logo
Reform beat Labour to second place in Clydebank by-election

Reform beat Labour to second place in Clydebank by-election

Times17-05-2025

​Nigel Farage has declared his party is 'becoming the opposition to the SNP' after Reform UK pushed Labour into third place in a council by-election in Clydebank.
​The right-wing party's David Smith won 26 per cent of the vote in the ​Clydebank Waterfront ward on West Dunbartonshire council — edging out Labour by 1 percentage point, while the Conservatives took just 3 per cent. The SNP held the seat with 36 per cent of first-preference votes.
The result, three weeks before the first Holyrood by-election this parliament on June 5, will alarm Labour Party figures who fear embarrassment in the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse constituency vote, which was called after the death of Christina McKelvie.
• Can Reform win in Scotland? The Farage juggernaut

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Acorn carbon capture project funding to finally be announced in Rachel Reeves spending review
Acorn carbon capture project funding to finally be announced in Rachel Reeves spending review

Scotsman

time29 minutes ago

  • Scotsman

Acorn carbon capture project funding to finally be announced in Rachel Reeves spending review

Details of funding for the Acorn project are set to be announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as part of Wednesday's Spending Review. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Funding for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire is finally expected to be announced in the UK government's spending review. The carbon capture project, based in St Fergus, would take greenhouse gas emissions and store them under the North Sea, in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The planned Acorn carbon capture site. Last month UK energy minister Michael Shanks stressed his department was lobbying the Chancellor to sign off funding for the crucial project, which is now set to be announced in Wednesday's spending review. In the House of Commons on Tuesday, ministers were asked several times about funding for the project. UK energy minister Sarah Jones told MPs they did not have long to wait long for more information. She said: "We have always been clear that we support the Acorn project. We know what an important proposal it is. The decision is a matter for a spending review but we are very close to having those decisions". Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Acorn project, which would be based near Peterhead, has been in the pipeline for years and would allow fossil fuels to continue to be burnt without, in theory, releasing harmful carbon emissions. The project is seen as key to scaling up the low-carbon hydrogen sector in Scotland and future plans for Grangemouth, but the technology has not yet been demonstrated at commercial scale. With the project based in his the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency, local SNP Seamus Logan welcomed the announcement. He said: 'As the local MP for the Acorn project, I cautiously welcome this long-overdue commitment that funding and full details will finally be announced for Scottish carbon capture at the spending review tomorrow, after years of campaigning by the SNP and the Scottish energy sector. England has been allocated £22billion for carbon capture, so I would expect investment in Scotland to be at a commensurate level. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'After decades of broken promises, funding snubs and delays from Westminster - including over the past year - it is essential that adequate funding, full details and a concrete commitment to the project is now delivered by the UK government at pace - and the devil will be in the detail of the announcement, which we will study carefully. 'Scotland has repeatedly been treated as an afterthought by the Labour government, with money being ploughed into projects in the south of England instead, and thousands of Scottish energy jobs lost in the north east of Scotland as a result of Keir Starmer's damaging policies. That must now change - and funding for Scottish carbon capture must mark the beginning of a substantial programme of investment in Scotland's energy sector to create jobs, lower energy bills and boost economic growth.' Business leaders and organisations including the Scottish Chambers of Commerce had signed a letter in March urging the chancellor to back the project. It argued that the project had faced two decades of setbacks, and that it is needed to help Scottish industry decarbonise. The project missed out on support in 2021, and Acorn was placed on a reserve list for future backing.

SNP opposition to new nuclear power stations ‘makes no sense', says Miliband
SNP opposition to new nuclear power stations ‘makes no sense', says Miliband

Glasgow Times

time36 minutes ago

  • Glasgow Times

SNP opposition to new nuclear power stations ‘makes no sense', says Miliband

The Energy Secretary said Holyrood's position 'makes no sense', as Labour MP Gregor Poynton claimed the policy had cost workers and taxpayers north of the border 'billions of pounds of investment and thousands of high-skilled jobs'. SNP MP Kirsty Blackman described the UK Government's new £14.2 billion investment into Sizewell C in Suffolk as a 'splurge', when she pressed Mr Miliband on whether the Government will back the Acorn carbon capture and storage project. Mr Miliband said the Sizewell development along East Anglia's North Sea coastline will 'power the equivalent of around six million homes with clean homegrown energy for 60 years, and it will be a jobs and growth engine for Britain, supporting 10,000 jobs in the peak construction and creating 1,500 apprenticeships'. It is one of several nuclear projects which the Government has backed, which also include a prototype fusion plant at West Burton, Nottinghamshire, and a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Great British Energy – Nuclear to rollout small modular reactors. Mr Poynton, the MP for Livingston, told the Commons: 'Scotland was once a pioneer in nuclear energy and should be again, but due to the SNP Scottish Government's outdated, backward, quite frankly bizarre opposition to nuclear energy, turning away billions of pounds of investment and thousands of high-skilled jobs. 'So, does the Secretary of State agree with me this is yet another way the SNP Scottish Government has lost their way?' (PA Graphics) Mr Miliband replied that Mr Poynton was 'so right', and added: 'People in Scotland will be looking at these announcements and saying, 'well why isn't it us that are benefitting from this? Why are we not even in the race?'' The Scottish Government, led by SNP First Minister John Swinney, has a policy of opposing the building of new nuclear power stations. Lillian Jones, the Labour MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, criticised the position as an 'ideological block on nuclear power, blocking billions in investment, blocking thousands of well-paid, secure Scottish jobs, and blocking growth'. In his response, Mr Miliband said: 'We can announce a golden age of nuclear with our investments but not in Scotland, because of the position of the SNP Government. 'It makes no sense.' Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband urged the SNP to 'think again' about its position on nuclear power (Hannah McKay/PA) Aberdeen North MP Ms Blackman had earlier said: 'This £14 billion splurge on English nuclear power plants comes on top of £22 billion for English carbon capture and storage, while there's nothing for Scotland's Acorn project. 'With Grangemouth (oil refinery) allowed to close, with a fiscal regime that is ruining north-east energy jobs, this latest announcement shows that Scotland isn't just an afterthought, it isn't a thought at all. 'If nearly £40 billion can be found for English energy projects, why is it that money is never found for Scotland's carbon capture project?' Mr Miliband replied: 'Well look, I think maybe there is an SNP change in position coming. If she wants to have a conversation about Scottish nuclear power stations, then absolutely. 'We're in favour of the Acorn project and we'll be saying more about this in the coming weeks. 'But let me just say to her – on nuclear power, they've really got to think again. We are backing nuclear with the biggest building programme in a generation. 🔧£14.2bn for Sizewell C👷10,000 jobs & 1,500 apprenticeships⚛️ Small Modular Reactor programme Clean, homegrown power will boost the UK's energy security, protect billpayers & drive economic growth. — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (@energygovuk) June 10, 2025 'They are absolutely sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to this. This is about jobs, it's about investment, it's about clean energy, they should really rethink.' In an earlier statement, Mr Miliband said: 'The Government is taking decisive steps today to usher in a new golden age of nuclear for Britain.' He added: 'For too long, our country has not made the crucial energy – or indeed other infrastructure investments – we need. A short-sighted failure to invest for which the British people have paid the price in lower living standards, insecurity and declining public services. 'This week's announcements symbolise a decisive change in approach, to invest in the future – the right choice for energy security, the right choice for jobs, the right choice for climate and our children and grandchildren, the right choice for Britain, investment, not decline. 'This Government has made its choice.'

