Shadow chancellor Ed Balls will join Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy in Aberdeen today as the party launches a day of action on the “crisis” in the oil and gas sector.
Mr Balls, who writes exclusively for Energy Voice’s sister publication, the Press and Journal today, will meet industry representatives as pressure grows on the coalition to offer significant tax cuts in the Budget next month.
Shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran will also lead the opposition response to a Commons debate on the North Sea, which has been called by Aberdeen MP Frank Doran.
Mrs Curran said: “The crisis in Scotland’s oil and gas industry is one of the biggest challenges facing Scotland’s economy right now.
“The industry currently supports nearly 450,000 jobs across the country, with many concentrated in Aberdeen.
“Last week we saw job losses, and we have been warned that this could be the biggest threat to Scottish jobs since Ravenscraig shut its doors 23 years ago. Despite this, we have seen inaction from both of Scotland’s governments.
“We need the UK Government to come forward with their long-term plan for the industry to provide operators with some certainty, and we need the Scottish Government to set up a resilience fund so that Aberdeen and the surrounding areas do not have to bear the brunt of losses in the industry.
“We will challenge the Scottish and UK governments to step up and take the action that is needed.”
The SNP has also called on the UK Government to make changes to the tax regime by creating a general investment allowance for fields which are more expensive to develop.
The party also wants a phased reversal of Chancellor George Osborne’s infamous “tax grab” in 2011 when the supplementary charge on profits went up from 20% to 32%.
The third part of the SNP plan is an exploration tax credit for smaller firms to boost activity in the North Sea.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey announced in Aberdeen last week that the new head of the fledgling Oil and Gas Authority, Andy Samuel, would lead a commission to identify ways to mitigate the impact of the tumbling global price of crude. Mr Samuel is due to report back in late February.
Mr Osborne has also hinted strongly that new measures for the industry could be announced in the Budget.
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