The future of energy in the UK is “not a binary choice”, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister has said.
Ahead of a speech at the Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen, Kate Forbes hit out at Westminster politicians, who she claimed were “risking the worst of all worlds”.
Her comments come as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party supported maximum extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea.
💡 We've got what it takes - to create jobs, to create growth, and to create a more prosperous Scotland.
— The SNP (@theSNP) September 2, 2024
🏴 What we need is the powers of independence to realise our full potential.
🤝 Together, let's build that better nation. pic.twitter.com/PMgIqkW8Ha
The UK has an opportunity, Ms Forbes said, to plot the future of Scotland’s energy sector in a way that will deliver jobs, growth and energy security “not just for the next 10 years, but for the next 100”.
“The fact is that Scotland’s offshore industry is being jeopardised because to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, extraction means draining every pound of Scotland’s natural resources without giving a single penny back.
“The next chapter for our energy sector is one which must be written carefully and considerately, recognising the renewables jobs of tomorrow only come by protecting the world class offshore industry we have today – it is not a binary choice.
“The justice of a just transition is lost on Westminster politicians, who are risking the worst of all worlds in our future.”
She added: “Industry experts and trade unions have explicitly blamed the Labour Government’s fiscal regime for hundreds of recent job losses with an expert report warning the oil and gas industry could lose up to 400 jobs every two weeks for the next five years unless action is taken.
“What that means is a cliff edge for energy workers, and the fact that it took Donald Trump to bring Keir Starmer to Aberdeen for the first time since his election as Prime Minister speaks volumes.”
The Deputy First Minister went on to claim that a transition away from oil and gas which put jobs at risk would be a “betrayal”.
Ms Badenoch also spoke at the conference on Tuesday, just days after she shifted her party’s policy to one of maximum exploitation of the North Sea’s oil and gas.
In a visit on Tuesday morning to Aberdeen Harbour, Ms Badenoch hit out at environmental groups who raised concerns her party’s stance was akin to “economic vandalism”.
Our oil & gas industry is set to plummet by 2030.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 2, 2025
But shutting down UK production doesn’t save the planet. It just means importing from overseas, often with more emissions but fewer jobs.
Conservatives will back Scottish industry and get Britain drilling again. pic.twitter.com/Pjxv0x4OcH
“They are wrong,” she told journalists.
“What they are recommending is unilateral economic disarmament.
“All the other countries in the world are taking energy seriously – energy is growth.
“For our energy security, for geopolitics, for our bills, we need to make sure that we exploit our own natural resources and that means drilling in the North Sea.”
Asked if it was “too little, too late,” given the finite amount of oil and gas in the North Sea, Ms Badenoch said: “No it is not.”
She added: “All of these industries are linked and we need them to work hand in hand.
“We cannot just stop oil and gas and hope that everything else will work.”
