As Mossmorran closes, have politicians learned any lessons at all from Grangemouth?
The closure does Labour and the SNP no favours ahead of next year’s Scottish Parliament election.
When it was announced nearly two years ago to the day the Grangemouth refinery would shut after more than a century in operation, there was outrage from politicians across the political spectrum.
Labour and the SNP said it was “worrying”, while the Tories said it was a “huge blow” for the Scottish economy.
They warned about the impact on the workers and the local economy, and urged operator Petroineos to think again.
Experts warned that it risked being a repeat of the industrial transition away from coal and steel in the late 20th century.
There had been signs beforehand that Petroineos was not planning a long-term future refining oil at Grangemouth. The firm slashed capacity and cut jobs only in 2020, ceasing refining just five years later.
The UK and Scottish governments announced £200 million in February for transition to green projects at the central Scotland site. This money should have come earlier to ensure a seamless move into new work for employees who were made redundant.
Once Grangemouth’s fate was clear, the alarm bells should have been ringing that chemical plants like Mossmorran were also at risk.
ExxonMobil had expressed uncertainty about the future of the plant over the past few months and local MP Mel Ward had written to Cabinet ministers to raise concerns.
But it appears like the lessons have not been learned from Grangemouth as there was not a concrete plan in place for the Fife site also shutting its doors.
The closure does Labour no favours ahead of next year’s Scottish Parliament election. Many people will rightly ask - if a Labour government cannot save jobs, then what is the point of it?
Labour - hint in the name - is meant to be the party of work, but two of Scotland’s big industrial employers are shutting in the first 16 months of the party’s rule from Westminister.
The fact the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Advisory Council does not - at the moment - have any Scots representatives on it suggests the problems industry faces north of the Border are not being taken seriously enough.
Every Labour MP I have spoken to is desperate to bring well-paid jobs to their constituency. But it is crucial that we hang onto the ones we’ve got until these positions come to fruition.
The closure of Mossmorran does not help the SNP either.
The Scottish Government may ask Westminster for intervention and wash itself of responsibility by saying it has “limited economic responsibility”. But that will not wash with those who have lost their jobs.
The Scottish Government had a “presumption against” new oil and gas, but now points the finger at the UK’s energy profits levy, otherwise known as the windfall tax.
The oil and gas industry has been warning there will be more job redundancies to come, particularly in the north east of Scotland, if nothing is done to manage the transition away from fossil fuels.
Most Scots understand renewables are the way forward, but they do not want to left unemployed in the process.
Both the UK and Scottish governments must work together to make sure there is no repeat of 1980s deindustrialisation. If they don’t do so, it will push voters into the hands of the anti-net zero Reform UK.
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