SNP's Flynn hits out at Labour over Acorn CCUS snub
However, there was no update on the Acorn CCUS project – based at St Fergus, near Peterhead.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP's Westminster leader, said the Labour government were treating Scotland as an 'afterthought', warning that repeated delays to the project risked economic decline in the north-east and undermined efforts to reach the UK's legally binding climate targets.
St Fergus in Aberdeenshire (Image: PA) Acorn is Scotland's only large-scale CCUS initiative. It aims to capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial facilities and power plants, transporting them offshore to be permanently stored in depleted gas fields beneath the North Sea.
The project plans to reuse existing oil and gas infrastructure, notably pipelines that already run from St Fergus out to former drilling sites.
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Acorn missed out on support in 2021, when funding instead went to two areas in the north of England. It was instead placed on the Track 2 reserve list for future backing. That means it has little chance of being developed until the second phase in the 2030s at the earliest.
If delivered, it could provide a critical lifeline for Scotland's heavy industries. The Climate Change Committee, the UK's statutory adviser on climate policy, has projected that the Scottish cluster could ultimately store between 10 and 22 million tonnes of CO₂ a year by 2050.
The project is also intended to help secure a "just transition" for the north-east economy as the oil and gas sector declines.
A 2023 impact assessment estimated that Acorn could support 15,000 jobs across construction and long-term operation, with many roles directly reusing skills from the offshore oil and gas sector, which has seen workforce numbers in Aberdeen fall by about a third in recent years.
Earlier this year, industry leaders warned that not investing in Acorn could risk thousands of jobs, billions of pounds of investment, and future economic growth.
(Image: House of Commons/PA Wire) In a letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Mr Flynn, who is the MP for Aberdeen South, said the omission of Acorn funding was 'another chapter in the same old Westminster story' in which Scotland's energy sector was treated as a "cash cow".
He said the Prime Minister's announcement of further funding for projects in England "without mention of finance or progress for the Scottish Cluster' was disappointing.
'The success of this project has been hindered by a failure of consecutive UK Governments to deliver certainty on both licensing and funding. The same damaging trend appears to have continued into your government.
'The simple reality is that if you want to deliver Net Zero, grow the economy and help safeguard energy security then there is no project better placed than Acorn, but it appears that once again Scotland is an afterthought to Westminster.
"Business leaders are absolutely clear on this and it's high time the UK Labour Government listened to the evidence and delivered, with the industry in dire need of certainty from a UK Labour Government which has offered nothing outside of confusion and prevarication.'
Mr Flynn said the announcement was the 'latest instalment in a litany of Labour Government betrayals of Scottish industry, where investment and key assets move higher up the Labour Party's list depending on which side of the border they are found.'
'There is a growing consensus and conclusion that Scotland is an afterthought to the UK Labour Government and that these latest announcements have been a kick in the teeth to Scottish workers, to our energy sector and to our economy,' he added.
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A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero defended the government's position, saying ministers 'recognise the value of the Acorn project to Scotland and our wider clean power plan'.
They said: 'We are delivering first-of-a-kind carbon capture projects in the UK, supporting thousands of jobs across the country, reigniting industrial heartlands and tackling the climate crisis.
'The Energy Secretary has made clear in Parliament that we recognise the value of the Acorn project to Scotland and our wider clean power plan. Carbon capture requires significant resources, and it is right that it is considered within the Spending Review.
'Alongside headquartering Great British Energy in Aberdeen, we are working with industry on a plan for the next generation of good jobs in Scotland in hydrogen, offshore wind and ports, as part of the government's clean energy superpower mission.'
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told MPs in March that the government remained committed to Acorn and the Scottish Cluster.
'I support the Acorn project, it is really important,' he said. However, the minister added that 'the right time to make decisions will be at the spending review in June.'
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband (Image: Kin Cheung/PA) The UK is well placed for CCUS projects. There is enough storage capacity for an estimated 78 billion tonnes of CO₂ — more than 200 years' worth of current emissions.
However, the technology is expensive. Capturing, transporting, and storing carbon can cost between $50 and $100 per tonne of CO₂.
There are also questions over whether or not the first-of-its-kind technology is viable.
In February, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) described the technology as a 'gamble' and said they were 'unconvinced that CCUS is the silver bullet Government is apparently betting on' to reach net zero.
The UK Government downgraded its ambitions for CCUS in 2024, with a target of storing 20 to 30 million tonnes per year of CO₂ by 2030 now seen as no longer achievable.
Last week's announcement came after the UK Government and Italian energy firm Eni agreed a deal for financial support for its Liverpool Bay carbon capture and storage project.
The firm said the agreement of financial terms with the UK government will allow the project to move into the construction phase and 'support the UK's industrial competitiveness for the long term'.
