Part of General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 October 2024.
The cabinet secretary’s complacency is extremely concerning, because industry voices and experts warn that the Forties pipeline—which connects 80 fields to the mainland and enables around 59 per cent of the United Kingdom’s oil and gas to reach customers—could shut down as early as 2030 due to the fiscal and licensing regime that both of Scotland’s Governments are pursuing. The GMB says that both Governments have taken a hostile, fundamentally dishonest position on the realities of oil and gas.
Will the cabinet secretary be honest and tell us when the delayed, discredited draft energy strategy will finally be published and whether the deeply damaging presumption against oil and gas will be removed?