THE call by the Scottish Socialist Party’s Richie Venton for nationalisation of Grangemouth is 100% correct. Not only that, ALL energy resources should be in public ownership. Scotland is being robbed blind of its resources and left as a deindustrialised shell by Westminster and the capitalists before which the mainstream political parties cower.
The Scottish Government is never done bragging about renewables, but we have been paid peanuts for the rights to these while having zero to show for it in terms of industrial manufacture. We are surrounded by turbines built in other countries and now, while Scotland remains the source of the vast majority of the oil that benefits the UK Treasury, it will have zero refining capacity and another community left in tatters.
READ MORE: SNP Energy Secretary contradicts BBC report on Grangemouth buyer
The strategy of using corporate welfare to beg these companies to either come to or stay in Scotland is a waste. If THEY invest in a company, they expect part or whole ownership (in the fashion of Dragon’s Den). The public purse simply gets hoovered out for their benefit with no return for us as a society. The Labour Lord Prem Sikka is perpetually saying essentially that (I have no idea why he stays loyal to the red Tory organisation it has become under Starmer).
As suggested by Mr Venton, an entirely different industrial strategy, of public ownership under workers’ control, rather than the same model of failed management, is urgently needed.
Collette Bradley
via email
AS news broke of the confirmed closure of the Grangemouth refinery I was actually reading the recent article in The National headed “Exporting hydrogen to Europe will be a game changer for the Scottish economy” (Sep 12).
In it, Gillian Martin, the Acting Net Zero Secretary, confirmed that the Scottish Government was accelerating plans for a £2.7 billion hydrogen pipeline connecting Scotland to Germany. She said that it represented a “great opportunity” for Scotland, with the proposed pipeline key to unlocking an already burgeoning market for Scottish hydrogen in Europe. In May, a report commissioned by the Scottish Government from Aberdeen’s Net Zero Technology Centre found that Scottish hydrogen exports could meet up to 100% of German import demand by 2045.
READ MORE: Grangemouth: Oil refinery should not have been left to billionaires
In essence, the wind turbines which cover an ever-increasing area of our land will be used to produce hydrogen to power the homes and businesses of Germany.
I have to wonder from where the £2.7bn is to be found. Strangely there is no mention of this in Ms Martin’s statement. This seems like the most bizarre, expensive and economically self-harming scheme ever dreamed up by a government of any political persuasion.
Since the 1970s we have seen the export of oil, gas, and ever-increasing amounts of wind generated electricity. Now hydrogen is set to head southwards. I suppose the rather obvious question is: what is in it for the members of the Scottish population not directly employed in this scheme? It needs to be looked at from an entirely different point of view – how does it benefit the people of Scotland – not multinational companies and the population of Germany.
READ MORE: Grangemouth: Community reacts to fate of oil refinery
This hydrogen will be generated by electricity from foreign-owned wind turbines and sent to Europe while Scotland’s pensioners shiver in their homes. When will the Scottish Government waken up to the economic madness of subsidising promises of temporary employment to enable Scotland’s natural resources to be exported, usually to England or in this case directly to Europe? If we are indeed to proceed with this scheme, surely the Scottish Government needs to secure a very substantial share in any operating company and a very substantial share of the potentially massive profits generated.
Ms Martin’s title of Acting Net Zero Secretary is most appropriate in this case as there currently appears to be zero net benefit for Scotland in this scheme.
Brian Lawson
Paisley
SCOTLAND is second only to Norway for oil and gas production in Europe and has contributed £400 billion to the Treasury in London. However, the UK Government can find billions to subsidise key industries, except in Scotland.
Energy Voice has reported that the Stanlow oil refinery in north-west England is getting ready to expand and sell more fuel when Grangemouth closes, by investing in infrastructure. Stanlow is part of the HyNet project, which was granted Track-1 status by the UK Government for massive investment as the first carbon capture and hydrogen hub, ahead of Scotland’s much better claims.
READ MORE: Kate Forbes: Grangemouth closure shows need to ensure net zero doesn’t cost jobs
In February, the UK Government provided a £600 million guarantee for Ineos to build a petrochemical plant in Antwerp, Belgium which is expected to be the largest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years. The Scottish Government led by Alex Salmond and John Swinney saved Grangemouth from closure in October 2013 after Unite union officials threatened to bring about an industrial catastrophe.
The UK Government last week signed a grant funding agreement worth £500m allowing Tata Steel to proceed with its plans to install a state-of-the-art electric arc furnace at its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales. Tata will own all the assets and income streams, while the government will get no shares and the amount is not repayable.
In 2023, the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received £539m in direct government subsidies for burning forest biomass. This brings the total public subsidy the company has received for biomass to around £7 billion since 2012. Also, the nuclear power industry is subsidised by billions as part of a UK energy policy that has totally failed Scotland.
Mary Thomas
Edinburgh
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