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The Herald Scotland
27 minutes ago
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There are some Scots today who think one of the big problems in the debate about national identity is that there are English people who project their sense of nationhood on to Scotland, do not appear to respect the separate Scottish identity, or actually conflate England and Britain. I don't think this happens as much as we think, but when it does, it's irritating. Read more However, what makes the idea of the English projecting their sense of nationhood onto Scotland more interesting is Professor Broun's idea that it's happened the other way around as well and there are Scots who conflated Britain and Scotland. The professor quotes John Mair, sometimes called the father of Scottish unionism, and says Mair's vision was essentially of a Scottish kingdom expanded to include England. Mair assumed a Scottish king would come to rule Britain which is indeed what happened in the end. 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The Herald Scotland
38 minutes ago
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So now you know, SNP: indy is not what people care about
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The party of Nigel Farage, that enthusiastic Trump supporter, was understood to hold little attraction for the Scottish voter compared with his standing with the English electorate. The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse voters have demonstrated otherwise. The UK political establishment, Labour in particular, has one important lesson to learn, that being that politics in our country is not working for a significant element of our population. The vote for a disastrous Brexit was the first warning sign of a significant discontent with the inequalities and injustices in our society and economy. Uncontrolled neoliberalism has done untold damage to our social contract with our politicians accepting unquestionably the words of Mrs Thatcher, 'there is no alternative'. John Milne, Uddingston. 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The SNP lost. Labour just limped home despite being helped a huge amount by the SNP's travails. Reform UK came from a near-zero base to gain over 7,000 votes and run both other parties close. This by-election was a real test of public opinion for the shape of Holyrood in 2026. Reform could still founder given frequent party in-fighting. Equally the Tories could re-assert their desired position as defenders of the Union. John Swinney has made another major SNP blunder and released the genie from the bottle. Is he going to be the architect of the SNP's downfall? Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow. Labour far from home and hosed While Labour's victory in the Hamilton by-election seemingly points to the party winning the Scottish Parliament elections next year, if I were Anas Sarwar, I wouldn't be sizing up the curtains of Bute House just yet. The seat was won comfortably by the SNP in the last Scottish Parliament election in 2021 and is just the sort of seat that Labour needs to win if Anas Sarwar is to become Scotland's next First Minister. The SNP has made little progress in restoring its fortunes following its heavy defeat in last summer's Westminster election, with polls suggesting that the party's support across Scotland is still 15 points down on its tally in 2021. In the event, the fall in the party's support in Hamilton was, at 17 points, just a little higher than that. However, Labour's own tally was also down by two points on its vote in 2021, when overall the party came a disappointing third. That drop was very much in line with recent polling, which puts the party at just 19 per cent across Scotland as a whole, while the SNP has around a third of the vote. In addition, Labour is losing somewhere between one in six and one in five of its voters to Reform since last year's election. After nearly two decades in the political wilderness, there is little sign that Labour, as it currently stands, is set to regain the reins of power at Holyrood. Alex Orr, Edinburgh. Now flesh out the policies All the pundits initially claimed the Hamilton by-election would go to Labour, given local circumstances. Now a Labour win is described as a 'shock' after even some in Labour were describing their own candidate as not up to the job. But Labour needs to up its game for the next election. Criticism is easy, but Labour needs more fleshed-out policies for government, beyond centralising health in Scotland. The SNP needs to drop all the 'student politics' stuff; it was embarrassing to see a squabble over £2 million when it should be asking why Scotland does so poorly on defence procurement and jobs. Formulate a proper industrial policy for Scotland, and back any project that would enhance jobs and prosperity for Scotland. Refuse nothing and put the onus on unionists to explain their plans in detail. Trident: are the unionist plans for keeping Trident in Scotland similar to those for Diego Garcia? Nuclear power: why do they think Scotland should have it, given its high-cost electricity and the extensive lags on construction? What of waste disposal and site security? The SNP should be in favour of local pricing for electricity as a draw to attract jobs, and for North Sea oil/gas production (until Scots are empowered to decide its future). A Labour/SNP coalition? It looks like the only feasible outcome. GR Weir, Ochiltree. • For all the fuss about the Hamilton by-election, it should be noted that almost 56% of the electorate really don't care who represents them in the Scottish Parliament. Malcolm Parkin, Kinross. Russia claim is baseless Brian Wilson ("Yes, we should stand firm over Putin, but let's not make Russia our implacable foe", The Herald, June 5) tells us today that the rights of the former Soviet republics to seek security (membership of Nato) should have been balanced against Russian fears of encirclement. This raises two issues. Firstly, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 republics: the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russia itself) and 14 others. Of these, only three (the Baltic states,which were independent between the wars) have joined Nato. I am unclear as to how this constitutes encirclement. Does Mr Wilson envisage the Central Asian former republics (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan etc) expressing a wish to join the alliance at some point, thus making encirclement a reality rather than a baseless claim? Secondly, does Mr Wilson not wonder why these small countries wished to be under the umbrella of the Nato alliance? To avoid the current fate of Ukraine perhaps? Alan Jenkins, Glasgow. • Brian Wilson expresses the hope that we should not categorise the Russian people as being inevitably in the enemy camp. He concluded his article by observing that narratives about Russia should have "due regard to past history and also future potential for peaceful co-existence". Such narratives should certainly not fail to take account of the contribution made by Russian armed forces and the civilian population during the Second World War, which is estimated to have resulted in some 25 million Soviet deaths. It is clear that the Russian effort during that war was profoundly influential in assisting toward the eventual defeat of Germany. The Russian people at the time called upon impressive levels of love of country and perseverance in the fight toward victory over a formidable enemy. Once we were allies. While Russia remains in the firm grip of the dictatorial, ambitious and ruthless Vladimir Putin, it is difficult to see to what extent meaningful steps can be taken to pursue the "potential for peaceful co-existence". Ian W Thomson, Lenzie. A Pride rally in Glasgow (Image: PA) Pride needed now as much as ever Gregor McKenzie (Letters, June 6) suggests that LGBT Pride has had its day. In fact, since the end of the pandemic restrictions, more people have been going to more Pride events across Scotland than ever before. Why? I think it's in part because people see how, after several positive changes in the law for LGBT people in the past 25 years, things are now starting to get worse again. Mr McKenzie asks why we can't all just let people be, and I wish we could. But the increased restrictions being introduced on trans people in the UK are quite the opposite of that. Trans people just want to get on with their lives, but the new rules make that much more difficult. And trans people are constantly maligned currently by some parts of the media. So Pride events are needed as much now as ever. They are a celebration of how far we have come in the 30 years since the first Pride Scotland, and they are a protest against the regression we're seeing now. One day perhaps Pride will be solely a celebration, but that day still seems some way off. Meanwhile people join together in the streets to say "Not going back". Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh.
