Latest news with #OfficialReceiver
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil refinery workers 'devastated' over closure
More than a hundred people have gathered at a protest demanding the government take more action to save the Lindsey Oil Refinery from closure. The demonstration outside Grimsby Town Hall comes after Energy Minister Michael Shanks announced the plant near Immingham, in North East Lincolnshire, was to shut because a buyer could not be found. The Official Receiver took over the site last month after its owner, Prax, went into administration, putting 420 jobs at risk. Shane Tomlinson, 45, has worked the refinery for 20 years and said: "It's devastating for everyone". "Where is the work in Grimsby and Cleethorpes for people like this," he said. "There isn't any." His views were echoed by his colleague Greg Codling. "All the young lads have got mortgages, they've all got young children," he said. "There's going to be a lot of people all at once looking for the jobs that are not there." Simone Barker, whose dad works at the refinery, attended the demonstration with her son. She said: "It's his future, it's his brother's future, it's all the children [who are] leaving school, it's not right." Employee Pete Spencer, 52, said: "It's going to have a massive effect on the area. "I've been there 22 years. I've been a good servant, loyal servant to the place and it's going to hit everybody in this town hard all across the board. So it's a massive loss to the town, a massive loss to the area." Harriet Eisner, from Unite union, said: "They [employees at Lindsey Oil Refinery] shouldn't be made redundant, that place is viable. "It's not just the people directly employed by Lindsey Oil Refinery it's the contractors, all the people in the supply chain the local businesses who rely on their patronage. It's going to be devastating." "The government need to work a lot harder in getting a business to take over Lindsey Oil Refinery so there is a future for the people in this community". Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: "The government will immediately fund a comprehensive Training Guarantee for these refinery workers to ensure they have the skills they need and are supported to find jobs in the growing clean energy workforce." Lindsey is the smallest of the UK's oil refineries, according to the government. It is located next to the larger Phillips 66 Humber refinery, which continues to operate. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices More on this story Calls for government to save refinery from closure Oil refinery to shut after no buyer found Oil refinery owners urged to support workers Government supporting refinery as 420 jobs at risk Related internet links Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Solve the daily Crossword
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Lindsey Oil Refinery workers 'devastated' over closure
More than a hundred people have gathered at a protest demanding the government take more action to save the Lindsey Oil Refinery from demonstration outside Grimsby Town Hall comes after Energy Minister Michael Shanks announced the plant near Immingham, in North East Lincolnshire, was to shut because a buyer could not be Official Receiver took over the site last month after its owner, Prax, went into administration, putting 420 jobs at Tomlinson, 45, has worked the refinery for 20 years and said: "It's devastating for everyone". "Where is the work in Grimsby and Cleethorpes for people like this," he said."There isn't any."His views were echoed by his colleague Greg Codling."All the young lads have got mortgages, they've all got young children," he said. "There's going to be a lot of people all at once looking for the jobs that are not there." Simone Barker, whose dad works at the refinery, attended the demonstration with her son. She said: "It's his future, it's his brother's future, it's all the children [who are] leaving school, it's not right." Employee Pete Spencer, 52, said: "It's going to have a massive effect on the area."I've been there 22 years. I've been a good servant, loyal servant to the place and it's going to hit everybody in this town hard all across the board. So it's a massive loss to the town, a massive loss to the area." Harriet Eisner, from Unite union, said: "They [employees at Lindsey Oil Refinery] shouldn't be made redundant, that place is viable."It's not just the people directly employed by Lindsey Oil Refinery it's the contractors, all the people in the supply chain the local businesses who rely on their patronage. It's going to be devastating.""The government need to work a lot harder in getting a business to take over Lindsey Oil Refinery so there is a future for the people in this community".Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: "The government will immediately fund a comprehensive Training Guarantee for these refinery workers to ensure they have the skills they need and are supported to find jobs in the growing clean energy workforce."Lindsey is the smallest of the UK's oil refineries, according to the is located next to the larger Phillips 66 Humber refinery, which continues to operate. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Glencore in talks with UK government over insolvent Lindsey oil refinery supply, source says
LONDON (Reuters) -Commodities trader Glencore is in talks with the British government over the status of its supply and offtake contract with the insolvent Lindsey oil refinery, according to a source familiar with the situation. The 113,000-barrel-per-day refinery was owned by Prax prior to its insolvency which was announced on Monday, alongside the insolvency of Prax's parent group, putting hundreds of jobs at risk and potentially increasing Britain's reliance on fuel imports. Glencore declined to comment. The government has ordered an investigation into Prax's directors and the circumstances surrounding the insolvency. Glencore last year won a tender to supply crude oil to the Lindsey refinery, replacing rival trader Trafigura, three sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters at the time. Consultancy FTI, the special manager hired by the government to assist the so-called Official Receiver of the insolvent refinery, directed questions on the refinery to Britain's departments for Business and Trade as well as Energy Security and Net Zero. The Official Receiver is tasked with dealing with suppliers of the site. Neither department commented on talks with Glencore or how long the refinery would be able to operate if no deal was reached. A spokesperson for the department for Energy Security and Net Zero pointed to its statement from Monday which said that the government would ensure supplies were maintained. Sign in to access your portfolio
Scotsman
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Readers Letters: If UK Government will support English refinery, why not Grangemouth?
