Stephen Flynn says Labour's fiscal regime 'destroying Scottish jobs'
In May, Harbour Energy in Aberdeen cut 250 onshore jobs, citing the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) as the reason.
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The firm, which has been a vocal critic of the EPL since its introduction in 2022, blamed 'the Government's ongoing punitive fiscal position and a challenging regulatory environment'.
Following the nationalisation of Scunthorpe Steel, billions spent thus far on English nuclear power plants and the saved Prax refinery in Lincolnshire, SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn has warned Rachel Reeves must protect Scottish jobs and change the damaging fiscal regime.
Commenting, Flynn said: "The Labour Party appear to have an ideological desire to sink the North Sea with a fiscal regime that is clearly costing jobs and investment, while putting at risk both energy security and the ability to actually deliver a meaningful energy transition.
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'Meantime, the very same Labour Party are happily flying in behind new airports for London and have been all too keen to write blank cheques for a steel plant in Scunthorpe, a nuclear power station at Sizewell and an oil refinery in Lincolnshire.
"The challenge for Rachel Reeves today is simple – end a fiscal regime that is destroying Scottish jobs and finally tell us how her Government intend to deliver on that pre-election promise to lower energy bills by £300.
"This week the SNP Scottish Government approved the colossal Berwick Bank offering a mere glimpse into what is possible in Scotland, just imagine what we could do in an independent country that puts Scottish energy jobs and lower bills first at every turn."
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