Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls from one of his own MPs to meet an election promise to “save” the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland as it winds down.
Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, told the Commons: “In the general election campaign, Labour leadership promised that if we won, we would step in and save the Grangemouth refinery, retain those jobs and invest in its future.
“Six months later, this hasn’t happened yet.
“If the refinery closes then thousands of jobs will be lost and Scotland’s national security will become massively weaker.
“Now that we are in power, I know that the Government should use it to intervene and save the refinery jobs, protect Scotland and deliver on the promise to build Grangemouth for the future.
“Will the Prime Minister do that?”
After jeers from the opposition benches, Prime Minister Sir Keir replied: “This is a really important point because before July, there was no plan at all to support the workers of Grangemouth.
“Within weeks, and importantly, we announced a £100m growth deal, and we’re jointly funding Project Willow to find a viable long-term future.
“It is a really serious point, I take it very seriously and we’ll do everything we can to make sure that viable long-term future is there for the workers, for their communities and all that rely on it.”
Owner Petroineos intends to close the oil refinery in 2025, saying it is too late to convert the loss-making site to another type of product.
There are fears that around 400 jobs at the site will transition to being an import terminal for finished fuels.
There have been sustained calls on both the UK and Scottish governments to intervene.
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