A tale of two refineries puzzles reader Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox 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... On 30 June BBC News reported that the UK Labour Government is funding the Official Receiver to ensure the safe operation of the Prax Lindsey oil refinery which is located in North East Lincolnshire. Speaking on the matter in the House of Commons, Energy Minister Michael Shanks stated: 'The government will ensure supplies are maintained, protect our energy security and do everything we can to support workers.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While any action on the part of the government to save jobs is commendable, I know that Michael Shanks and his fellow Scottish Labour MPs are aware of the recent closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, which was every bit as important to Scotland's energy security as the Prax Lindsey refinery is to the people of the East of England. It is not an unfair question to ask Mr Shanks and the UK Labour Government why they were prepared only a few months ago to sit back and watch the Grangemouth refinery and its workers being thrown onto the scrapheap, yet now when a refinery based in the East of England comes under threat of closure, immediate measures are being put in place to save it? Prior to last year's general election Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar went on record to state that if Labour was elected it would prevent the closure of Grangemouth. The people of Scotland now know Labour did nothing to save Grangemouth. The Labour Party, and particularly, Messrs Shanks and Sarwar, need to explain why keeping open the oil refinery in Lincolnshire is more important than the same action for Grangemouth. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad During the 2014 independence referendum the Labour Party in Scotland was in the vanguard of the Better Together campaign. Some workers who've lost their jobs at Grangemouth might be asking themselves, 'Better for whom'? Jim Finlayson, Banchory, Aberdeenshire Disaster masters Kenny MacAskill of Alba attributes the rundown of the North Sea to Ed Miliband. Mr Miliband has indeed come over as an eco-zealot in his time in office, obsessed by impossible timescales and unimaginably expensive dreams of net zero, oblivious to the human misery and energy deprivation involved in what he proposes. However, in the greater scheme of things the SNP are by far the greatest single cause of the disaster of ending North Sea oil and gas decades prematurely. Compared to the nationalists and their Green allies' constant denigration of the industry over many years, including Grangemouth, Ed Miliband has been a recent and minor figure and has only held office for a year. The nationalists have their own super and not-so-smart eco-zealots. What other countries, not having the UK's natural wealth in energy, must think with these innocents in charge of our resources is mindboggling. Alexander McKay, Edinburgh End dependency Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A 40 per cent increase in small boat crossings and a year of U-turns has Labour struggling to maintain the trust of its voters, as well as its own MPs. With 11 million people of working age not working something radical needs to be done. Of 3.7m claiming Personal Independence Payments, 2.4m are new claimants, mainly for mental health reasons. The Scottish Government spends over £33 billion a year on welfare, more than Health. Like the UK Government, which spends proportionately less at £275bn,it cannot stand by and avoid making savings or, as Labour are doing, make a hash of what will be just a 1 per cent welfare saving. Around a quarter of working age people are not working and when pensioners are included, as many adults are in work as not working. This is unsustainable and it seems Labour will need to freeze tax thresholds. If pensions, defence and health are going to be protected something else has to give. Going 'further and faster' on growth also demands getting a grip on the burgeoning welfare bill. If escalating borrowing for future generations is to be avoided the dependency culture in Scotland and the rest of the UK must end without impacting the most vulnerable. Neil Anderson, Edinburgh Not a poor show Recent analysis shows that levels of relative poverty in Scotland have been lower than in the UK as a whole for the last two decades. This is surely a vindication of the policies pursued and adopted by successive Scottish governments over that time and strongly suggests that Holyrood administrations have been far more effective in looking after the needs of the people they represent than those in Westminster and the Senedd. To give some examples, in 2024 the level of relative poverty in the UK was 21 per cent while Scotland stood at 20 per cent (England and Wales were slightly above the UK figure). In terms of child poverty Scotland's percentage fell from 25 per cent in 2021 to 23 per cent last year. In both England and Wales rates in 2024 were 31 per cent, exactly the same as in 2021. (Steve Witherden, Labour MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr has indicated he would be in favour of the Welsh government introducing something similar to the Scottish Child Payment.) The relative poverty rate for people of pension age in Scotland was 15 per cent in 2024 compared with 16 per cent for the UK as a whole. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad If the Scottish Government can outperform the UK and Welsh administrations in such a key measure of quality of life with one hand tied behind its back, as at present, we can only imagine how far ahead an independent Scotland would be. Our country simply cannot afford to be held back any longer! Alan Woodcock, Dundee Britain needs PR The Labour Welfare Reform Bill, after multiple concessions, stumbled over the line, despite 49 backbenchers rebelling. How many arms were twisted en route to this pyrrhic victory, which leaves the Party mortally wounded and the Government perhaps terminally unpopular? The only victor in all of this is the increasingly likely figure of Nigel Farage. A recent poll makes him more popular than Keir Starmer. Both Labour and the hapless Tories, under the even more unpopular Kemi Badenoch, are sleepwalking into a Farage premiership at the next general election. Our crazy first-past-the-post voting system could see that result with Reform UK winning with just 28 per cent of the vote. Labour, a year ago, polled just 34 per cent of a low turnout to win a stonking majority. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Please, let's bring in a proportional representation form of polling before it's too late. Ian Petrie, Edinburgh New approach It is reported that the SNP has a 'massive £5 billion budget black hole' which can only result in cuts to services or tax rises. Let us not forget that it is the same folks behind this fiasco who back the campaign for 'Scottish independence'. Then we learn of the SNP's opposition to defence spending, particularly, of course, towards nuclear weapons. Just what sort of fairyland do the SNP live in if they fail to recognise the dangers of conflict in today's unsettled world? Do they suppose that violent dictators respect the wishes of uninformed pacifists? Just when will the good people of Scotland realise that they are governed at Holyrood by what amounts to a minority administration with, until recently, unelected Green Party support? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What Scotland needs urgently is a fresh approach to the regional government at Holyrood, or closure of this unsuccessful institution. Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife Tapestry tragedy It was interesting to read about Martin Roche's visit to the Borders, particularly his take on The Great Tapestry of Scotland based in Galashiels ('Why troubled Borders region is pinning its hopes on 'game-changer' Center Parcs', 1 July). He must be one of the very few visitors to the attraction which he ranks in the top ten. I hope his piece encourages readers to flock to it. Residents have a very different perspective. When considering taking on the tapestry – which no other area wanted – Scottish Borders Council engaged expensive consultants who told them 50,000 people would visit the Tapestry each year, that is 1,000 per week. It doesn't happen – barely a fraction of that number visit. The only well-supported part of the venue is the coffee shop. To subsidise the Tapestry the council is shutting essential, enjoyed and valued community services. Most of the fellow Border residents I speak to would prefer to have community centres and swimming pools than the Tapestry. I do hope the proposed Centre Parcs development near Hawick lives up to expectations. Mary Douglas, Glendearg, Galashiels Truth out there? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I have an odd phenomenon to report. Perhaps a reader can help me out on this? It was on the night of 2-3 July and my wife and I had stayed up watch some pre-recorded nonsense on TV. It was rather late – or, perhaps, early – being at 12.50am. To our surprise, a sudden, bright light appeared to our south, so over the Morningside Drive area. The light was like a ball of flame and just as bright. It appeared to be no more than a couple of hundred feet up. It lasted no more than two seconds and was gone. We have double-glazing, so I don't know if there was any sound, but I opened the window and stuck my head out and there was silence. What could it have been? A meteor would surely not have just been a sudden flash? Peter Hopkins, Edinburgh Write to The Scotsman
Scotsman
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Readers Letters: If UK Government will support English refinery, why not Grangemouth?