SNP opposition to new nuclear power stations ‘makes no sense', says Miliband
SNP opposition to new nuclear power stations ‘makes no sense', says Miliband

Rhyl Journal

time37 minutes ago

  • Rhyl Journal

SNP opposition to new nuclear power stations ‘makes no sense', says Miliband

The Energy Secretary said Holyrood's position 'makes no sense', as Labour MP Gregor Poynton claimed the policy had cost workers and taxpayers north of the border 'billions of pounds of investment and thousands of high-skilled jobs'. SNP MP Kirsty Blackman described the UK Government's new £14.2 billion investment into Sizewell C in Suffolk as a 'splurge', when she pressed Mr Miliband on whether the Government will back the Acorn carbon capture and storage project. Mr Miliband said the Sizewell development along East Anglia's North Sea coastline will 'power the equivalent of around six million homes with clean homegrown energy for 60 years, and it will be a jobs and growth engine for Britain, supporting 10,000 jobs in the peak construction and creating 1,500 apprenticeships'. It is one of several nuclear projects which the Government has backed, which also include a prototype fusion plant at West Burton, Nottinghamshire, and a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Great British Energy – Nuclear to rollout small modular reactors. Mr Poynton, the MP for Livingston, told the Commons: 'Scotland was once a pioneer in nuclear energy and should be again, but due to the SNP Scottish Government's outdated, backward, quite frankly bizarre opposition to nuclear energy, turning away billions of pounds of investment and thousands of high-skilled jobs. 'So, does the Secretary of State agree with me this is yet another way the SNP Scottish Government has lost their way?' Mr Miliband replied that Mr Poynton was 'so right', and added: 'People in Scotland will be looking at these announcements and saying, 'well why isn't it us that are benefitting from this? Why are we not even in the race?'' The Scottish Government, led by SNP First Minister John Swinney, has a policy of opposing the building of new nuclear power stations. Lillian Jones, the Labour MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, criticised the position as an 'ideological block on nuclear power, blocking billions in investment, blocking thousands of well-paid, secure Scottish jobs, and blocking growth'. In his response, Mr Miliband said: 'We can announce a golden age of nuclear with our investments but not in Scotland, because of the position of the SNP Government. 'It makes no sense.' Aberdeen North MP Ms Blackman had earlier said: 'This £14 billion splurge on English nuclear power plants comes on top of £22 billion for English carbon capture and storage, while there's nothing for Scotland's Acorn project. 'With Grangemouth (oil refinery) allowed to close, with a fiscal regime that is ruining north-east energy jobs, this latest announcement shows that Scotland isn't just an afterthought, it isn't a thought at all. 'If nearly £40 billion can be found for English energy projects, why is it that money is never found for Scotland's carbon capture project?' Mr Miliband replied: 'Well look, I think maybe there is an SNP change in position coming. If she wants to have a conversation about Scottish nuclear power stations, then absolutely. 'We're in favour of the Acorn project and we'll be saying more about this in the coming weeks. 'But let me just say to her – on nuclear power, they've really got to think again. We are backing nuclear with the biggest building programme in a generation. 🔧£14.2bn for Sizewell C👷10,000 jobs & 1,500 apprenticeships⚛️ Small Modular Reactor programme Clean, homegrown power will boost the UK's energy security, protect billpayers & drive economic growth. — Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (@energygovuk) June 10, 2025 'They are absolutely sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to this. This is about jobs, it's about investment, it's about clean energy, they should really rethink.' In an earlier statement, Mr Miliband said: 'The Government is taking decisive steps today to usher in a new golden age of nuclear for Britain.' He added: 'For too long, our country has not made the crucial energy – or indeed other infrastructure investments – we need. A short-sighted failure to invest for which the British people have paid the price in lower living standards, insecurity and declining public services. 'This week's announcements symbolise a decisive change in approach, to invest in the future – the right choice for energy security, the right choice for jobs, the right choice for climate and our children and grandchildren, the right choice for Britain, investment, not decline. 'This Government has made its choice.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store