LABOUR must explain why they blocked a Chinese firm’s £1.5 billion investment in the Highlands while supporting a “multitude of Chinese-backed projects in England”, an SNP MP has said.
The SNP’s energy spokesperson at Westminster, Graham Leadbitter, has invited Prime Minister Andy Burnham to the Highlands to “explain why Chinese investment in English energy and critical infrastructure is fine, but when it comes to jobs in Scotland it is a very different story”.
Ming Yang, a Chinese firm, had proposed a £1.5bn wind turbine factory at Ardesier, outside Inverness, which they said would create 1500 skilled jobs in the renewables supply chain.
However, in March, the UK Government blocked the factory from going ahead, citing “national security” concerns.
Leadbitter questioned why Labour had prevented the investment in Scotland while also having “backed a multitude of Chinese-backed projects in England, including nuclear power plants, a Chinese super-embassy, and Heathrow Airport”.
In January, Labour approved a Chinese “mega-embassy” in central London, a decision which had been long delayed amid warnings that the site was close to cables that carry vast quantities of highly sensitive City trading data and could be used as a spying base.
The China General Nuclear Power Group – a state-owned company (Ming Yang is privately owned) – owns around 27% of the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset. It was also involved in developing Sizewell C in Suffolk, but was bought out by the Tory government in 2022.
The China Investment Corporation, which is also state-owned, has a 10% stake in Heathrow Airport.
Also, a Hong-Kong based billionaire, Li Ka-shing, owns 100% of the firm UK Power Networks, which operates electricity distribution across London, south, and south-east England.
Leadbitter wrote to Burnham: “My constituents, energy workers, and families across the Highlands have been left dumbfounded that the UK Labour Government blocked 1500 jobs in the Highlands and a £1.5bn investment in our renewables industry.
“We watched as the Labour Party backed a multitude of Chinese-backed projects in England, including nuclear power plants, a Chinese super-embassy, and Heathrow Airport.
“We were left aghast as Labour MPs and MSPs from Scotland sat silent as a Labour Government shut down Grangemouth, allowed Mossmorran to close, put 1000 energy jobs a month at risk and wrecked investment in renewables through crippling transmission charges.
“It is time you came to the Highlands, visited the proposed site and looked Highlanders in the eye to explain why Chinese investment in English energy and critical infrastructure is fine, but when it comes to jobs in Scotland it is a very different story.”
The letter to the Prime Minister comes after former UK business secretary Vince Cable suggested that Labour had blocked the £1.5bn investment because "Westminster-based parties" are "reluctant to align with the SNP administration".
A UK Government spokesperson said: “After careful consideration the government concluded that there are national security risks associated with the use of Ming Yang wind turbines in UK offshore wind projects.”
