logo
The closure of Grangemouth's refinery sums up Labour's Net Zero muddle

The closure of Grangemouth's refinery sums up Labour's Net Zero muddle

Spectator29-04-2025
Another grim milestone in Britain's elective deindustrialisation was reached today: Scotland's only remaining petrochemical plant, Grangemouth in Fife, ceased refining crude oil after more than half a century of processing output from the Forties field in the North Sea.
It was hardly a surprise. PetroIneos, the part-Chinese-owned company, announced last year that Grangemouth was to become a terminal for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imported from abroad. But today's news is significant because nothing better exposes the contradictory state of British energy policy.
Despite Britain having substantial reserves of hydrocarbons in the North Sea – approximately 24 billion barrels – the UK government is choosing to switch to costly imports, which are likely to be more carbon-intensive than our own supplies, since much of it is transported thousands of miles by tanker. Moreover, much of the LNG we import annually from America is extracted using hydraulic fracturing (fracking): a method banned here.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Why are people talking about an English civil war?
Why are people talking about an English civil war?

New Statesman​

time22 minutes ago

  • New Statesman​

Why are people talking about an English civil war?

Following last year's riots, in the wake of the Southport murders, Elon Musk predicted civil war in the UK was 'inevitable'. So far, however, no civil war… Over the last century, people in British politics at times of turmoil have raised the prospect of civil war, repeatedly, in ways not unlike today. What did they fear, and why? And what might we learn from the fact that – each time – those fears remained unfounded? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by author and journalist Phil Tinline. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related

Labour could sign £2bn contract with Israeli weapons firm
Labour could sign £2bn contract with Israeli weapons firm

The National

time32 minutes ago

  • The National

Labour could sign £2bn contract with Israeli weapons firm

If the £2 billion ($2.69bn) deal goes ahead, it would see Elbit Systems train up to 60,000 British soldiers a year. Elbit Systems provides around 85% of Israel's drones and land-based military equipment. READ MORE: 'Widespread' use of AI generated reviews at Fringe Festival, performers claim The arms firm has played a major role in supplying Israel with weaponry for its genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians. The company's UK wing, Elbit Systems UK, is close to winning a major contract that would make it a "strategic partner" of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Elbit is reportedly bidding against Raytheon for the Army Collective Training Service contract, after the MoD reduced the bidders to two in February. If Elbit wins the contract, it will work with the MoD to transform military training "through digitalisation, simulation, a different relationship with industry, and by changing how and where the military trains". The National understands that the competition for the award is still ongoing and no agreement has yet been reached. The potential deal was first revealed by Private Eye this week, and was subsequently reported by Middle East Eye. Elbit Systems was one of the major targets for Palestine Action group, before it was proscribed as a terror organisation on July 5. On July 1, activists blocked the entrance to the firm's factory in Bristol, in England, where they covered the building in red paint to 'symbolise Palestinian bloodshed'. Activists in Scotland have also targeted Elbit Systems. In May, two companies linked to the weapons manufacturer - Allianz and BNY Mellon - were sprayed with red paint by Palestine Action. Since the proscription order came into effect, membership of or support for the direct action group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. In July, a report by Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur for Palestine, said that "for Israeli companies such as Elbit Systems ... the ongoing genocide has been a profitable venture". READ MORE: Duolingo apologises after German training app calls JK Rowling 'cruel' Since 2023, Elbit's UK arm has run the MoD's Project Vulcan, a £57m contract of simulation-based training for tank crews. If the new deal goes through, it would mark a significant step up in the company's relationship with the MoD. It comes as pressure is growing on the UK Government to announce a full arms embargo on Israel. In September last year, the Labour Government suspended 30 out of around 350 arms export licences to Israel. However, licences for parts for F-35 fighter jets, which are directly used in Gaza, were among those exempt from the embargo. Calls for a full arms embargo on Israel have continued to grow, with the UK Government insisting it is not sending weapons directly to Israel. Instead, the parts are sent to the F-35 "programme", an international defence programme which produces and maintains the fighter jets, with the UK contributing components for both assembly lines and an international pool. While Israel is not one of the "partner nations" of the programme, it is a customer. Private Eye said it had asked the MoD if it would be appropriate to "give a company so involved in the Gaza war such a major contract". However, the magazine added that the MoD did not respond. An MoD spokesperson told The National: 'Like many European allies, the UK sources defence components from a range of international suppliers based on operational requirements, value for money, and compliance with our security and legal obligations, with all suppliers subject to rigorous due diligence. 'The competition for the Army's Collective Training Transformation Programme (CTTP) remains ongoing.'

The final book of the Shona Sandison trilogy has a downbeat air
The final book of the Shona Sandison trilogy has a downbeat air

The Herald Scotland

timean hour ago

  • The Herald Scotland

The final book of the Shona Sandison trilogy has a downbeat air

Covid aside, the longest shadow the past is casting on Shona's present is the result of the Brexit referendum. As the book opens, the UK government has already announced its intention to bring in the Great British Freedom Act, which will 'taper down paid holidays, make sick pay optional, remove controls on food quality and privatise large parts of the health service'. Behind the scenes, a shadowy cabal intends to exploit the absence of EU regulations even further. Their plan, codenamed Grendel, is to pass a law undermining the British people's rights more extensively than anyone has previously dared – and, in a replay of the Council Tax, it's to be tested out in Scotland first. (Image: Polygon) As a journalist for the Shetland-based Buried Lede news agency, Shona unwittingly finds herself tasked with exposing the Grendel plot. Having just won an award at a London media ceremony, she's approached by a dodgy, plummy-voiced character named Reece Proctor, who points her in the direction of a scoop. Her destination turns out to be a sex shop, where in return for saying the password 'bondage' she is given a package containing vital information. Back in Edinburgh, Hector Stricken accidentally swaps bags with a drinking buddy, setting off a panic at Capacity and Resilience (Scotland), providing Shona with a new lead and putting his own life in danger. READ MORE Remotely directed by an anonymous whistleblower known as Moriah, and facing imminent death on several occasions, Shona tries to make her way undetected from a grisly discovery in a Holland Park townhouse up to a mansion called Stag Hall in Fife, stopping off to receive instructions from an artist making a memorial to Covid victims and to seek help from an off-grid hacker who is about to quit this 'doomed' country and take his family to Greenland. While this is all going on, in the East Neuk of Fife, a retired spy is waiting for the right moment to spring into action. Grieving for his dead son, recovering from a breakdown and contemplating the violence and 'meaninglessness' of his career in the security services, he's nevertheless psyching himself up to go down that murderous path one more time, at the nearby Stag Hall. The final book of the Shona Sandison trilogy has a downbeat air that's even more prominent than the usual cloak-and-dagger political thriller. Miller's characters seem exhausted, fatalistic, so worn down by the past decade or more that they've either abandoned their vocations and crossed over to the other side or have accepted that their resistance to powerful elites will count for nothing in the long run. It captures the sense of fatigue and powerlessness that pervades the country and underlines how much we need the decency and tenacity of the Shona Sandisons, who can still triumph against all the odds. Hopefully, this isn't, after all, the last we'll see of her.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store