New energy board sparks more attacks on Labour – Daily Business

A new Westminster-inspired energy transition group has descended into further condemnation of UK government policy ahead of its first meeting in Aberdeen.

The North Sea Future Board, set up by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 26 November, brings together government ministers, and representatives from trade unions, industry, and regulators to oversee progress in switching to clean energy.

However, the inaugural meeting of the cross-party group has already created division.

Scotland’s Energy Secretary Gillian Martin has repeated the Scottish government’s call for UK ministers to scrap the Energy Profits Levy, while Labour’s Energy Minister Michael Shanks has been compared with King Edward 1, known as Long Shanks, “hammer of the Scots”.

Ms Martin said: “There is no doubt that UK Government policies are not only driving an accelerated decline in North Sea oil and gas but placing Scotland’s energy transition at risk and costing jobs.

“Experts, academics, and charities across the North East have been warning for months that the Energy Profits Levy is driving an accelerated decline of North Sea oil and gas.

“I will continue to urge the UK Government to consider those warnings, and end the Energy Profits Levy to protect jobs, restore confidence, and unlock investment.”

Aberdeen Central SNP MSP Kevin Stewart, who dubbed the UK minister ‘Long Shanks’, added: “With the north-east energy sector shedding thousands of jobs and energy bills spiralling out of control under Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, Michael Shanks has a brass neck to show his face in Aberdeen.

“The Labour Party’s stubborn refusal to ditch its tax on Scotland’s energy is a case of industrial sabotage on a scale not seen since Thatcher ripped the heart of our mining communities in the 1980s.

“With up to 1,000 jobs being lost in our energy sector a month, Michael Long Shanks will forever be remembered as the ‘Hammer of Scots energy jobs’ and rightly so.”

A report by the Jobs Foundation earlier this week warned that Scotland’s oil and gas sector could face the same fate as coal mining unless the UK Government changed tack.

Mr Stewart added: “Rather than coming up here for a jolly and a cheap team lunch with his grand total of 13 GB Energy employees, Michael Shanks should apologise to the families of workers throughout this city who face redundancy because of his bloody-minded Labour Government.”

In November GB Energy chief executive Dan McGrail told a committee of MPs that the investment vehicle will create 300 jobs at its Aberdeen HQ by 2030 as he attempted to settle ongoing disgruntlement over previous promises.

He said there were nine permanent employees in the HQ and 15 on loan from other government departments.

A further 96 roles were being recruited and he expected there to be about 100 staff within a year, of which 72 will be in Aberdeen.

UK Government ministers have denied ever saying there would be 1,000 employees in Aberdeen.

This was stated by Juergen Maier, GBE’s chairman, who told the Scottish Affairs Committee in October 2024 that he expected 1,000 jobs at the HQ, but later claimed he was puzzled by constant references to this number and that he wanted a lean organisation.

The UK government did not issue a statement ahead of the meeting.