Voters have 'serious concerns' over SNP-Green pact

Voters in the North East of Scotland have “serious concerns” about the SNP government’s partnership deal with the Scottish Greens, according to a new poll. 

The survey carried out by Opinium for Braemar Communications, the firm run by the party’s former head of press, Fergus Mutch, found 36 per cent of people thought the co-operation deal would have a negative impact on the northeast of Scotland.

Just 25 per cent said it would have a positive economic impact, while 23 per cent did not know, 14 per cent did not think it would make a difference and the rest refused to answer. 

The poll of 517 adults from Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Moray, Perth and Kinross, Highlands and Islands, Orkney and Shetland, and Dundee comes after work on the Cambo oilfield off Shetland was paused.

Shell, who had been a significant investor pulled out of the project earlier this month, forcing Siccar Point Energy, unable to “progress on the originally planned timescale.” 

There had been fierce opposition to the development, with environmental campaigners mobilising huge protests, and putting pressure on political leaders. 

UK government ministers announced in March that they would allow oil drillers to keep exploring the North Sea for reserves as long as new proposed projects passed a “climate compatibility” test. However, this test wouldn’t apply to Cambo, as it was first granted a licence in 2001.

Last month, shortly after the end of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Nicola Sturgeon came out against Cambo saying it shouldn’t get the "green light."

“I am not the one taking that decision so I’ve set out a proposal for a climate assessment and I think the presumption would be that Cambo couldn’t and shouldn’t pass any rigorous climate assessments,” she told parliament.

According to the poll, thirty six per cent of voters in the north of Scotland opposed the First Minister’s position - including 15 per cent of SNP voters.

Twenty-nine per cent supported her, while 16 per cent said they neither backed nor opposed and 15 per cent said they did not know.

Green co-convenor Patrick Harvie sparked anger in the region when he said only the "hard-right" supported the development. 

Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, the junior minister said there had been a remarkable shift in the Scottish political landscape on oil exploration. 

“Even just a year ago I would challenge repeatedly all of the other parties to drop their support for maximum oil and gas extraction. It was almost impossible to get them to engage with that debate, and none of them would drop that policy.

“Now, almost all of them have dropped it. The first minister came out against Cambo recently, and has challenged the idea that ongoing maximum oil and gas extraction can be sustainable.

“Labour and Lib Dems have changed their position, and the Tories are now isolated.

“It is only the hard right who continue to deny the reality that, not only environment groups, but the International Energy Agency, are very clearly saying, that new oil and gas extraction is simply not compatible with preserving our life support system.”

Mutch said that the poll showed many in the region worried that ending new oil and gas developments in Scottish waters would lead to a higher dependency upon imports from overseas producers such as Russia and the Middle East, ultimately leading to a far greater carbon footprint to fulfil Scotland’s oil and gas demand.

The poll suggested that of those expressing an opinion, a definitive 98 per cent believe that the oil and gas used in the UK should be mostly produced in the UK. 

The poll also found that 62 per cent of people in the north of Scotland thought oil and gas companies had a positive impact on the economy and 44 per cent wanted the Scottish and UK governments to invest in helping Aberdeen transition to net zero, compared with 20 per cent who said the funding would be better spent elsewhere.

Responding to the poll, Green MSP for the North East Maggie Chapman said: “The concerns of communities who rely on the fossil fuel industry have been stoked by reckless fearmongering by the Scottish Conservatives and others.

“The need to move on from endless oil and gas expansion is backed by overwhelming scientific evidence, the United Nations and the International Energy Agency. The responsible thing to do is to ensure that the transition is just and leaves no-one behind.

"That’s why with Greens in government Scotland is increasing our renewable energy capacity and investing in measures to lower our demand for oil and gas, including decarbonising heating and transport and banning single use plastics. 

“This polling shows that as we transition away from oil and gas, communities in the North East need energy security and alternative jobs, not scare stories.”

The survey came as business leaders in the North East penned a joint open letter to party leaders calling for a "reasoned debate" over the future of oil and gas in the UK.

The letter, from Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, supported by the British Chambers of Commerce and Scottish Chambers of Commerce, has also been signed by 58 leading figures from business and civic life in Aberdeen.

It warns that the economic wellbeing of whole communities across the UK is also being put at risk.

The letter said: "A transition, by definition, is a change of state over time. This is one of the most complex challenges we have faced in our history and it doesn't lend itself to a simple, 'Who's good, who's bad? Who's green, who's not?' approach. To characterise it in this way is overly simplistic.

"We must now pause and allow for a reasoned debate about our energy future to take place. At the same time, we urge politicians to reflect carefully on their public statements on oil and gas and the impact they have on investment in the industry.

"We must not create an adverse policy environment at this crucial moment in our energy transition journey."

Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: "We have a shared interest in getting to net zero as quickly as possible, but over recent months our region has been portrayed as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

"The reality is that the skills, people, and experience embedded in the north-east of Scotland have quietly been leading the way in moving the UK towards its net-zero targets, without any intervention from COP26.

"However, turning the North Sea into a hostile investment environment today does nothing to support that transition. In fact, it does the opposite, driving investment and tens of thousands of jobs away to other regions of the world."