For far too long, uncertainty has plagued the oil and gas industry. As a result, communities across the north and north-east who rely upon it heavily have suffered.
The promise of a “just transition” has been continuously dangled by leaders across the political spectrum, hanging just out of reach of offshore workers and their families.
Time and time again, we are told green energy jobs will be plentiful, Scotland will be a renewables trailblazer on the global stage, the north will prosper. But, time and time again, the whens and hows are glossed over by those swearing by it. Anxiety is high and trust is in short supply as a result.
Enter Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader many predict will be the UK’s next prime minister.
Starmer may like to be seen as a marked change, a breath of fresh air, when compared to those who vied for votes before. But is he so different to Nicola Sturgeon or Boris Johnson when it comes to giving the north and north-east the respect and attention they deserve?
Like the SNP, Starmer’s Labour is set on ceasing further oil and gas exploration. The taps won’t be turned off, Sir Keir says, but where does that change of tack leave the more than 70,000 individuals in Scotland currently employed in that sector? Not to mention the many more across the wider UK.
There is only so long concerned people can be expected to have faith without any proof of progress. Understandably, oil and gas industry workers around these parts have urgent questions.
Yet, despite pledging to visit, Keir Starmer has not yet made his way north to hear them. Instead, he announced his grand energy vision from Leith in Edinburgh, passing our political editor’s perplexed query about the choice of venue to Anas Sarwar.
Is Starmer unable or unwilling?
The symbolism is all there. Unable or unwilling to properly engage with oil and gas on its own turf, his Scottish pilgrimage stopped in the Central Belt.
Boris Johnson may not have deigned to speak to any locals or press while on a prime ministerial visit to Aberdeen, but even he made the trip. It’s an extremely low bar that Keir Starmer is failing to live up to.
Ensuring that the transition to focusing on renewable energy does not harm today’s offshore workforce will be one of our next prime minister’s most important tasks
Potential voters looking on may get the feeling that either Labour’s UK leader does not understand the gravity of this increasingly precarious situation for north and north-east communities, or he does not care.
Ensuring that the transition to focusing on renewable energy does not harm today’s offshore workforce will be one of our next prime minister’s most important tasks; it can only be done in any meaningful way from around a table somewhat further north than Edinburgh’s tramline travels.
The Voice of the North is The Press & Journal’s editorial stance on what we think are the most important issues of the week
