WimⓂ️4d ago

#scotpol

OK, Swinney (first minister of Scotland, leader of the ruling SNP party) has done it now: "Mr Swinney has now signalled that he may be in favour of new developments - like Jackdaw and Rosebank - if they provide energy security amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East."

He knows of course that the "energy security" argument is bullshit. Rosebank is majority owned by Equinor, the Norwegian state oil company. That oil will be sold on the open market, the UK has no say in this. The same is true for Jackdaw: Shell will sell the gas on the open market.

This is not govt policy or even SNP policy yet but it is a bad sign.

#oil #oilAndGas

Show threadcraignicol3d ago

@wim_v12e @simon_brooke if we still had a refinery and the world wasn't already screaming past the 1.5°C Paris target, *maybe* he'd have a point. But the world, and the voters have moved on. It's clear from this poll around the last Westminster elections that "energy security" is a right wing talking point and only gains votes for Reform. If he's fighting on their turf he's already lost.

https://green-alliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Opinion-on-climate-change-policy-during-the-2024-general-election.pdf

Show threadSimon Brooke3d ago

@craignicol @wim_v12e It will lose far more votes to the @ScottishGreens than it will gain from #ReformUKLtd .

Which is in my opinion entirely a good thing. If the Greens were the senior partner in a pro indy coalition, maybe the #SNP would get back to their day job.

#ScottishIndependence
#ScotPol

Show threadcraignicol3d ago

@simon_brooke @wim_v12e @ScottishGreens it's a nice thought, but I don't think there's enough Green candidates to get a majority. They're not standing in enough constituencies, so even if they fill the lists, we'd still need a larger SNP to get a pro-indy majority.

I would hope the coalition terms would get Swinney to put that idea back in the box.

Show threadcraignicol3d ago
@simon_brooke @wim_v12e @ScottishGreens "it's Scotland oil, and we're keeping it in the ground"
Show threadcraignicol
@simon_brooke @wim_v12e @ScottishGreens if we give it to you, you'll just burn it
Apr 5 at 9:41amWeb