A tale of two refineries puzzles reader Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox 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... On 30 June BBC News reported that the UK Labour Government is funding the Official Receiver to ensure the safe operation of the Prax Lindsey oil refinery which is located in North East Lincolnshire. Speaking on the matter in the House of Commons, Energy Minister Michael Shanks stated: 'The government will ensure supplies are maintained, protect our energy security and do everything we can to support workers.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While any action on the part of the government to save jobs is commendable, I know that Michael Shanks and his fellow Scottish Labour MPs are aware of the recent closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, which was every bit as important to Scotland's energy security as the Prax Lindsey refinery is to the people of the East of England. It is not an unfair question to ask Mr Shanks and the UK Labour Government why they were prepared only a few months ago to sit back and watch the Grangemouth refinery and its workers being thrown onto the scrapheap, yet now when a refinery based in the East of England comes under threat of closure, immediate measures are being put in place to save it? Prior to last year's general election Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar went on record to state that if Labour was elected it would prevent the closure of Grangemouth. The people of Scotland now know Labour did nothing to save Grangemouth. The Labour Party, and particularly, Messrs Shanks and Sarwar, need to explain why keeping open the oil refinery in Lincolnshire is more important than the same action for Grangemouth. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad During the 2014 independence referendum the Labour Party in Scotland was in the vanguard of the Better Together campaign. Some workers who've lost their jobs at Grangemouth might be asking themselves, 'Better for whom'? Jim Finlayson, Banchory, Aberdeenshire Disaster masters Kenny MacAskill of Alba attributes the rundown of the North Sea to Ed Miliband. Mr Miliband has indeed come over as an eco-zealot in his time in office, obsessed by impossible timescales and unimaginably expensive dreams of net zero, oblivious to the human misery and energy deprivation involved in what he proposes. However, in the greater scheme of things the SNP are by far the greatest single cause of the disaster of ending North Sea oil and gas decades prematurely. Compared to the nationalists and their Green allies' constant denigration of the industry over many years, including Grangemouth, Ed Miliband has been a recent and minor figure and has only held office for a year. The nationalists have their own super and not-so-smart eco-zealots. What other countries, not having the UK's natural wealth in energy, must think with these innocents in charge of our resources is mindboggling. Alexander McKay, Edinburgh End dependency Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A 40 per cent increase in small boat crossings and a year of U-turns has Labour struggling to maintain the trust of its voters, as well as its own MPs. With 11 million people of working age not working something radical needs to be done. Of 3.7m claiming Personal Independence Payments, 2.4m are new claimants, mainly for mental health reasons. The Scottish Government spends over £33 billion a year on welfare, more than Health. Like the UK Government, which spends proportionately less at £275bn,it cannot stand by and avoid making savings or, as Labour are doing, make a hash of what will be just a 1 per cent welfare saving. Around a quarter of working age people are not working and when pensioners are included, as many adults are in work as not working. This is unsustainable and it seems Labour will need to freeze tax thresholds. If pensions, defence and health are going to be protected something else has to give. Going 'further and faster' on growth also demands getting a grip on the burgeoning welfare bill. If escalating borrowing for future generations is to be avoided the dependency culture in Scotland and the rest of the UK must end without impacting the most vulnerable. Neil Anderson, Edinburgh Not a poor show Recent analysis shows that levels of relative poverty in Scotland have been lower than in the UK as a whole for the last two decades. This is surely a vindication of the policies pursued and adopted by successive Scottish governments over that time and strongly suggests that Holyrood administrations have been far more effective in looking after the needs of the people they represent than those in Westminster and the Senedd. To give some examples, in 2024 the level of relative poverty in the UK was 21 per cent while Scotland stood at 20 per cent (England and Wales were slightly above the UK figure). In terms of child poverty Scotland's percentage fell from 25 per cent in 2021 to 23 per cent last year. In both England and Wales rates in 2024 were 31 per cent, exactly the same as in 2021. (Steve Witherden, Labour MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr has indicated he would be in favour of the Welsh government introducing something similar to the Scottish Child Payment.) The relative poverty rate for people of pension age in Scotland was 15 per cent in 2024 compared with 16 per cent for the UK as a whole. