Politics latest: UK prepared 'for all eventualities' after Spain and Portugal blackout
Labour MP furious with party for allowing oil refinery to close
The Labour MP in Grangemouth has said he is angry and incredulous at the decision to allow the oil refinery to close - and is warning his party could now come as low as fourth place in the next Scottish election.
Brian Leishman described the government's decision not to step in to save Scotland's only oil refinery as a "broken promise".
He told our political correspondent Ali Fortescue he was full of "fury, disappointment, anger" and "a feeling of incredulity".
He added that the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said in a televised debate last year that the party would intervene to stop the loss of more than 400 jobs at the refinery, which shut for the last time yesterday.
"There's no getting away from it," he said. "That's a broken promise and from the Labour Party, that's not good enough".
Workers 'let down' by Labour
He said it was "legitimate" to question whether the government cared less about Scotland given it did step in to stop the British Steel plant at Scunthorpe from shutting down.
While seizing control of Britain's last operating blast furnaces was "the right thing to do", Grangemouth had been "let down" by comparison.
The MP for Alloa and Grangemouth said it would likely consign Labour to third or maybe even fourth in next year's Holyrood election.
After "nearly two decades" of SNP government, he said it was "incredible" for Labour not to be "putting forward a credible case we can govern Scotland differently".
The prime minister's spokesperson said they "completely reject" the idea Scotland was being treated differently than England.
Watch: Environment secretary defends Grangemouth closure
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Daily Mail
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