Anas Sarwar says Labour clean energy plan will create 70,000 jobs for Scots

Anas Sarwar has said his party’s green energy revolution will create nearly 70,000 jobs in Scotland.

He said the new posts will be linked to renewables and the party’s plan for insulating homes.

UK Labour leader Keir Starmer has promised the creation of GB Energy – a publicly-owned clean energy firm – will be an early priority for a Government he leads.

He was on the general election campaign trail last week in Glasgow and confirmed the company will be based in Scotland.

He previously said 50,000 jobs would be supported by the plans, but in his Record column Scottish Labour leader Sarwar has gone further.

He wrote: “That is why it’s so important that, as we move towards a cleaner and greener Scotland, we ensure that this is a transition which creates jobs not takes them away.

He previously said 50,000 jobs would be supported by the plans, but in his Record column Scottish Labour leader Sarwar has gone further.

He wrote: “That is why it’s so important that, as we move towards a cleaner and greener Scotland, we ensure that this is a transition which creates jobs not takes them away.

“In total Labour’s transformative Green Prosperity Plan will create 69,000 jobs right across the country.

“This includes 53,000 clean power jobs in industries like offshore wind, carbon capture, hydrogen, and solar – all driven forward by a publicly-owned GB Energy company headquartered right here in Scotland.

“Our Warm Homes Plan will create another 16,000 jobs including plumbers and construction workers, as well as delivering warmer homes and lower bills for thousands of Scots.

He added: “We will make Grangemouth home to the industries of the future, with a decarbonisation hub and linked carbon capture and storage project.

“Right across the board, we will not only create jobs but improve conditions and make work pay.”

Energy jobs are shaping up to be one of the dominant issues in the general election in Scotland.

Starmer has said a Labour Government will increase the windfall tax on energy giant profits and not grant new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea.

But the SNP have claimed the policies will lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs in the sector.

The Nationalists have also accused Labour of planning to divert £20n of tax receipts from Scotland’s oil wealth to build nuclear power plants in England.

Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader and candidate for Aberdeen South, said:

“Labour Party plans will put 100,000 energy jobs on the scrap heap and they’ve been absolutely clear that they’d use revenues from Scotland’s industry to fund new nuclear plants in England.

“To make matters worse we already know the Labour Party have scrapped their £28bn pledge to invest in green technologies – when it comes to energy jobs, their only offer is redundancies.

“£20bn will flow from the North East to the Treasury over the next six years, so let’s be absolutely clear – it’s not GB Energy, it’s Scotland’s energy.

“The Scottish people should benefit from our resources both in cheaper bills, but also in jobs. It’s Scotland’s energy and only SNP MPs will always put Scotland first.”

Scottish Tory candidate Andrew Bowie said: “Anas Sarwar can spin all he likes.

“Voters in the North East and across Scotland know that Labour’s plans will decimate our oil and gas sector and put tens of thousands of jobs at risk of being lost.

“They should see the industry as part of a just transition, rather than turning off the taps in the North Sea overnight.

“At this election, in crucial seats across the North East it is only with a vote for the Scottish Conservatives that you are backing the oil and gas industry, while the SNP and Labour have abandoned them.”

Speaking in Glasgow last week, Starmer denied claims he is abandoning oil and gas workers.

He said: “We’re not turning off the taps. Oil and gas will be going on for decades to come, so those jobs will be there for decades to come.”

“There will be additional jobs in energy, not less jobs in energy.”

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