Swinney’s message to trade unions: Scottish industry must not be ‘hollowed out’
The First Minister said the Scottish Government was prepared to act with UK ministers to help industry.
Key industries in Scotland cannot be allowed to be “hollowed out”, First Minister John Swinney said, as he pledged his Government would “play its part” in preventing such an outcome.
The SNP leader used a speech to trade union leaders in Dundee to welcome action by the Labour Government at Westminster to step in and keep the the British Steel plant at Scunthorpe open.
But Mr Swinney said interventions such as that must take place on a “wider scale than has been experienced up until now”.
His comments came after he stressed the support for struggling industries “cannot stop at the border”.
And Mr Swinney again spoke of the need to secure a “just transition” for Grangemouth, where Petroineos is about to shut Scotland’s only oil refinery.
Speaking at the Scottish Trades Union Congress annual congress in Dundee, the First Minister said he was “absolutely focused on working with the trade unions and interested parties” to find a way forward for the site that “protects the skills and the employment that exists within that important resource”.
Mr Swinney insisted: “I want all options for Grangemouth’s future to be explored and I will ensure my Government will work constructively with all partners to secure a just transition for Grangemouth with the workforce very much at the heart of that endeavour.”
Stressing that countries are facing “global uncertainty without precedent”, the First Minister said the intervention by the UK Government at Scunthorpe was “the type of intervention we have to be prepared to make in this context”.
However, he said: “We must be prepared to do it on a wider scale than has been experienced up until now.
“The assurance I give today is the Scottish Government will be willing to work with the United Kingdom Government to take the necessary steps to intervene in our industrial base, to secure the sustainability of that industrial base, because we cannot allow the industrial base of our country to be hollowed out.
“We need to secure out industrial base for the security and the future of our country and my Government will play its part, with the UK Government in enabling that to take its course.”
However, he also argued that the “global economic uncertainty” economies are facing at present “requires us all to revisit our priorities”.
Here he said the UK Government needed to “recognise the different landscape that we’re operating in” and change its fiscal rules.
Mr Swinney again called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reverse the recent hike to employers’ national insurance contributions, saying: “We need a stimulus to the economy to avoid the negative effects of the tariff debate and the best way to do that is to reverse the increases in employer national insurance contributions because, without that, I fear the economic conditions in our country will be severely constrained.”
Mr Swinney’s calls came after the Project Willow report – which was funded by the Scottish and UK Governments – set out a number of options for the future of the Grangemouth site.
However, it said that about £3.5 billion of private investment would be needed.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Our modern Industrial Strategy will be designed and implemented in lockstep with the devolved Governments as well as local and regional leaders to make sure it is a UK-wide effort.
“The strategy will prioritise the high growth sectors most promising for future prosperity, creating the right conditions for increased investment and ensuring a lasting impact in communities across the UK.”
In February, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced £200 million to help secure a new future for the Grangemouth.
The money comes on top of £100 million from the Scottish and UK Governments for the local area.
