A former senior SNP figure has hit out at Nicola Sturgeon’s opposition to developing the contentious Cambo field.
Fergus Mutch, the party’s former head of communications and research, said blocking the North Sea project would lead to “unemployment and more imported oil for decades”.
Born and raised in the north-east, Mr Mutch ran as the SNP’s election candidate for Aberdeenshire West in the Scottish Parliament election earlier this year.
Prior to that, he stood for the SNP in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine during the 2019 general election.
Did the Scottish Government announce 100,000 new green jobs and magically phase out domestic demand for oil and gas today?
If so, fantastic news well done. 👏🏼
If not, “Stop Cambo” doesn’t get us very far. In fact, it gets us unemployment and more imported oil for decades.
— Fergus Mutch (@Fergoodness) November 16, 2021
On Twitter he said: “Did the Scottish Government announce 100,000 new green jobs and magically phase out domestic demand for oil and gas today?
“If so, fantastic news well done.
“If not, “Stop Cambo” doesn’t get us very far. In fact, it gets us unemployment and more imported oil for decades.”
And in an interview with ITV show Representing Border, that was shared on Wednesday, he outlined his “dissapointment” at the First Minister’s stance.
He added that SNP members, particularly in the north-east, will have “serious reservations” about taking Cambo off the table.
NEW: Former SNP candidate & spin doctor Fergus Mutch says @theSNP members will have 'serious reservations' about Nicola Sturgeon's apparent opposition to Cambo oil field.@Fergoodness says he was 'disappointed' the First Minister claimed #Cambo 'should not get the green light' pic.twitter.com/4T27S4MNxi
— Representing Border (@ITVBorderRB) November 17, 2021
Last night Nicola Sturgeon was accused of abandoning Scotland’s oil and gas industry by declaring her disapproval of the project in Holyrood.
The First Minister said that the west of Shetland field, which could yield as many as 255 million barrels of oil over its lifetime, should not be given the green light.
She added: “I am not the one taking that decision so I’ve set out a proposal for a climate assessment and I think the presumption would be that Cambo couldn’t and shouldn’t pass any rigorous climate assessment.”
Cambo, which is being developed by Siccar Point Energy and Shell, is currently at the centre of an ongoing debate about the future of the North Sea.
Industry has underlined that cutting off domestic hydrocarbon supply would simply lead to higher imports from overseas.
Andrew Bowie, Scottish Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said: “This is an incredible admission from one of the SNP’s key figures over the past decade.
“A cliff-edge switch-off of oil and gas would dump tens of thousands of North East workers out of a job — overnight — and cripple the economy. The likes of Westhill, Portlethen, Blackburn and Kemnay in my constituency would be devastated.
“While domestic demand remains over the course of the net zero transition, stopping production would only push our domestic demand overseas to the likes of Russia.
“The North East and 100,000 Scottish jobs would pay the price for the SNP’s chronic lack of economic understanding.”