Grangemouth should be a home for the energy industries of the future, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader has said after Sir Keir Starmer pledged to work to safeguard jobs there.
Dame Jackie Baillie said her party and the SNP would collaborate as they tried to ensure the long-term future of the site.
Hundreds of jobs are thought to be at risk after the owner Petroineos — a joint venture between PetroChina and Ineos — announced that the oil refinery at Grangemouth would be shut after spring next year, before then becoming an import terminal for finished fuels.
Starmer and John Swinney, the first minister, discussed the issue when they met on Sunday during the Labour leader’s first trip north of the border as prime minister.
Starmer told journalists in Edinburgh: “We will start work more immediately about Grangemouth, which is obviously a source of great concern to me in terms of what steps we can now take to preserve jobs and secure [the site’s] future.”
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Baillie told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme it was a “positive sign” that Starmer had chosen to visit Scotland within the first 48 hours of his premiership.
She said: “There was a discussion yesterday between the prime minister and the first minister about Grangemouth.
“We would use the convening power of government to get people around the table in the short-term, but it is about building a long-term future for the site.
“That’s an area where we can work together with the SNP to ensure that we are protecting jobs.”
She continued: “It’s early stages but my understanding is both the UK and the Scottish government are committed to working together.
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“Of course for us, we’ve said we want to make Grangemouth home to the industries of the future.
“We’ve talked about establishing a decarbonisation hub, linked to carbon capture and storage projects.”
Asked if it was now accepted that the refinery would close, she said there would be “urgent” talks with industry about their plans.
A spokesman for Petroineos said: “Keir Starmer became PM on Friday so we haven’t met his team yet but we’re encouraged by his strong expression of support for the workforce here and look forward to discussing in more detail the future transformation of the refinery and, particularly, exploring the full range of low-carbon opportunities that exist.”
