The UK Government will not nationalise the oil refinery at Grangemouth in order to protect jobs, the Scottish Secretary has said.
Ian Murray said it would not make economic sense for the taxpayer to support a loss-making business.
Petroineos, which owns the site, confirmed last month it intends to cease refining operations on the Forth after more than a century of operation. More than 400 skilled workers stand to lose their jobs as a result.
The refinery will be transformed into a fuels import depot while the neighbouring petrochemical plant will continue as normal.
Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Grangemouth, has called for the site to be nationalised.
But Murray insisted today the idea was a non-starter. “It is off the table because it is not possible for the Government to run a refinery as massively loss-making as it is,” he said on a visit to Forth Valley College.
“What we need to do is concentrate all our efforts, all our resources and the ability of both Governments to work together with the workforce and indeed the other stakeholders and agencies to provide a bright future for the Grangemouth site.”
The UK and Scottish Government announced a £500,000 project that will see “bespoke support” offered by Forth Valley College to help workers build on current skills and develop new ones to help them find new work in the green energy sector.
Murray said both Governments were doing what they could to secure work for those under threat but could not provide an assurance everyone would be employed ahead of the refinery closure.
“Government can’t give that guarantee,” he said. “What we are trying to do is put the conditions in place to make sure all the opportunities are open.”
He added: “That’s what Government can do, and we need to make sure we minimise the number of jobs that are, indeed, lost.”
Both Governments will “put everything, all the building blocks” in place to minimise the numbers that will be out of work come the closure of the refinery – which will be turned into an import terminal and retain about 100 jobs.
Unite the Union described the announcement on college funding as “smoke and mirrors” and said that “Grangemouth workers will not be fooled by it”.
“The Government should be focused on preserving the current jobs rather than making a smoke and mirrors announcement around training for jobs that don’t exist,” general secretary Sharon Graham said.
“If the UK and Scottish Governments cannot get their act together to save 400 jobs at Grangemouth, workers in Scotland will have no faith that Government can secure a just transition for thousands of other Scottish workers.
“Unite will not stand by and allow a jobless transition and the creation of yet another working class wasteland. Not to save Grangemouth is a dereliction of duty.”
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