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad If the Scottish Government can outperform the UK and Welsh administrations in such a key measure of quality of life with one hand tied behind its back, as at present, we can only imagine how far ahead an independent Scotland would be. Our country simply cannot afford to be held back any longer! Alan Woodcock, Dundee Britain needs PR The Labour Welfare Reform Bill, after multiple concessions, stumbled over the line, despite 49 backbenchers rebelling. How many arms were twisted en route to this pyrrhic victory, which leaves the Party mortally wounded and the Government perhaps terminally unpopular? The only victor in all of this is the increasingly likely figure of Nigel Farage. A recent poll makes him more popular than Keir Starmer. Both Labour and the hapless Tories, under the even more unpopular Kemi Badenoch, are sleepwalking into a Farage premiership at the next general election. Our crazy first-past-the-post voting system could see that result with Reform UK winning with just 28 per cent of the vote. Labour, a year ago, polled just 34 per cent of a low turnout to win a stonking majority. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Please, let's bring in a proportional representation form of polling before it's too late. Ian Petrie, Edinburgh New approach It is reported that the SNP has a 'massive £5 billion budget black hole' which can only result in cuts to services or tax rises. Let us not forget that it is the same folks behind this fiasco who back the campaign for 'Scottish independence'. Then we learn of the SNP's opposition to defence spending, particularly, of course, towards nuclear weapons. Just what sort of fairyland do the SNP live in if they fail to recognise the dangers of conflict in today's unsettled world? Do they suppose that violent dictators respect the wishes of uninformed pacifists? Just when will the good people of Scotland realise that they are governed at Holyrood by what amounts to a minority administration with, until recently, unelected Green Party support? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What Scotland needs urgently is a fresh approach to the regional government at Holyrood, or closure of this unsuccessful institution. Robert I G Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife Tapestry tragedy It was interesting to read about Martin Roche's visit to the Borders, particularly his take on The Great Tapestry of Scotland based in Galashiels ('Why troubled Borders region is pinning its hopes on 'game-changer' Center Parcs', 1 July). He must be one of the very few visitors to the attraction which he ranks in the top ten. I hope his piece encourages readers to flock to it. Residents have a very different perspective. When considering taking on the tapestry – which no other area wanted – Scottish Borders Council engaged expensive consultants who told them 50,000 people would visit the Tapestry each year, that is 1,000 per week. It doesn't happen – barely a fraction of that number visit. The only well-supported part of the venue is the coffee shop. To subsidise the Tapestry the council is shutting essential, enjoyed and valued community services. Most of the fellow Border residents I speak to would prefer to have community centres and swimming pools than the Tapestry. I do hope the proposed Centre Parcs development near Hawick lives up to expectations. Mary Douglas, Glendearg, Galashiels Truth out there? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I have an odd phenomenon to report. Perhaps a reader can help me out on this? It was on the night of 2-3 July and my wife and I had stayed up watch some pre-recorded nonsense on TV. It was rather late – or, perhaps, early – being at 12.50am. To our surprise, a sudden, bright light appeared to our south, so over the Morningside Drive area. The light was like a ball of flame and just as bright. It appeared to be no more than a couple of hundred feet up. It lasted no more than two seconds and was gone. We have double-glazing, so I don't know if there was any sound, but I opened the window and stuck my head out and there was silence. What could it have been? A meteor would surely not have just been a sudden flash? Peter Hopkins, Edinburgh Write to The Scotsman
