On a visit to Scotland yesterday, Nigel Farage hammered the Conservatives over their part in the destruction of the North Sea oil and gas industries.
The Reform UK leader was visiting Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth, where he met INEOS boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe. By 2025, Grangemouth Refinery was the only crude oil refinery in Scotland, and one of just five remaining in the UK. But, as a result of government policies, Grangemouth refinery was shut down last year and is being converted into a terminal for fuel imported from abroad.
Grangemouth is a symbol of how the crazy pursuit of Net Zero targets by Conservative and Labour governments has accelerated Britain’s industrial decline.
The visit comes shortly before voters in both Aberdeen South and Arbroath & Broughty Ferry go to the polls in Westminster by-elections on 18th June. The by-election in Aberdeen South has increasingly become a referendum on the future of Scotland’s energy industry.
Aberdeen was known as the energy capital of Europe. But Conservative governments signed Britain up to insane Net Zero targets, and Keir Starmer’s Labour government has carried on where they left off by banning all new North Sea oil and gas licences. As a result, thousands of skilled jobs have been put at risk in Aberdeen along with billions of pounds that the North Sea contributes to Scotland’s economy.
Farage did not mince his words. “All I would ask voters to do is remind yourselves who is it that began the closure of the North Sea,” he told the Press Association. “It was a Conservative chancellor called Jeremy Hunt - that’s what killed the North Sea and we’re the only party that stood up and opposed that and said it was madness.”
The Conservatives now pretend to be the defenders of oil and gas. But it was their governments that imposed Net Zero and introduced the punishing windfall tax that helped drive investment out of the sector. Labour and the SNP may be even worse, but the Tories cannot escape responsibility for what happened on their watch.
Farage made the commonsense case for domestic energy production. “We’re going to be using oil and gas, so why not produce it ourselves?” he said.
“Why not have jobs? Why not have tax revenues? Oh, and by the way, while we’re at it, why not have cheaper prices?”
This is the argument Westminster refuses to confront. Britain will continue using oil and gas for decades. The only question is whether we produce it here, supporting British jobs and industry, or import it from overseas - while congratulating ourselves on supposedly saving the planet.
As Farage put it: “The whole thing’s a madness and it’s like this cult of Net Zero has overtaken our politicians almost as a substitute for religion. We are going to be using oil and gas for decades to come - let’s produce our own.”
The Reform UK leader was visiting Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth, where he met INEOS boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe. By 2025, Grangemouth Refinery was the only crude oil refinery in Scotland, and one of just five remaining in the UK. But, as a result of government policies, Grangemouth refinery was shut down last year and is being converted into a terminal for fuel imported from abroad.
Grangemouth is a symbol of how the crazy pursuit of Net Zero targets by Conservative and Labour governments has accelerated Britain’s industrial decline.
The visit comes shortly before voters in both Aberdeen South and Arbroath & Broughty Ferry go to the polls in Westminster by-elections on 18th June. The by-election in Aberdeen South has increasingly become a referendum on the future of Scotland’s energy industry.
Aberdeen was known as the energy capital of Europe. But Conservative governments signed Britain up to insane Net Zero targets, and Keir Starmer’s Labour government has carried on where they left off by banning all new North Sea oil and gas licences. As a result, thousands of skilled jobs have been put at risk in Aberdeen along with billions of pounds that the North Sea contributes to Scotland’s economy.
Farage did not mince his words. “All I would ask voters to do is remind yourselves who is it that began the closure of the North Sea,” he told the Press Association. “It was a Conservative chancellor called Jeremy Hunt - that’s what killed the North Sea and we’re the only party that stood up and opposed that and said it was madness.”
The Conservatives now pretend to be the defenders of oil and gas. But it was their governments that imposed Net Zero and introduced the punishing windfall tax that helped drive investment out of the sector. Labour and the SNP may be even worse, but the Tories cannot escape responsibility for what happened on their watch.
Farage made the commonsense case for domestic energy production. “We’re going to be using oil and gas, so why not produce it ourselves?” he said.
“Why not have jobs? Why not have tax revenues? Oh, and by the way, while we’re at it, why not have cheaper prices?”
This is the argument Westminster refuses to confront. Britain will continue using oil and gas for decades. The only question is whether we produce it here, supporting British jobs and industry, or import it from overseas - while congratulating ourselves on supposedly saving the planet.
As Farage put it: “The whole thing’s a madness and it’s like this cult of Net Zero has overtaken our politicians almost as a substitute for religion. We are going to be using oil and gas for decades to come - let’s produce our own.”
