Sir Keir Starmer has insisted work in the North Sea oil and gas sector will continue “for decades to come” as his party continues to face strong criticism from the industry.

His comments came as the UK Labour leader made a direct appeal to Scots who “have found a new political home with the SNP” to return to his party.

Addressing the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow, he warned politics is “volatile” and the Conservatives can still win the upcoming general election.

Keir Starmer addresses the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Labour has faced a furious backlash from the oil and gas sector over its plans to extend and increase the windfall tax, with warnings this would put up to 100,000 direct and indirect jobs at risk.

Elsewhere, Sir Keir defended his party’s “tough decision” to ditch its £28 billion a year green investment pledge, which he said was “an acknowledgement of the damage the Tories have done to our public finances, but also that it’s not good enough to say we’ll do something popular, if that stability can’t be delivered alongside it”.

He added: “That’s not serving working people. In fact, it’s precisely the sort of politics that got Britain into this mess in the first place.”

Sir Keir said: “I went to Aberdeen recently. Met the workers who maintain the pipelines. 100 miles long – stretching all the way back to the oil and gas fields.

“They’re proud of what has been built in the cold waters of the North Sea. Proud of their work – hard work, against the odds and elements – that built a legacy for this nation. Part of the Scottish story.

“So I’ve said before – and I say again – that work will continue for decades to come. But they also told me about the legacy they can build for Scotland’s future. The pride they have in a new opportunity.

"Converting this infrastructure into a thriving carbon capture and storage industry. Literally putting the carbon back in the ground it came from. And giving their community a future – not just for the short-term – but for decades.

“Conference, this is what our investment can do. This is a race Scotland can win. If that’s not national renewal, I don’t know what is.”

Scottish Conservative party chairman Craig Hoy said Sir Keir’s comments were “totally undermined by his party’s destructive oil and gas policies, which have been roundly criticised by Scottish businesses”.

He added: “Labour are betraying North Sea workers and abandoning a crucial Scottish industry.”

Sir Keir also called for a “ceasefire that lasts” in Gaza, as he used his speech to warn that the fighting in the Middle East must “stop now”. He has come under fresh pressure over his stance on the crisis after members north of the border backed immediate calls for a ceasefire.

An SNP-led vote on an immediate cessation of fighting will take place in Westminster this week, which Labour has so far not ruled out backing amid fears the Commons motion could reopen deep divides among MPs.

Sir Keir won lengthy applause as he called for a “ceasefire that lasts”, notably avoiding using the carefully chosen term “sustainable ceasefire”. In a previous Westminster vote in November, Sir Keir favoured “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to enter Gaza.

He was addressing the Scottish Labour conference on its last day amid a growing sense of optimism within the party. Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said the gathering in Glasgow had been its largest in two decades.

In his speech, Sir Keir accused the SNP of not being interested in fixing Scotland’s problems, adding: “They want to exploit them. The mask has slipped. The pretence they were ever interested in improving the lives of working people, rather than using their problems as fuel for their grand cause – that has been exposed.”

He said Labour needs to convince those voters who “have found a new political home with the SNP, and that will be hard”.

The SNP, he said, has had a “faithful ally in a Conservative Party in Westminster” for the past 14 years, “that wilfully makes it impossible to argue that Britain is on their side”.

First Minister Humza Yousaf has repeatedly argued Labour does not need Scotland to win the upcoming general election.

But Sir Keir warned the Tories can still win "no matter what the SNP say”, adding: “Of course they can – politics is volatile. It’s ridiculous to say otherwise.

"So I would also say this: imagine – even if only for a second – what it will feel like, if you wake up on the day after the election, and the Tories are back. Encouraged again. Emboldened again. Entitled again.

“Because – respectfully – I do not think that would be in Scotland’s national interest. And the easiest way to stop it, the only way to be sure of stopping it, is to choose Labour to fight for Scotland in Westminster.”

Adding Labour has a “mountain to climb” to return to power, despite its poll lead, he said: “We can’t get carried away. Can’t stop fighting for every vote, not even for a second.”

He told voters Labour had a plan for “national renewal” that would get the country “back on our feet” and would build a “bond of respect between people and politics” again.

The Labour leader said: “You can’t tell me that Scotland does not deserve better. Because it does. And we will deliver it. A new Scotland. A new Britain. Bound together again by an old partnership, the solidarity of working people across four nations.”

And while he accepted there would “always be a debate about Scotland’s constitutional future”, he vowed that Labour would put Scotland “at the heart of the Westminster debate” promising this along with “more money for Scottish public services”.

Sir Keir said: “That’s change we can deliver for Scotland.”

SNP MP David Linden said: “Sir Keir Starmer's speech has shown yet again that only the SNP is offering people across Scotland the right to choose a stronger, fairer and more prosperous future as an independent country.

"Starmer has made the values of his Labour party clear; they will cap child benefits but not bankers’ bonuses, they will support a hard Brexit, they will keep the rape clause – those are not Scotland’s values.

"Aside from his values, the hypocrisy of Sir Keir Starmer to speak about Scotland’s green energy economic potential in the same week he dumped his £28 billion investment pledge and announced plans which could cost 100,000 jobs was breathtaking.

“Unlike Starmer, the SNP will always stand up for Scotland’s interests but only independence offers Scotland the opportunity to escape broken Brexit Britain and build a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous economy free from Westminster control.”

Sir Keir Starmer says North Sea oil and gas will continue ‘for decades to come’ during Scottish Labour Party speech

Comments