely right, when John Healey talks about that £1 trillion, he is talking about what Westminster could have banked from Scotland.
“From Scotland’s waters.
“Our resources were abused to pay for the worst excesses of Thatcherism and hidden to halt ambition of our people.
“We cannot let history repeat itself which is exactly what Westminster is planning.
“Through a fresh start with independence, it is guaranteed that every pound from our waters is spent in Scotland.
“That’s the bottom line and that’s why independence is the preferred choice of the Scottish people.”
The reference to £1 trillion follows comments by Healey acknowledging that Britain could have accumulated a sovereign wealth fund of that scale had previous governments invested North Sea revenues rather than spending them.
That figure is an estimate of what might have been accumulated through decades of investment, rather than money currently available to the Treasury.
The admission has reignited arguments about how successive UK governments managed the enormous revenues generated by offshore energy production.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has separately written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham seeking clarification about how the new fund will operate and where the money will be invested.
Swinney has called for investment to be prioritised towards offshore renewable projects, particularly in the North East of Scotland, where communities and businesses face the challenge of moving from oil and gas towards new energy industries.
The UK Government maintains that the fund will help finance the transition to cleaner energy while supporting jobs and economic growth across the country.
For Scotland, the immediate question is whether the regions that generated much of Britain’s offshore energy wealth will receive a proportionate share of the investment intended to shape its future.
With the fund’s detailed investment arrangements still to be established, that question remains unanswered.
